Has Disney ever put out an original animated feature film that was not a derivative/retelling of another popular story? Original script, original characters only?
I didn’t know offhand, so I pulled up Disney Wiki’s list of the Disney Animated Canon.
The Aristocats was wholly original.
Lilo and Stitch was originally pitched as a children’s book but went unpublished. The creator gave Disney the right to turn it into a movie, I suppose.
Pinocchio, Alice, Dumbo and Bambi were based on books.
Most were based on public domain fairy tales.
Three Caballeros comes closest probably. Mixed animation and live action but I believe an original set of stories.
Oh, maybe the Lion King? Inspired by Hamlet, but not really Hamlet at all.
Raya and the Last Dragon’s protagonist was based off of a pair of Vietnamese warrior princesses, but not based on any particular story about them.
Encanto is an original story that weaves in the richness of Colombian culture.
Disney’s Wish is also an original story bringing back the idea of wishing on a star to make your dreams come true, for the studio’s 100th anniversary.
The Nightmare Before Christmas appears to be more-or-less original: it’s based on a poem written by Tim Burton in 1982, but as Burton co-produced the film, and had worked to develop it for years, it’s not a case of Disney using some third-party book or fairy tale as its basis.
Fantasia comes close. All the characters were created to fit the sounds of the classical compositions, with one exception. Goethe’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (German: “Der Zauberlehrling”) was used for Mickey’s character.
Here’s a trivia question that nobody will get without looking it up. What is the name of Mickey’s character?
Yen Sid, or Disney spelled backward.
Monks appear during “Ave Maria” but I wouldn’t call them characters from the original.
I was always led to believe that Yen Sid was the name of the sorcerer.
I read it wrong. Must have been a spell of confusion. Rorecros.
Brother Bear and The Emperor’s New Groove aren’t based on pre-existing stories. (Despite its title, the latter is not a retelling of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”)
I didn’t realize there were so many. Thanks!
No problem! I enjoyed looking this up and was pleasantly surprised there were this many.
Home On The Range, Atlantis, and Dinosaur are also all originals. Though they aren’t very memorable, possibly because of that lack of name recognition a book or fairy tale provides.
Though I am a fan of Atlantis.
Frozen is supposed to be based on The Snow Queen, but it veered away from that sometime in its development and now both it and its sequel are wholly original. There is a third coming, that one may yet introduce some Snow Queen elements.
I don’t believe Moana is based on any specific work besides Polynesian mythology in general.
Veered away is one way to put it. About the only thing carried over from Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” are two names, Kai and Gerda and even they are demoted from principal characters to two barely there palace servants.
It’s just as well. While it has a happy ending the original story is pretty depressing in the telling.
Bolt, Wreck it Ralph, Zootopia
In Googling an answer to the OP’s question, I did find this list. Most of which was mentioned already.
Apparently The Lion King is considered the first original Disney animated story, even though it’s inspired by Hamlet (but without the mother issues).
Actually, I just got an idea for a new thread.
Yeah, I would say that the only thing in common between Elsa and Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen is they are both queens and they both work a lot with snow.
Nope.
Kimba the White Lion.
Look it up.
Denials notwithstanding, the Rat stole the show.
“Kimba the White Lion (Japanese: Jungle Emperor) is a classic manga series by Osamu Tezuka, serialized from 1950-1954, about a white lion cub who, after his parents’ death, is raised by humans and returns to the jungle to rule with wisdom and peace, teaching animals human ways. It’s famous for its influential anime adaptations,…”
Sounds more like a reverse Tarzan than Hamlet / The Lion King IMHO.