Disneytoon Studios

Disneytoon Studios (DTS), originally named Disney MovieToons and also formerly Walt Disney Video Premieres, was an American animation studio which created direct-to-video and occasional theatrical animated feature films. The studio was a division of Walt Disney Animation Studios, with both being part of The Walt Disney Studios, itself a division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio produced 55 feature films, beginning with DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp in 1990. Its final feature film was Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast in 2015.

History[]

Disney MovieToons/Walt Disney Video Premieres[]

Disney MovieToons' first feature production was DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp in 1990, with animation by Walt Disney Animation France. Disney Television Animation hired director of specials, Sharon Morrill, in 1993.

Disney began producing direct-to-video sequels of Walt Disney Feature Animation films: the first of which was the Aladdin (1992) sequel The Return of Jafar (1994). When Aladdin was selected as a possible candidate as an animated TV series (before the film's release), as with many animated series, the first three episodes were a multi-part story which Disney used as a potential "family movie special" for the Friday night before the series' premiere. The opening story was instead greenlit for a direct-to-video release. Thus with The Return of Jafar and its success, the direct-to-video unit was started. Then a second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), assigned work to both the Australian and Japanese animation units.

In August 1994 with the departure of Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, its filmed entertainment business was split into two, with this division moved as a part of Walt Disney Television Animation into the newly created Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications under chairman Richard H. Frank.

Morrill was in charge of the above first Aladdin DTV film, launching Disney Video Premiere. Morrill expanded the DTV market making it more important for Disney, thus the overseas Disney studios were increased and assigned to these features. Morrill was promoted to vice president of the direct-to-video unit by November 1997.

The Walt Disney Television group, upon the departure of its president Dean Valentine in September 1997, was split into two units, Walt Disney Television (WDT) and Walt Disney Network Television (WDNT), reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Joe Roth. WDT would be headed by Charles Hirschhorn as president and consisted of Disney Telefilms and Walt Disney Television Animation, which included including Disney MovieToons and Disney Video Premiere.

The unit released a short under the WDTA name in 1997, Redux Riding Hood, which was nominated for a 1998 Academy Award. More direct-to-video sequels followed, among them Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998), The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998), The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000) and Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002). By April 1998, MovieToons was merged with the units of direct-to-video films and network TV specials as Morrill was promoted to executive vice president over her existing unit of DTV films, network TV specials and theatrical films. Ellen Gurney was promoted from director of DTV films, theatrical movies and specials to vice president in April 1999.

Disneytoon Studios[]

In a January 2003 reorganization of Disney, Disney MovieToons/Disney Video Premieres was transferred from Walt Disney Television Animation to Walt Disney Feature Animation and renamed Disneytoon Studios (DTS) in June. Morrill continued to lead the division as executive vice president. With the split, both Disneytoon and Disney Television Animation were issuing direct to video features.

Disney closed Disney Animation Japan, one of the two remaining internal overseas studios Disneytoon worked with, in June 2004, with Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) as its final DTS work. By March 2005, Morrill was promoted to president of Disneytoon. On July 25, 2005, Disney announced that it was closing Disneytoon Studios Australia in October 2006 after 17 years of existence, with its final feature being Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (2007).

In the early 2000s, Disneytoon joined Disney Consumer Products (DCP) as their internal video partner within the Disney conglomerate in developing the new Disney franchises, which then only consisted of Disney Princess and Disney Fairies. While DCP eyed other potential franchises, DTS looked into the Seven Dwarfs for a male-centric franchise to counterbalance the female-centric Fairies by 2005.

John Lasseter joined Disney with the purchase of Pixar in 2006, and made it clear that he disliked Disneytoon undercutting the value of the feature animated films with the sequels and prequels. Following complications relating to the production of Tinker Bell (2008), the debut film of DCP's Fairies franchise, it led to discussions over the focus of the division. Thus, Sharon Morrill, president of the studio, moved to a new position in the company. On June 22, 2007, management of Disneytoon Studios was turned over to the control of Alan Bergman, president of Walt Disney Studios, with input from Ed Catmull and Lasseter. As chief creative officer, Lasseter called for the cancellation of all future films in production or development at Disneytoon Studios. As a result, planned or in-progress sequels to Dumbo (1941), Chicken Little (2005), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Pinocchio (1940), and The Aristocats (1970) were all cancelled, among other projects. Tinker Bell's animation was scrapped and was restarted while two projects that DCP formed as franchise projects were canceled, which were "Disney's Dwarfs" and the Disney Princess Enchanted Tales line after the latter's first DVD. The release of The Little Mermaid 3 and Destiny Sparks 3 were put on hold. Disney Studios president Alan Bergman went to oversee day-to-day operations of DTS. Thus DTS halted production of sequels and prequels when it originally indicated that the division would shift to support various Playhouse Disney franchises with direct-to-videos.

