Top 20 WORST Live Action Disney Movies

Much like its titular character, 1953’s “Peter Pan” never gets old. It’s the kind of timeless classic that never needed a live-action version. Or, should we say, another one. Sadly, “Peter Pan & Wendy” plays it too safe to stand out, but is too different to cash-in on the nostalgia, leading to a remake that’s as lost as Peter’s namesake crew. It’s not offensively boring or disrespectful to the source material; it’s just frustratingly forgettable. Which, coming from a franchise as beloved as “Peter Pan,” is arguably worse. If you want your daily dose of faith, trust, and pixie dust, you’re better off revisiting the original animated film.

Most of the time, a talking dog is an easy recipe for some heartwarming family hijinks. But, this isn’t just any dog. It’s a stuck-up, pampered Chihuahua… from Beverly Hills. No, the movie doesn’t get any more clever than that. While Chloe’s Mexican-themed adventure has some fun cultural touches, the film never rises above obvious jokes and tired plot points. The lack of originality is hard to stomach. At a certain point, it genuinely feels like they stumbled upon the name “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” and reversed-engineered a whole movie from there. It’s beyond us how something this disappointing got not just one, but two sequels.

This one hurts. On paper, 2018’s “A Wrinkle in Time” should’ve been a slam dunk. Disney invested a lot into the production, securing A-list talent and top-tier visual effects. But, sadly, they didn’t put quite as much care into fine-tuning the script. To put it bluntly, the movie doesn’t land emotional beats as much as it pounds them over your head. That’s disappointing in any context, let alone when you’re adapting a beloved children’s story. Fans expected more, and they said as much with their wallets. Despite an all-star cast and some magical source material, this is one wrinkle that’s better left smoothed out of your movie marathon.

At a time when Tim Allen was Disney’s silver bullet at the box-office, this movie singlehandedly proved that the dog days were not over, after all. Credit where it’s due; Tim Allen’s definitely committed to the bit. However, the lackluster script makes his bizarre method acting feel more uncomfortable than funny. Throw in some hamfisted emotional beats and a metric ton of bad puns, and you have a movie that’s head-scratching even for young audiences. Look, if you enjoy seeing a grown man chase cats, groom himself, and bark at his family, then “Shaggy Dog” is totally for you. If not, then you’ll agree this dud belongs in the dog house, permanently.

Where do you even begin with this one? “John Carter” is often cited as one of the most expensive films ever made. And, coincidentally, also one of the biggest bombs. After seeing the film, it’s easy to see why. The “John Carter” movie plays like a shameless melting pot of boring sci-fi cliches and questionable acting decisions. Sure, the visual effects are good, but no amount of CG can disguise the paper-thin story. It's obvious audiences rejected this for a reason. And the most embarrassing part? This was supposed to launch a whole franchise. Suffice it to say, there’s no sequel in sight, and that’s definitely for the best.

Sequels are never easy. But, surely Disney could have done better than “Alice Through the Looking Glass.” This soulless follow-up revisits Wonderland, but forgets to include the “wonder” part of its name. Instead, “Through the Looking Glass” is juvenile, overly loud, and a complete butchering of Lewis Carroll’s original fairy tale. There’s really not much redeeming about it at all. Not the performances, not the script, and certainly not the story - and we use that term loosely. For the most part, the entire plot is just Helena Bonham Carter running around screaming at everything. Although, after seeing the finished film for ourselves, we don’t even blame her.

This, folks, is a textbook example of how you don’t remake a cherished film. Despite nearly doubling the original’s runtime, 2019’s “Dumbo” fails to add anything of note to the story, characters, or message. If anything, it does the opposite. Rather than worthwhile addendums, the additional material only succeeds in making the film unrecognizable from the classic it’s named after. Which, then begs the question, if they were going to change so much, why bother remaking “Dumbo” in the first place? There’s no clear answer to be found in these dry two hours. Dumbo may be able to fly, but this live-action remake sure can’t.

Don’t let the name fool you; this isn’t the Prince of Persia. It’s the King of cringe. Without even touching its infamously whitewashed cast, this video game adaptation has no idea who it’s trying to appeal to. Is it for fans of the games? Newcomers? Families? Adults? Based on the ho-hum pacing and disappointing box-office, it would seem “Sands of Time” chose ‘none of the above.’ Without the fanservice to bring in diehards or the thrills to attract casuals, “Prince of Persia” goes down as an inexcusably average misfire. It wouldn’t hurt so bad if this were an original IP. But, a brand like “Prince of Persia” deserved much, much better.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: to save their failing department, a team of specially-trained operatives go undercover to expose a villain’s scheme and save the world. In a nutshell, that’s “G-Force.” It ticks the box of every single eye-rolling spy trope of the last century. The only difference? The G in “G-Force” stands for guinea pigs. We wish we were kidding. The film’s central joke gets old, fast, turning what could’ve been a lighthearted adventure into a mindlessly grating hour and a half. That’s right, it’s only 90 minutes. But, boy does it feel longer. Trust us, “G-Force” is better left at the pet store.

