20 TV shows based on Disney movies that are actually worth watching

This is the classic style TV-series adaptation cash-in. Back in the days when Disney would make direct-to-video sequels to their animated movies, they would also develop TV shows that brought the characters back for further adventures. Also, they would churn episodes out. Though Robin Williams did not return for any sequel films or the TV show, “Aladdin” delivered 86 episodes between February 1994 and November 1995. The “series finale” was the direct-to-video sequel “Aladdin and the King of Thieves.”

Adaptations may continue a story, but spinoffs tend to take supporting characters and move them to the center of the story. As you have likely surmised, “Timon & Pumbaa” did just that. The comic relief pair from “The Lion King” got to go on more wacky adventures. In classic children’s cartoon fashion, episodes consisted of multiple story segments. “Timon & Pumbaa” produced 171 segments across 85 episodes over four years.

We did not include “Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series.” The movie “The Mighty Ducks” is about a scrappy, underdog youth hockey team. The animated show is about anthropomorphic ducks who fight crime and wear hockey masks. “Game Changers” was a much-belated sequel series that aired on Disney+. When “The Mighty Ducks” came out in 1992, streaming was far in the future. The series has a similar underdog hockey story, but it got cancelled after two seasons and was purged from Disney+.

From a storytelling standpoint, “The Jungle Book” and “TaleSpin” have nothing in common. One is about a boy in the jungle raised by talking, singing animals, the other is basically, “What if ‘Wings’ had been about bears instead?” What “TaleSpin” did was take a few characters from “The Jungle Book,” primarily Baloo, and completely recontextualize them. However, it worked. Many a Millennial remembers “TaleSpin,” even though it only aired for 11 months. The reason you remember it is because “TaleSpin” dropped 65 episodes during that month. Also, because of that catchy theme song.

Granted, there is a murkiness to the idea of a character being a “Disney character” when all Disney did was take an old fairy tale and adapt it. Snow White, Peter Pan, Belle, Pinocchio, are they “Disney characters?” Well, in the popular conception, yes, they are. Also, “Once Upon a Time” was an ABC show and thus fully a Disney product. Thus, the storybook mystery show belongs here.

“Lilo & Stitch” is the rare Disney underdog story. It was expected to be an also-ran Disney movie in 2002, one step above being a direct-to-video movie. Then, it made back over three times its budget and salvaged an otherwise poor year for Disney animation. That led to a TV show that was bookended by pilot and finale movies.

Not to be confused with “Stitch!” the movie that served as the pilot to the Disney Channel series. No, this “Stitch!” is a Japanese anime show that, as the title spoils, drops Lilo from the equation. She’s replaced by a Japanese girl named Yuna. It’s best not to ask what became of Lilo and Stitch’s dynamic.

The original “Tron” is a cult classic helped by the presence of Jeff Bridges and the retrofuturistic special effects. Almost 30 years later there was a sequel, “Tron: Legacy,” and that was then followed by a TV show. “Tron: Uprising” is an animated show that aired on Disney XD, which is where Disney slots shows that are family friendly but not explicitly for kids. Though Elijah Wood popped in to voice the main character, the show only lasted one season.

If you aren’t of the right generation (like, say, if you are of the “TaleSpin” generation), you might not be all that familiar with “Big Hero 6.” However, the movie was a big hit, enough to earn a TV series. It’s a direct continuation of the movie and ran for three seasons. Then, it got a spinoff as well in “Baymax!,” which focused on the robotic co-lead of “Big Hero 6.”

The movie “Lightyear” was confusing to parse for some, but ultimately it made it clear that the movie was purportedly the film that Andy had seen in the “Toy Story” universe that introduced him to the character of Buzz Lightyear. That’s all well and good, but it also essentially erases the existence of “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.” It’s essentially “The cartoon Andy watched as a kid.” Then again, making the in-universe show is a spinoff of the in-universe movie. Wouldn’t that be fitting?

You may remember the sequel movies to the hit ‘90s family film “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” Do you remember the sitcom based on the film, though? The syndicated series was shot up in Canada and was made on the cheap given the premise, but still ran for three seasons and 66 episodes. Notably, Rick Moranis was replaced in the lead role by sitcom staple Peter Scolari.

“The Emperor’s New Groove” was the first 2000s hit for Disney animation, and most of the characters came back for a new adventure. The premise was shifted for “New School” to young Kuzco needing to graduate from an academy to become the Incan emperor, but of course his old nemeses are still in the way. It was actually fairly adventurous and clever in terms of humor, at least for a Disney cartoon.

If that title seems clunky to you, well, that’s partially the point. This Disney+ show is a mockumentary, after all. It’s about students at a fictional high school that is about to stage “High School Musical” as a musical. Basically it was Disney+’s answer to “Glee,” and there is one thing everybody is sure to take from it. One of the stars was a young up-and-comer by the name of Olivia Rodrigo.

Let us not forget that it all started with a short film. “Steamboat Willie” was a movie, after all. Mickey Mouse and some of his cohorts from the earliest short movies either work at, or hang out at, a dinner club in ToonTown. “House of Mouse” was used as a staging platform for some new Disney shorts, but with wraparound at the club as well.

When “The Rocketeer” came out in 1991, it was not a hit, but it has become a cult classic and viewed as an overlooked gem. To that end, a movie that hadn’t been reconsidered likely wouldn’t have spawned a spinoff TV show many years later. Interestingly, the TV show was aimed toward a young audience and aired on Disney Jr. It focused on seven-year-old Katherine “Kit” Secord, the great-granddaughter of Cliff Secord, the Rocketeer in the 1991 movie.

The movie “Tangled” was, fittingly, kind of a mess for Disney, but it ended up a huge hit. That opened the door for the loose adaptation of “Rapunzel” to be made into a TV show. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi returned to lend their voices to the lead characters as Rapunzel, Eugene (the former Flynn Rider) and the crew went on new adventures.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Oh yeah, it totally makes sense that they made a Herbie TV show, but I don’t remember it.” That’s fair! While Herbie, the sentient Volkswagen Beetle, was featured in multiple successful movies, the TV show did not really hit. It aired for barely more than a month in 1982, ending after five episodes. Still, we wanted to shout “Herbie, the Love Bug” out, and also “Gun Shy,” the 1983 show based on “The Apple Dumpling Gang” that ran for six episodes.

What do the seven dwarves do when they aren’t hanging with Snow White? Well, apparently they protect some place called Jollywood from some people called the Glooms? “The 7D” had seven established characters to work with, but in truth the dwarves were entirely one-dimensional. Pretty much they did what their names suggested. The Disney XD show allowed them to be actual characters, and it ran for two seasons and 44 episodes.

You know, while we were new to their world, the end of “Monsters Inc.” posits a fundamentally-different world for all these characters. “Monsters at Work” is able to address that. Notably, both Billy Crystal and John Goodman returned to voice Mike and Sulley, and the show explores how the two of them handle running their new company that generates laugh power as opposed to the traditional fear power. It seemed like “Monsters at Work” might only air one season, but then a second season dropped years later on the Disney Channel.

Give Disney credit where it’s due. Obviously they had to have “Dream Productions” in the works and in, you know, production before “Inside Out 2” hit theaters. Then, that movie proved to be a massive hit, one of the billion-dollar movies of 2024. Now, “Dream Productions” gets the chance to coast off of the success of “Inside Out 2.” While the main characters are new, fortunately for promotional purposes all the popular emotion characters are in the mix as well.