Meredith Roberts transferred from Walt Disney Television Animation to senior vice president and general manager of Disneytoon Studios in January 2008. At the April unveiling of Disney's animated feature lineup, it was announced that Disneytoon Studios would no longer produce future sequels to Disney animated films, but will instead focus on spin-offs. Also, the division was under the banner of the renamed Walt Disney Feature Animation studio, now called Walt Disney Animation Studios, led by Catmull and Lasseter.

In November 2017, Lasseter announced that he would be taking a six-month leave of absence after acknowledging what he called "missteps" in his behavior with employees in a memo addressed to the staff of Disneytoon Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Pixar. According to The Hollywood Reporter and The Washington Post, Lasseter had a history of alleged sexual misconduct towards employees. On June 8, 2018, it was announced that Lasseter would leave Disney Animation and Pixar at the end of the year, but would take on a consulting role until then.

Disneytoon Studios closed on June 28, 2018, resulting in a layoff of 75 animators and staff. As a result, the studio's third Planes film about the future of aviation in outer space was removed from both Disney's film release date schedule of April 12, 2019 and from development.

Since 2019, the studio building has been used as a third building for new productions for Disney Television Animation with Roberts being promoted new CEO at Disney Television Animation after the departure of long-time CEO Eric Coleman in 2019.

Criticism[]

Disneytoon Studios direct-to-video sequels are still often criticized for their cost-cutting and low-quality.

Filmography[]

As of 2002, the films that Disneytoon had made often had budgets less than $15 million for production, and had taken in $100 million in sales and rentals.

Feature films[]

