Between 1990 and 2015 the Walt Disney Company had two film studios using the Disney name. The prestigious Walt Disney Animation Studios made films that were classed as 'Walt Disney Classics' while the other animation studio, Disney MovieToons, later renamed DisneyToon Studios, had a more modest agenda. A division of Walt Disney Television Animation, it adapted Disney's popular television cartoon series and made sequels to recent Walt Disney Animation Studios films, largely as direct-to-video productions (sometimes using the title Disney Video Premieres) but occasionally their films were released in cinemas. This was because of a change in Walt Disney policy in the 1980s introduced by a new Chairman, Michael Eisner. He reversed Disney's decision not to make either animation for television or sequels. Since its foundation, Disney MovieToons had been headed by Sharon Morrill, the most senior woman at Disney.

The key to their ability to produce a vast amount of animation was outsourcing the work to newly-opened animation studios in countries all around the world¹. By utilising all these facilities they could churn out low-budget animated films quickly as the first half of a film may be made in one studio, for example Australia, while the second half was made in Japan. By 2000 Disney MovieToons had successfully released two films in the cinema to a modest reception and had an unprecedented success with direct-to-video film The Return of Jafar. Their outputs up to that date had all been inspired either by Disney Classic Animated Films of the 1990s or by their recent animated television series, such as The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988-1991).

Competitors

By 2000 the animation landscape had completely transformed since 1990. There were now several animation studios, including Disney's prestigious friendly-rival Pixar. Yet in the competitive animated film market there were both winners and losers, including among big-named studios. Warner Brothers formed Warner Brothers Feature Animation and released Space Jam (1996), Quest for Camelot (1998), The Iron Giant (1999), Osmosis Jones (2001) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). All but one of these films flopped: only Space Jam made a profit. Twentieth Century Fox founded Fox Animation Studios which made two films: the successful Anastasia (1997) and the disastrous flop Titan AE (2000). Fox also owned Blue Sky Studios, which started releasing CGI animated films in 2002. The biggest threat to Disney was DreamWorks SKG whose animation department was led by Jeffrey Katzenberg who had been Chairman of Film Production for Walt Disney during the 'Disney Renaissance', the successful period between the release of The Little Mermaid (1989) and Pocahontas (1995). Determined to compete with Disney head-on, it made animated films using traditional techniques, CGI and stop-motion. It even briefly competed against Disney MovieToons in the direct-to-video market, but Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) flopped and so plans to make more full-length direct-to-video productions were abandoned.

Disney themselves seemed to have lost direction and competed by increasing the quantity and decreasing the quality of their animated films. This led to Walt Disney Feature Animation's films flopping or underperforming. Disappointments included Fantasia 2000 (2000), Dinosaur (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Treasure Planet (2002), Home on the Range (2004) and Chicken Little (2005). How would the fledgling, low-budget Disney MovieToons fare in a market where their big brother was struggling and Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox had failed? Especially at a time when the traditional cel animation style Disney MovieToons specialised in seemed to be supplanted by computer animation?

The Films

Below is a summary of the films made by Disney MovieToons during this period. Recurring characters and actors are shown in Bold as well as whether the films were released in the cinema or went direct-to-video. Please note that Disney use both numbers and Roman numerals interchangeably, so that a film titled 'II' on screen may have '2' on the front cover of home media releases and vice versa. Also mentioned is whether the films pass the Bechdel Test (this can be summarised as whether the film involves two or more named female characters who have a conversation together that does not include or mention any male characters). The film's European runtime is also included².

12. The Tigger Movie (2000)

This film gave a strong start to the decade. It marks the first time that the Sherman Brothers returned to Disney since Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), 28 years earlier. The Disney animators travelled to Sussex to ensure that the film reflected the real places that Christopher Robin knew, yet there are Americanisms such as US mailboxes rather than UK postboxes. The Hundred Aker Wood is also hit by an avalanche, which is not a phenomenon common to the Sussex countryside. John Fiedler is the only actor to have reprised his role from the first animated film.

