Everyone loves a classic Disney movie – the singsong of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), or the irritatingly-catchy music of Frozen (2013) tend to bring joy to anyone who watches them. But what about those Disney movies that make you think: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all”, an iconic line from Bambi (1942).
Here’s our list of the 5 Worst Disney Movies to be released in the past 10 years…
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
This movie perfectly encompasses the realisation that Pirates of the Caribbean could not get any better after At World’s End, and the will for the franchise to come to a quick demise. It just seems to be the same repetitive action, unnecessary pirating drama and predictable battle scenes that we all know too well. Johnny Depp may be easy on the eyes, but the rest of the screenplay is neither pleasant on the eyes, or the ears.
- The Muppets (2011)
Even Jason Segel, star of How I Met Your Mother, can’t rescue this puppeteer’s nightmare from a spot on our list of the worst Disney movies. The plot seems simple and is too easily predictable: granted it is a children’s movie, but it seems slightly too basic for even a toddler! For a much better presentation of The Muppets in their true glory, have a watch of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), where the joy of Christmas can make the hand puppets seem somewhat bearable for the 1 hour and 25 minutes of screen time.
- Frankenweenie (2012)
Dodgy-sounding name aside, this movie is likely one of the most depressing and odd movies I have seen in a long time. Resurrection of dead pets is hardly the way to entice people to enjoy a movie, especially since the movie is released in black and white. There isn’t even any colour to do Sparky any justice, and give him any cuteness points! The arising of various mutated animals has a borderline link to The Secret Life of Pets (2016), whereby we are expected to act shocked when our lifelong companions develop superpowers. Just a very odd turn of undead events. See Pet Sematary (2019) for more dead animal action.
- Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Hate this opinion all you want, but this movie seemed to be too musical and too much of an attempt at ‘theatre meets cinema’ for me to appreciate any part of the storyline. Not only were the anthropomorphised pieces of furniture totally creepy to watch, but the constant breaking into song seems strange for a movie with such a serious plot undertone. It reaffirms how much better the 1991 version was, before the CGI of the Beast could terrify anyone unlucky enough to see it on the big screen.
- Frozen II (2019)
Who would have ever thought that the Frozen franchise could get any more annoying and plastered all over the place since the first movie back in 2013! This movie was a pretentious method of enticing more children, and their poor parents, to buy even more Frozen merchandise that nobody needs. The character of Kristoff seems to spend all of his screen time pondering over whether to propose to Anna, and has little purpose nor character development apart from his 10 minutes of engagement fame towards the end. Granted, Bruni the Salamander does add a slightly adorable touch to the cast as a whole, but his adorable face cannot rescue this movie from earning a spot on our list. Nice try, Bruni.