The Disney Renaissance Animated Television Series

The 1980s through to the early 2000s was prime time for children’s television, specifically for cartoons. Walt Disney Television Animation had been founded in 1984, allowing the studio to break up into subsections to focus on different projects simultaneously. Cartoons like DuckTales, Goof Troop, and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh saw great ratings and even allowed Disney to build a temporary land in Disneyland to dedicate to these beloved shows. But of course, as evident as it is now with the live action remakes, Disney likes to revert back to its classics. They decided to revisit some of their characters made in the 1990s, and extend their stories through television series.

The Little Mermaid (TV Series) 1992-1994

The Little Mermaid was the first film to kick off the Renaissance era of Disney films, released in 1989 starring Jodi Benson as Ariel. The Disney Renaissance lasted from 1989 to 1999, ending off with Tarzan. It was one of the most successful and profitable times for Disney, with major hits like The Lion King and Mulan being released during this time. The Little Mermaid was the perfect film to begin their venture into television animation spin-offs, as it acted as a catalyst in many ways already.

The Little Mermaid TV series debuted in 1992 on CBS. It acted as a prequel to the film, so Eric is barely seen throughout the series, as well as Ursula. The very first episode premiered on September 11, 1992, titled ‘Whale of a Tale”, which followed Ariel and a baby killer whale and the whale’s journey to life without family. Many of the episodes introduced new characters to Ariel’s world, a seahorse, a sea dragon, and even a merboy. Ariel’s relationship with her sisters and her father is explored throughout the series as well. Many of the original cast joined this project, except for Jason Marin, who was replaced by Bradley Pierce as Flounder. The series ended in 1994 after 31 episodes within 3 seasons.

The Little Mermaid TV series. Image from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkZRsJQ3pjs

Aladdin (TV Series) 1994-1995

Aladdin is the 9th highest grossing Disney movie of all time, ranking in number 8 in the list of highest grossing movies in 1992. It was a phenomenon, the studio was coming off of a high from Beauty and the Beast the year prior and they continued their high with this love story filled with villains, comedic sidekicks, manipulation, thieves, magical beings, and more. It was a major success and continues to be one of Disney’s most popular films ever.

With Disney moving into syndicated television, Aladdin became one of the films that was considered for a television series. But they had to move quickly to keep up with the momentum, so before they released the series, an extension of the studio called DisneyToons Studios created The Return of Jafar released in 1994, a direct-to-video sequel of Aladdin. The quality didn’t live up to the original, and the same would follow for the series. But this sequel kicked off the storyline for the television show, which officially began airing in February 1994. The very first episode titled “Getting the Bugs Out”, followed Aladdin as he tried to save the Genie and the Magic Carpet from a new villain, the Mechanicles, who created a mechanical bug in Agrabah. Each episode followed a specific pattern, usually with the group going on adventure, something goes awry, and they end up saving each other in the end, much like the original film. The first season ran for 9 episodes, the second season for 69 episodes, and the third with only 8 episodes. It was renewed for so many episodes after having a fairly decent reception, people loved the return of the beloved characters and the wild adventures they all went on. Disney did a great job at keeping true to the original characters while also sliding in some new ones, specifically a lot of new villains.

Majority of the Aladdin voice actors and actresses returned to reprise their roles, all but one: Robin Williams. Robin was unhappy with how they treated the Genie after the first film had been released, as they used the Genie for many marketing purposes which he specifically asked them not to. He didn’t want his voice to be used for commercial purposes, he wanted the Genie to be its own entity and stand on its own within the movie. Because of this, Dan Castellaneta played the Genie in The Return of Jafar and the Aladdin TV series, but Robin returned for the final Aladdin movie, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, which would act as the finale to the series as well.