The Tigger Movie enjoyed a highly-successful cinematic release and was the sixth most successful animated film of the year, ahead of bigger-budgeted films such as Walt Disney Feature Animation's Fantasia 2000, DreamWorks Animation's The Road to El Dorado and Fox Animation Studio's Titan AE, and behind only Disney's Dinosaur, Aardman's Chicken Run, Disney's The Emperor's New Groove, Pokémon: The Movie 2000 and Nickelodeon's Rugrats in Paris. Not bad for a film originally conceived as a direct-to-video film to be titled Winnie-the-Pooh and the Family Tree.

13. An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000)

A heartwarming tale of parental relationships, this is one of only two DisneyToon Studios sequels to be rated as better than the original film⁴.

14. The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000)

Who would have thought that Ariel would turn out to be an overprotective parent who builds a wall to keep her daughter inside the castle (which already had walls) and then never talks to her? The whole plot of the film revolves around Ariel never mentioning to Melody that there's an evil sea-witch after her and instead she repeatedly denies the existence of mermaids to her daughter even though she used to be one. The characters deserve better than this plot.

Most of the original cast return. Pat Carroll had previously voiced Ursula (Morgana's sister). However, Christopher Daniel Barnes did not return to play Prince Eric and Jason Marin was replaced by Cam Clarke as Flounder. Ben Wright, the original Grimsby, had died in 1989 and this was the final film for Buddy Hackett who played Scuttle.

15. Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (2001)

This was the first time that Disney MovieToons released a film that was a spin-off of a film from before the Disney Renaissance. Not a single character in Lady of the Tramp II was played by the original cast. Made in Los Angeles, USA and Sydney, Australia, the look of this film is directly inspired by the original, with the backgrounds flawlessly recreated. The attention to detail ensures that this is not a bad film; however, it remains a superfluous one.

16. Return to Never Land (2002)

Also known as Peter Pan: Return to Neverland, the title is rather a misnomer as Pan, Hook and Tinker Bell had never left Neverland for long enough for their return to it to be noteworthy, nor had Jane been there before. Tinker Bell is modelling a new, yellow look. The character of Tiger Lily, central to Peter Pan, has been removed as the first film's stereotypical 'Indian' characters are now considered offensive.

The geography of London seems very distorted, with Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament next to each other. Similarly numerous historical mistakes are made in the opening scene set during the Blitz. Within the same day in the film we learn that Jane and her brother are to be evacuated (evacuations took place in September 1939 and September 1940) because of the London Blitz (which began in September 1940), yet the blackout is not in effect (blackouts were enforced in September 1939) and their father Edward drives a US-style truck (the first US troops arrived in Britain in January 1942).

Though a fairly forgettable sequel, the film was the fourth most successful animated film of the year, behind only Blue Sky's Ice Age, Disney's Lilo & Stitch and DreamWorks Animation's Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Costing only $20 million, it made more than Disney's Treasure Planet, which was made for $140 million.

17. Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002)

These tales are tenuously linked by Cinderella's mice friends wanting to write a book about her married life and choosing stories to go into it. Although the film is titled Dreams Come True, it is hard to see how the title actually applies. The person whose wish is granted is Jaq, who quickly regrets it. The potential romance between Anastasia and the Baker is left open-ended. With the exception of any fans of Cinderella who have spent 52 years wondering whether Cinderella prefers prunes or chocolate cake it is hard to see how this release can be anyone's dream come true. It was surprisingly successful but does not add anything to the story of Cinderella. None of the original film's cast reprise their roles.

18. The Hunchback of Notre Dame II: The Secret of the Bell (2002)

Made six years after The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the difference in the quality of animation is apparent as this film cannot match the original's dynamism. The story, in which Quasimodo finds a love interest, both rectifies and detracts from the original film's ending. Work on making the film began in 1999 but it took five years for it to be released. Almost the entire original cast returns for this film - Mary Wickes had died in 1995 while making the first film and Jane Withers finished her last lines uncredited. Here Jane Withers was fully credited as Laverne.

