Disney movies are iconic for transporting viewers into realms of magic, adventure, and romance. More often than not, though, these stories seem to definitively end once the characters get their "happily ever after" and the credits start rolling. Or🧔 do they?
In reality, many of the best Disney classics — animated and live-action alike — spawned sequels that put beloved heroes, princesses, and sidekicks in new situations and often with new characters. The majority of these sequels went straight to VHS (remember those things?) or DVD (and these?), so it's perhaps not surprising that they aren't exceptionably well-known to the average fan.
10 The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride
Simba and gang are back for more Pride Lands action with The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. Set after the events of the original movie, Simba is both king of Pride Rock and father to a curious, mischievous cub named Kiara (sound familiar?).
Kiara inadvertently falls in lo🗹ve with Kovu, a young lion with a rather recognizable brown and black coat.
Kovu has been groomed since birth to replace Scar as the wannabe heir to Pride Rock. The star-crossed lovers take on some serious Romeo and Juliet vibes as they challenge the entrenched prejudices held both by Simba's pride and Scar's loyal group of outcast lions.
Ultimately, love conquers old familial tensions, and Kiara with Kovu at her side carries on Simba and Mufasa's legacy of Pride Lands royalty.
9 The Return of Jafar ✤
At the end of the original 1992 release of Aladdin, the titular hero and his allies trap Jafar and his talking parrot, Iago, in a lamp that Genie then throws into the desert. In this sequel, we witness the resurrection of Jafar's vendetta as he sends Iago on a quest to convince Aladdin and Jasmine that he is now a reformed bird villain.
Although the Iago parts get a little old, the songs are catchy, and there's a sweet continuation of Aladdin and Jasmine's love story as Aladdin adapts to his duties as an Agrabah prince.
8 𝄹 Pocahontas 2: Journe♎y to a New World
As one of Disney's more culturally problematic films, Pocahontas 2 also carries over many of the same simplistic stereotypes assigned to Native American peoples from the original movie. Like the first one as well, it (very) loosely adapts the real Pocahontas' life into a feel-good, Disney-fied sequel.
After John Smith returns to England, Pocahontas takes up the mantle of a🌠mbassador and also travels to the "Old World" in an attempt to improve relations with the English.
Although Pocahontas does encounter her old flame, she also meets John Rolfe, who was actually the historical Pocahontas' real-life husband. Social snafus abound, and Pocahontas is caught in a surprisingly compelling love triangle between the two Johns.
Ultimately, though, Disney does adhere to the textbook depiction of P🅘ocahontas by picking Rolfe as her final romantic choice. Sorry Mel Gibson, but history won 🌜this round.
7 🉐 The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the❀ Sea
Set several years after the original 1989 movie, Ariel is now a mother and official landlubber. Married to Prince💯 Eric, Ariel t🐻ries to raise their daughter, Melody, as a full human.
Unfortunately, Melody has too much of her mother in her to ignore the call of the sea. Ursula's sister, Morgana the sea witch, hatches a plan that's pretty much the inverse of Ariel's original deal with the proverbial underwater devil in The Little Mermaid.
Melody's capture means that Ariel must return to the ocean and team up with her old friends — hey Sebastian and Flounder! — to save her. This one's a must-watch with the recent release of the live-action version of The Little Mermaid.
6 Return to Ne🌃verland ﷽
Peter Pan is perhaps one of the most beloved Disney classics of all time, particularly if the long lines at the Disney parks for this ride are any indication. The story of the boy who never grew up continues in Return to Neverland, a refreshing and surprisingly poignant tale of Wendy's daughter, Jane.
Starting out in London during World War 2, Jane is a hard-core survivor and has given up her "childish fantasies" of Neverland in the face of the Blitz and her father's presence on the war's front lines.
For the old codfish Captain Hook, though, a world war is just an inconvenience as he mistakes Jane for Wendy and whisks her off to Neverland. This film gets bonus points for making scrappy Jane go toe-to-toe with Peter and the Lost Boys, and there's no blushing Wendy to be seen here.
5 The Hunchback of Notre Dam🎶e 2
Released in 2002, this sequel to the 1996 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a trifle confusing and seems to force a "happy ending" for the lovable, but physically ❀deformed Quasimodo. Of course, the original Victor Hugo novel of the same name does not end happily at all, so the fact that (spoiler alert for a nineteenth-century novel) the main characters are even alive to return for a second movie is a drastic c𒀰hange.
Nevertheless, Disney gives Quasimodo a love story of his own with a beautiful circus perfor൩mer named Madellaine. Esmerelda, the gorg♛eous Demi Moore-voiced gypsy of the first movie, returns with her hubby Phoebus and goat Djali as well.
4 The Rescuers Down Under 🐲
This sequel might be one of the more well-known ones on the list, simply because it's probably the best movie overall. Released in 1977, the original film followed the journey of two mice as they rescued a little girl from a manipulative diamond thief.
In The Rescuers Down Under, Bernard and Miss Bianca are at it again, this time intent on saving a young boy from a ruthless poacher. With endangered eagles, a John Candy-voiced albatross, and a sweet love story between the two leads, The Rescuers Down Under is one of the rare Disney sequels that might💖 actually top the original.
3 Aladdin: King of Thieves 🍌 🃏
Yes, there's another sequel to Aladdin! And this one actually gives more of a backstory for the young street rat turned future Sultan. In this movie, Aladdin and Jasmine are set to (finally) get married, but family ties pull Aladdin away from his love and into an adventure with his long-lost father, Cassim, and his motley band of thieves.
Aladdin must grapple with his identity and reconcile with his father before the wedding. Like the first and secon🔥d Aladdin films, the songs in this one are surprisingly good, and "Out of Thin Air" is a particular stand-out.
2 ꧟ ไ Lion King 1.5
This sequel set between the first Lion King and Simba's Pride is an underrated gem of a movie. With most of the voice cast returning (hi Nathan Lane!), this movie retraces the original's plot line from the perspective of everybody's favorite meerkat and warthog.
Timon and Pumbaa bungle their way into Simba's story of redemption and strengthen their bromance as a result. Watch until the end of the movie to see a bunch of other Disney characters make a pretty hilarious cameo.
1 𝄹 Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Although Beauty and the Beast saw several sequels and prequels to the 1991 classic, The Enchanted Christmas is probably the best one. Not really a sequel in the strictest sense of the word, this movie rewinds to Belle and the Beast's first Christmas together before his transformation back into a prince.
The new bad guy — Forte, an embittered malevolent pipe organ — is more of a miss than a hit, but the focus on Belle and the Beast's burgeoning relationship is still worth the watch.
Some of the best𝔍 stories never end, and Disney is nothing if not dedicated to capitalizing on successful intellectual property. All cynicism aside, though, these sequels offer fresh pers♉pectives on favorite characters, locations, and stories that, when all is said and done, do add generously to the ever-expanding Disney universe.
And that alone is a specia🀅l form of movie magic indeed.