I will concede pretty much across the board, by the way, on all the direct to DVD “film” – they're done by the TV department and it shows. All of the ones I've seen are missing what makes Disney magic to me. And, some of the theater movies missed for me, too. But many of the ones that leave me the most cold were very successful like the Lion King.

I will concede pretty much across the board, by the way, on all the direct to DVD “film” – they're done by the TV department and it shows. All of the ones I've seen are missing what makes Disney magic to me. And, some of the theater movies missed for me, too. But many of the ones that leave me the most cold were very successful like the Lion King.

Hercules wasn't that bad actually, Atlantis (IMHO) was a complete trainwreck, and Hunchback was good, nearly in the same class as this one I would say.

The point is that for the most part Disney is churning stuff out.

Even if someone likes Lion King or Hunchback, how about Lion King 2 and 1 1/2, and Hunchback 2, and Lady and the Tramp 2, and the reworking into a TV series and the straight-to-DVD combo mix sequel and blah blah blah.

I even, generally, give them Lion King, because at least it was a fairly genuine effort.

Now that this is now and that is when I wrote this… look at the last few years of non-Pixar Disney animation. Bolt was ok. Bambi II, Mulan II, The Wild… What?

Right now I'm not holding out a lot of hope for The Princess and the Frog or Rapunzel either, and another Winnie the Pooh movie? Christmas Carol looks cool though.

I don't know, just doesn't feel real Disney.

There's a number of ones I don't care for that are “newer” including Rescuers, The Lion King and, yes, Black Cauldron. It's not impossible that I see the movies (and it's true of Pixar as well) through the rose colored lenses of my youth. I love the humor (cutesy or otherwise) and there are many characters I completely adore. And, as a character-lover, that's important to me. For a story person, I can see the situation being vastly different.

I loved Hercules and Atlantis and even The Hunchback of Notre Dame (possibly because I never read the book). Treasure Planet I liked, though it grew on me more than sucking me in the first time. I had to grow to appreciate the characters.

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm saying I don't see it the same way. Nor am I convinced, at least with Disney, that one is only getting one thing from them. There's more than one kind of wonder and one, in my opinion, is falling in love with a character and just following along.