Jennifer Love Hewitt was disappointed that her character, Madellaine, did not have a song when she was offered the role, especially as she was trying to launch a singing career. She therefore wrote a song for her character to sing, which made it into the film.

19. A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002)

Another Winnie the Pooh compilation; however, this one works better than previous direct-to-video release Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving (1999). Strangely Owl is not present in the film at all, and Kanga and Roo have only very minor roles. This was the first Winnie the Pooh release to have the theme tune sung by singer-songwriter Carly Simon.

20. 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003)

This was not the first 101 Dalmatians sequel, following live-action films 101 Dalmatians (1996) and 102 Dalmatians (2000), which were set in contemporary rather than period (1950s) England. In fact the plot has much more in common with Disney film Bolt (2008), which is about a dog television star called Bolt in the real world who has adventures similar to this film's dog television star Thunderbolt and his adventures in the real world.

ITV, the UK's first commercial television station, launched in London in 1955. However, on launch, advertising and particularly sponsorship was strongly regulated. The US-style Thunderbolt's Adventure Hour is Sponsored by 'Kanine Krunchies' would not have been permitted under the 1954 Television Act as it would have broken the Independent Television Authority's regulations ensuring adverts and programme content were clearly separate.

21. The Jungle Book 2 (2003)

At the start of The Jungle Book 2 Mowgli gives his adopted family and friends a shadow puppet show all about his life in the jungle. His autobiography completely ignores the many years he spent being raised with the wolves and instead Mowgli only seems to remember the couple of days he spent with Baloo. Inexplicably Baloo's fur has all turned blue and animals seen in India now include African hippopotami and American ocelots.

Popular film character King Louie did not appear in Kipling's novel but was created for The Jungle Book. In the 1960s Walt Disney had originally hoped that Louis Armstrong would play the role, just as he had hoped the Beatles would play the vultures. However, when it was realised that having a black man playing an ape might be interpreted as racial stereotyping, Louis Prima was cast instead. Prima died in 1978. In 1999, his widow Gia sued Disney for lack of royalties following the home media release of The Jungle Book and the use of the character in television series TaleSpin (1990), claiming that Jim Cummings was impersonating her husband's voice without permission. Disney settled out of court in 2001 and agreed not to use impersonations of Louis Prima's voice, which is why King Louie does not appear in The Jungle Book 2.

The Jungle Book 2 was the third most successful animated film of the year, behind only Pixar's Finding Nemo and Disney's Brother Bear.

22. Piglet's BIG Movie (2003)

This film shows many of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories by AA Milne in flashback, and also has songs written with his lyrics. Unusually there isn't a narrator. Piglet's BIG Movie was the third Winnie-the-Pooh film released in cinemas following The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and The Tigger Movie, but the weakest to date. It nevertheless was the sixth most successful animated film of the year, behind Finding Nemo, Brother Bear, The Jungle Book 2, DreamWorks Animations' Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Warner Bros' Looney Tunes: Back in Action.

23. Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003)

Disney Television Animation began making Team Atlantis based on Atlantis: The Lost Empire. When that film flopped, the spin-off series was cancelled, but three episodes had been finished. These episodes were combined and released as a direct-to-video sequel with new bookending and linking material. This just about works, although there is no denying that the whole is episodic in nature as the crew face three monsters in three different locations, suddenly switching from Atlantis to Norway to a desert in America's Southwest and then to Iceland. Michael J Fox was replaced by James Arnold Taylor as Milo and, as Jim Varney had died, Cookie was played by Steven Barr although he only appears in the middle instalment.

The Future

In 2003 Disney MovieToons transferred from being a division of Walt Disney Television Animation to become a division of Walt Disney Features under the name DisneyToon Studios. Though the standard of some of their output had been below what would be expected of anything associated with the Disney name, the studio now had a chance to develop its own identity, still led by Executive Vice President Sharon Morrill.