For all his charm and skills on the court, Shaquille O'Neal isn’t exactly raking in Oscars. Although, to be fair, it’s hard to say if anyone could have made “Kazaam” work. Poorly scripted, laughably acted, and mind-numbingly uninspired, the movie follows the titular genie offering three wishes to a teenage boy. Only, Kazaam doesn’t come out of a lamp. He’s conjured from a magical boombox. That’s a good summation of how seriously this movie takes itself. While there is some novelty in watching Shaquille O'Neal dance around a movie set, it’s not always for the right reasons. See, the only way to truly enjoy “Kazaam” is to laugh at it, not with it.

Pinocchio’s nose would grow if he said anyone was asking for another version of this story. Especially one as lifeless as this. Lacking any charm, wit, or heart, the only compelling question brought up in this unnecessary update is, why bother? In a way, it’s almost funny. Pinocchio went from a wooden boy in a heartfelt film to a real kid in a wooden movie. Whether it’s the tone, the acting, or the direction, everything about this version of “Pinocchio” feels like a disservice to the original tale. When you can’t even wring a good performance out of Tom Hanks, you know you’ve done something very, very wrong.

This 1994 comedy film has an interesting enough premise: a preteen boy gets access to $1 million in illegally-obtained money, which he uses for a days-long shopping spree. Yet many found this premise was undercut by a film where the characters are drawn together by contrived events and questionable logic that aren't close to being fun. Add to that the conflict between the implied message of “money isn't everything” and the sheer indulgence on display, and what we have is a bizarre mess of a flick.

Oh goodness, what a creative misfire. “The Lone Ranger” acts as a re-imagining of the famed radio drama hero, an ex-Texas Ranger who hunts down outlaws but never shoots to kill. Unfortunately, the film often veers from big-scale action and character interplay straight into unsettling and even horrific imagery, making for a less-than-pleasant experience. On top of that, the film suffers due to its overlong run time, overly convoluted character motivations, clear disrespect for the source material, and rather dour aesthetics. And let's not even get into Johnny Depp being cast to play a Native American character.

Some road trips just aren't worth the effort. That's how we imagine many critics and viewers felt when watching “College Road Trip”, which starred Martin Lawrence and Raven-Symone as father-daughter duo James and Melanie Porter. Though there is definitely merit in the film's message about respecting life choices, it's undermined by the creative team's decision to focus on the broad comedy and slapstick elements. This might have been acceptable and even entertaining in its own right... but alas the humor was underwhelming at best.

Aren’t Disney and dogs meant to go hand in hand? The film follows Cuba Gooding Jr as Miami dentist Ted Brooks, who heads to Alaska to claim an inheritance: seven Siberian Huskies – and a Border Collie. The fish-out-of-water storyline that follows is about as bog-standard as it gets, complete with contrived life-affirming scenes and a more-than-healthy helping of slapstick sequences. Gooding's campy portrayal of Brooks, the embarrassing quality of the dialogue and the film's overall lack of substance only hammer home how little “Snow Dogs” has to offer its audience.

Instead of a trailblazing success, this book-to-movie adaptation lives on as a cautionary tale, and rightfully so. Quite frankly, there’s too many hiccups to list them all. The worldbuilding is a mess, the plot is incomprehensible, the visuals effects are unconvincing… we could go on. Evidently, it takes a whole village to screw up a story like “Artemis Fowl.” Then again, this is pretty much “Artemis Fowl” in name alone. As if to prove it, the movie garnered such poor reception, it was yanked off of Disney+ entirely in 2023. Not even Disney wants to remember it anymore. Hey, it’s certainly foul - just not the “Fowl” Disney wanted.

We imagine this could have used an inspector of its own. Based on the much-loved animated series, “Inspector Gadget” presents itself as a live-action rendition of how John Brown, a hapless security guard, became the clumsy yet dedicated cyborg. It's strange, then, that the special effects were favored over a script and characters with depth, wit, a consistent tone or even simple charm. This is especially baffling considering the respectable cast, which included Matthew Broderick of “War Games” and “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” fame. They had a good license and solid actors – what happened?

And thus the “Santa Clause” trilogy ends with a whimper. “The Escape Clause” ostensibly deals with the trickster Jack Frost attempting to usurp Santa Claus' position. However, the film plays out as a string of middling gags, callbacks to the first film and even a drawn-out take on a “It’s a Wonderful Life”-style alternate-universe story. All of which might be fun if not married to a witless script that doesn't even come close to making “The Escape Clause” as endearing as its predecessors.

In this alleged comedy, Robin Williams and John Travolta played long-time business partners who are left to care for twin children while on the verge of a major business deal. Thus, they learn about the value of family and the meaning of friendship... while the audience bears witness to heavily-choreographed, increasingly unamusing physical gags. “Old Dogs” throws out everything from a medication mix-up to Seth Green getting fondled by a gorilla, and yet mixes up its intent by adhering to its badly-plotted main story. Poor writing plus a surplus of hit-and-miss gags – a winning combination.

It's hard to dredge up anything as uninspired and creatively misguided as this. Leslie Nielsen, famed star of such films as “Forbidden Planet” and “Airplane!”, was sadly called upon to fill the lead role in this adaptation of the “Mr. Magoo” cartoon. The film follows Quincy Magoo in a series of misadventures that largely play off his nearsightedness - which, besides being one-note and unfunny, also attracted the ire of blind and near-sighted communities. That “Mr. Magoo” only earned $21.4 million of its $30 million budget and was pulled from theaters after two weeks is not a surprise.

What’s the worst Disney film you’ve ever been tricked into seeing in theaters? Let us know in the comments below!