In my defense, while it underperformed, it is arguably seen as a financial success with a global gross akin to OG Lilo & Stitch with a $65-$105M budget. And it would have made more had Disney not released it only limited in NYC and LA over Thanksgiving weekend and released it wide that weekend instead, rather than release it wide a week before Avatar back in 2009.
With that in mind, it’s a good enough reason for why Disney should and hopefully will attempt to do it in a follow-up to The Princess and the Frog because it’s an established franchise where the trainees can get their tall order worked in a safe and established franchise.
Doing it with an original film is too risky in the wake of Strange World and Wish bombing, Pixar’s Elemental breaking even at the box office, and the jury still out on how Pixar’s next two originals (Elio and Hoppers) and Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 2026 original film will do at the box office.
I know people would personally prefer original but I think the safe bet for Disney to hand-drawn animated movies again is a follow-up to an established franchise that has gotten a lot of love and popularity over its last 15 years.
Plus, I know & hear people love their sequels.
Haha.
Anybody?