With the Disney D23 just a few weeks ago, fans are eager to see what these new features will bring to all the parks. From new rides to new parks to new nighttime events, Disney presented this all in a fun-loving, musical way.  

To elaborate, D23 stands for Disney 1923, the founding year, and is the official Disney Fan Club. To be clear, I’m talking about the Ultimate Disney fan event held every two years. The event gives Disney fans a sneak peek at new shows, movies, and park attractions, told in an interactive way through song and dance.

While Disney fans are buzzing to see the new Avatar Land in California and the Lion King ride in Paris, one can only speculate how people feel about the lack of originality in their movies.

So far, Disney and Pixar (owned by Disney) are mainly coming out with sequels and remakes. 

As shown in the list at the end of the article, only two of Disney’s “new” movies are actually new. This shows a lack of originality from Disney, even with the shared premise of Hopper (one of the new movies) sounding like a modernized version of the 2006 film Over the Hedge, which I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it (not a Disney movie fyi).  

While a new movie to a beloved series is always appreciated, Disney almost exclusively comes out with sequels. Personally I love to know what happens next in a movie series, however, like Toy Story, it becomes a bit obsessive. 

“I feel like being more original is better. They’ll make less money so I understand it, but there’s no point in making remakes, I want to see something original,” Nichols said. 

A new “trend” on social media has been people commenting on how the younger generation doesn’t know or understand the old Disney movies, specifically Disney princess movies. 

Do we really need that many Cinderella remakes? Can we bring back the old animation style? Can we have more Grim-based movies? Can we bring back the choir singing for the movie soundtrack? Everything that makes Disney, Disney is being pushed out, which is 100% prevalent in their theme parks with them closing old parks to make way for new ones. 

“There needs to be a good ratio between good and old, but if they keep adding sequels and prequels and all the other things it starts to get boring,” Anna Maxfield (28) said. 

Maybe we’re just nostalgic, but it’s obvious Disney is trying to adapt to kids’ shorter attention spans by using bright colors and having their movies run at a fast pace, in contrast to their older more aesthetically pleasing films, that would have minimal to no dialog at certain parts of the film. 

“It’s really cool they’re continuing to the stories on, and it’s kind of nostalgic. I grew up with a lot of these movies.” Grace Walter (25) said. 

To make it clear, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Disney, but Disney’s breaking my heart. 

I believe Disney is taking away from itself, exploiting its originality, and taking away from what makes Disney Disney. Mickey Mouse isn’t the mascot anymore, and they’re taking away from the original parks to make way for this new Disney. While there are some really good new movies, Disney is following the plot lines from movies from the late 90s and early 2000s, unoriginal and corny.   

While this change may not be negative for some, it seems that Disney is losing its magic. 

 Sequels:

Avatar 3 Fire and Ash

Zootopia 2

Frozen 3 (hinted Frozen 4 is in the works)

Moana 2 (new trailer)

Toy Story 5

Incredibles 3

Freakier Friday 

Tron Ares

Fantastic 4, First Steps

Captain America Brave New World

The Mandalorian and Grogu

Original:

Hoppers 

Elio 

Live action:

Snow White 

Mufasa The Lion King 

Lilo & Stitch