#	Title	Franchise	Release date	Release type	Animation service(s)	Studio(s)
Disney MovieToons / Disney Video Premieres
1	DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp	DuckTales	August 3, 1990	Theatrical	Disney Animation France	Walt Disney Pictures
2	The Return of Jafar	Aladdin	May 20, 1994	Direct-to-video	Disney Animation Australia	Walt Disney Television Animation
3	A Goofy Movie	Goof Troop	April 7, 1995	Theatrical	Disney Animation France Disney Animation Australia Disney Animation Canada (Toronto)	Walt Disney Pictures
4	Aladdin and the King of Thieves	Aladdin	August 13, 1996	Direct-to-video	Disney Animation Australia Disney Animation Japan	Walt Disney Television Animation
5	Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin	Winnie the Pooh	August 5, 1997		Disney Animation Japan
6	Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas	Beauty and the Beast	November 11, 1997		Disney Animation Canada
7	Belle's Magical World	Beauty and the Beast	February 17, 1998		N/A
8	Liana	N/A	April 10, 1998	Theatrical	Disney Animation Australia Disney Animation France	Walt Disney Pictures
9	Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World	Pocahontas	August 25, 1998	Direct-to-video	Disney Animation Australia Disney Animation Canada Disney Animation Japan	Walt Disney Television Animation
10	The Lion King II: Simba's Pride	The Lion King	October 27, 1998		Disney Animation Australia
11	Dreamer II	Dreamer	September 7, 1999
12	Seasons of Giving	Winnie the Pooh	November 9, 1999
13	An Extremely Goofy Movie	Goof Troop	February 29, 2000
14	Archer II	Archer	May 16, 2000		Disney Animation Australia Disney Animation Canada Disney Animation Japan	Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Television Animation
15	The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea	The Little Mermaid	September 19, 2000		Disney Animation Canada
16	Edwin & Terry: The Long Rescue	Edwin & Terry	November 7, 2000		Disney Animation Japan
17	Destiny II: Magical Rescue	Destiny Sparks	May 15, 2001		Disney Animation Australia
18	The Return of the Snow Queen	The Snow Queen	November 6, 2001		Disney Animation Australia
19	Cinderella II: Dreams Come True	Cinderella	February 26, 2002	Direct-to-vdeo	Disney Animation Japan
20	The Hunchback of Notre Dame II	The Hunchback of Notre Dame	March 19, 2002		Disney Animation Japan
21	The Twelve Dancing Princesses II: The Magic Returns	The Twelve Dancing Princesses	September 10, 2002		Disney Animation Australia
22	A Very Merry Pooh Year	Winnie the Pooh	November 12, 2002		Disney Animation France
Disney MovieToons (Under Walt Disney Feature Animation)
23	101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure	One Hundred and One Dalmatians	January 21, 2003	Direct-to-video	Disney Animation Australia Disney Animation France Tandem Films ToonCity Animation Spaff Animation		Walt Disney Pictures
24	Piglet's Big Movie	Winnie the Pooh	March 21, 2003	Direct-to-video	Disney Animation Japan		Walt Disney Pictures
25	Atlantis: Milo's Return	Atlantis: The Lost Empire	May 20, 2003	Direct-to-video	N/A	Walt Disney Television Animation
26	The White Cat II	The White Cat	October 14, 2003	Direct-to-video	Disney Animation Australia	Walt Disney Pictures
Disneytoon Studios
27	A Nutcracker Tale: Marie's New Journey	A Nutcracker Tale	November 18, 2003	Direct-to-video	N/A	Walt Disney Pictures
28	The Modern Princess II: The Royal Pain	The Modern Princess	December 9, 2003		Disney Animation Australia
29	The Lion King 1½	The Lion King	February 10, 2004		Disney Animation Australia Cornerstone Animation
30	Springtime with Roo	Winnie the Pooh	March 9, 2004		N/A
31	Ballad of the Viking Warrior: Godly Problems	Ballad of the Viking Warrior	July 6, 2004		Disney Animation Australia
32	Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers	Mickey Mouse	August 17, 2004		Disney Animation Australia
33	A Different Events: The Second Chapter	A Different Events	October 12, 2004		Disney Animation Japan
34	Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas	Mickey Mouse	November 9, 2004		Blur Studio
35	Mulan II	Mulan	February 1, 2005		Disney Animation Japan
36	Pooh's Heffalump Movie	Winnie the Pooh	February 11, 2005	Theatrical	Disney Animation Japan
37	Tarzan II	Tarzan	June 14, 2005	Direct-to-video	Disney Animation Australia
38	Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch	Lilo & Stitch	August 30, 2005		Disney Animation Australia
39	Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie	Winnie the Pooh	September 13, 2005		Project Firefly
40	Return to Imagination	Imagination	November 15, 2005		Disney Animation Australia
41	Kronk's New Groove	The Emperor's New Groove	December 13, 2005		N/A
42	Bambi II	Bambi	February 7, 2006	Direct-to-video/Theatrical	Disney Animation Australia
43	Wishluck 2	Wishluck	May 23, 2006	Direct-to-video/Theatrical	Blur Studio
44	Brother Bear 2	Brother Bear	August 29, 2006	Direct-to-video	Disney Animation Australia Project Firefly
45	Ricky: The Story of the Crow	The Snow Queen	September 12, 2006		Disney Animation Australia
46	The Fox and the Hound 2	The Fox and the Hound	December 12, 2006
47	Cinderella III: A Twist in Time	Cinderella	February 6, 2007
48	Forest Legend	N/A	February 9, 2007	Theatrical	Blur Studio
49	Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams	Disney Princess	September 4, 2007	Direct-to-video	N/A	N/A
50	The Tale of Laura	Sidequest	November 6, 2007	Direct-to-video/Theatrical	Prana Studios	Walt Disney Pictures
51	Destiny Sparks: The Tales As Before	Destiny Sparks	February 26, 2008	Direct-to-video	Project Firefly
52	The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning	The Little Mermaid	August 26, 2008	Direct-to-video	N/A
53	Tinker Bell	Disney Fairies	October 28, 2008	Direct-to-video/Theatrical	Prana Studios
54	Laura: The Four Spirits	Sidequest	March 31, 2009
55	Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure	Disney Fairies	October 27, 2009
58	Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue	Disney Fairies	September 21, 2010
59	Laura: Unwanted Path	Sidequest	October 11, 2011
60	Secret of the Wings	Disney Fairies	October 23, 2012	Theatrical
61	Laura & Marlee	Sidequest	May 28, 2013
62	Planes	Cars	August 9, 2013
63	The Pirate Fairy	Disney Fairies	April 1, 2014
64	Planes: Fire & Rescue	Cars	July 18, 2014
65	Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast	Disney Fairies	March 3, 2015
66	Meet Victor	Dreamer	April 10, 2015
67	What's Her Name?	Beauty and the Beast	August 26, 2016		Tonic DNA
68	Mickey Mouse: The Castle of Illusion	Mickey Mouse	October 4, 2016		Tonic DNA
69	Top, Land, Fly	Flyers	August 5, 2017		Prana Studios
70	Mickey and Donald: Land of Illusion	Mickey Mouse	October 24, 2017		Tonic DNA
71	Felicity & Tony	Scott and Ruby	March 16, 2018		Prana Studios
72	Mickey, Donald and Goofy in The World of Illusion	Mickey Mouse	May 8, 2018		Tonic DNA

Television specials[]

Title	Release type	Release date	Franchise
Pixie Hollow Games	Television special	November 18, 2011	Disney Fairies
Pixie Hollow Bake Off	Television special	October 20, 2013	Disney Fairies

Short films[]

Title	Release type	Release date	Franchise
The Cat That Looked at a King	Direct-to-video: DVD extra	December 14, 2004	Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary DVD
Hardwork Duck	Theatrical	April 22, 2005	Donald Duck, released with The Toontails Movie
The Origin of Stitch	Direct-to-video: DVD extra	August 30, 2005	Lilo & Stitch
Legend of the Chihuahua	Direct-to-video: DVD extra	March 9, 2009	Beverly Hills Chihuahua DVD
Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular	Direct-to-video	November 4, 2014	Cars, on Planes: Fire & Rescue DVD