I recently watched the original Aladdin. And, I saw the original Mulan for the very first time. (Why yes, I did indeed remove my head from under the proverbial rock, thank you!).
Both magical movies that transported me to a land of wonder where dreams can come true.
Then I saw the sequels, The Return of Jafar and Mulan II.
Movies I wouldn't have known about if it weren't for Disney Plus.
And I can see why. They were both complete disasters.
The animation was completely different.
The voice actors were all different.
The songs weren't memorable or even that great.
And the plots were boring. Heck, Mulan II didn't even have a villain. Seriously, Disney? A movie with no villain?
I haven't seen the sequels to The Little Mermaid or Cinderella, but I'm imagining they're similar cases.
I think there's something to be learned about creativity from this.
When you do something amazing, like an Aladdin or a Mulan, you can't do it half-baked the second time and plan for it to go just as well.
It not only hurts your work, but it's disrespectful to your audience that expects to be transported again.
Disney seemed to have gotten their act together with the Pixar movie sequels, like the Toy Story, Monsters Inc., and Frozen series. Notice they all use the same voice actors, same animation, and an interesting plot with interesting characters.
Consistency in creating magic.
We owe it to the people who make the time to see and hear our work. And that is how we create lasting art.