What has happened to Walt's company?

• "By nature, I'm an experimenter. To this day, I don't believe in sequels. I can't follow popular cycles. I have to move on to new things. "
• "I could not possibly see how we could top pigs with pigs. But we tried, and I doubt whether one member of this audience can name the other cartoons in which the pigs appeared."
• "...the shout went out for more dwarfs. Top dwarfs with dwarfs? Why try?"
• "...we're not thinking about making another ‘Mary Poppins’. We never will. Perhaps there will be other ventures with equal critical and financial success. But we know we cannot hit a home run with the bases loaded every time we go to the plate. We also know the only way we can even get to first base is by constantly going to bat and continuing to swing."

-- Walt Disney, excerpts from Speech Accepting the Showman of the World Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners (October 1, 1966)

Compare that to:

• Little Mermaid II
• Beauty and the Beast II
• Aladdin II
• Aladdin III
• 101 Dalmations II
• Atlantis II
• Peter Pan II
• Hunchback II
• Lady and the Tramp II
• Pocahontas II
• Mulan II
• Jungle Book II
  
• Stitch
• Tarzan II
• Tarzan and Jane
  
• Toy Story 3
  
• Lion King 1 1/2
  
• Lion King II
• All the Pooh sequels

and last (and certainly least):

• Cinderella II (with the distinct honor of receiving a 0% on the Tomatometer rating)
  

and on the drawing board:

• Lilo and Stitch II
• Bambi II (he's back and he's p!$$ed)
  
• Oliver & Company II
• Hercules II
• Dumbo II
• Emperor's New Groove II
• Mulan III

I'm sure I missed some, but I really don't care. The company has gone from being an innovator to being a follower. Gone is the day of innovation, and in it's place is playing it safe. Even in their new animation, they have ditched their legacy of 2d so that they can follow and clone Pixar and Dreamworks. I remember a day not too long ago when everyone copied Disney. Now, Disney copies everyone (especially themselves). The result is lackluster product with no risk-taking and no innovation. Sad...


Read the complete Walt speech at Jim Hill Media