The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa (TV Series) 1995-1999

The 1994 version of The Lion King was one of the most successful Disney films of all time, and the 2019 live action remake was no exception coming in at the 8th highest grossing film of all time as of 2022. It comes as no surprise that The Lion King was chosen for a television series. Instead of Simba and Nala being the stars of the show though, noble sidekicks Timon and Pumbaa were given the spotlight. The series takes place right after the original movie, much like the Aladdin series, and features some all-new characters like Baampu and Monti, Uncle Boaris, and Ned the Elephant. The significance of this series is that it was the first time within The Lion King canon that humans were shown, as no humans were animated for the original Lion King movie. Corey Burton, best known as Disneyland’s Ghost Host, took on a few of the supporting roles as a voice actor in this series. You can also hear the likings of Jim Cummings and Frank Welker within the series.

The very first episode premiered on September 8, 1995, with each episode being broken up into segments. Most episodes had 2 storylines as to break up the 22 minute runtime, but some episodes had up to 4 storylines as well. The show ran for 3 seasons, with its final episode premiering on September 24, 1999.

Timon and Pumbaa. Image from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKt1gYf97a8

Hercules (TV Series) 1998-1999

Of all the Disney Renaissance era television series, this is the only series to be released as a midquel to the original 1997 film. It takes place as Hercules and Phil are training, before Hercules meets Megara. It follows their journey from zero to hero and depicts Hercules navigating through regular teenage issues as well, showing the humanistic side of him that we can all relate to. Though it falls in the middle of the original film, it doesn’t necessarily follow the rest of the canon, specifically with the fact that Hades knows Hercules is alive and actively trying to take him down throughout the series. One of the other villains introduced to the series is Prince Adonis, who goes to the same academy that our hero does. Many of the other supporting characters are based on other Greek mythological gods and creatures, including Medusa, who actually develops a crush on Herc.

The series ran for 65 episodes in 2 seasons, from August 1998 to March 1999. The 1st, 2nd, 47th and 49th episodes were compiled together to create a direct-to-video home movie titled Hercules: Zero to Hero. It was released in August 1999, after the series had ended.

The 44th episode of the Hercules series was titled Hercules and the Arabian Nights, which was one of the first ever crossovers Disney did between television series. The episode begins with Jafar approaching Hades in the Underworld, and them making a bet that Jafar could defeat Hercules and Hades with Aladdin. Of course, the heroes prevail, with Hercules smashing Phil’s statue head house on Jafar, and the Genie punching Pain and Panic back to the Underworld when Aladdin tricks them into looking inside the lamp. The villains then pit Aladdin and Hercules against each other, which they later find out and Jafar and Hades end up paying for it. Jasmine, Abu, and the Magic Carpet make cameos in this episode, with some funny nods to the Aladdin film like when Hades calls Jafar’s beard “twisted”.

“Well, after Aladdin and his trickery, a muscle-bound ox like Hercules will be child’s play.”
— Jafar

The Legend of Tarzan (TV Series) 2001-2003

The Tarzan series begins exactly where we would expect it to, right after Kerchak’s death and Jane and Tarzan’s subsequent marriage. The series follows the newlyweds as well as Jane’s father and Tarzan’s jungle friends as they navigate their new life together in the wild. Tantor and Terk reprise their roles in this series as the lovable sidekicks, and new supporting characters are added such as Manu the baboon, Moyo the gorilla, and several human characters who find themselves in the jungle as well. Many of the humans in the series end up becoming antagonists, as the rivralry continues betweent he animals and the humans.

This series premiered in September 2001 with 36 episodes in the first season and only 3 in the second season. The second season only lasted 3 days in February of 2003 when it was effectively cancelled. Though The Little Mermaid series had less episodes than this one did, it followed very close after with a similar amount. Around the time of 2003 is when post-renaissance Disney films began to get their own TV series, such as Lilo and Stitch and The Emperor’s New Groove.

The Legend of Tarzan. Image from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQRiyJshHPM

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Fashion, Editor's PicksKyle Balldisneyanimation, disneytelevision, television, TV, animated, series, TVseries, aladdin, tarzan, thelittlemermaid, ariel, jasmine, timonandpumbaa, thelionking, hercules, hades1 Comment