DisneyToon Studios was the second animation studio founded by the Walt Disney Company organisation. Unlike the prestigious Walt Disney Animation Studios, DisneyToon Studios dealt with low-budget animated productions which often had limited cinema or direct-to-video releases. It had been founded in 1990 as Disney MovieToons with the aim of adapting Disney's popular television cartoon series made by Walt Disney Television Animation¹ for the big screen. These involved teams of animators making films in many Disney-owned studios based all around the world².

It soon began churning out sequels to many of Walt Disney Animation Studios' most successful films. While animated films are by their nature a commercial art form, the studio, renamed DisneyToon Studios in 2003 and placed under the control of Sharon Morrill, soon gained a reputation for emphasising commercial success to the point that the artistic merit of what was released was considered irrelevant. They even released Disney Television Animation's half-finished abandoned projects, leading to further criticisms and associations of poor quality with the studio's projects.

Disney acquired a more prestigious animation studio following the merger with Pixar in 2006. This merger led to Pixar's John Lasseter becoming Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. In 2007 he gained control over DisneyToon Studios also after film Tinker Bell's budget spiralled out of control and fired Sharon Morrill. He believed DisneyToon Studios should develop their own identity and their policy of making sequels to classic films were demeaning and detracted from the originals. By 2010 only the Tinker Bell series remained, although plans were underway to develop a second series loosely inspired by Pixar's Cars films.

Below is a summary of the last films made by DisneyToon Studios, from 42 to 47. Recurring characters and actors are shown in Bold as well as whether the films were released in the cinema or went direct-to-video. Also mentioned is whether the films pass the The Bechdel Test. This can be summarised as whether the film involves two or more named female characters who have a conversation together that does not include or mention any male characters. The film's European runtime is also included³.

42. Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (2010)

This is the only film in the series not to be set in Pixie Hollow. It would appear that the Griffiths live southeast of London, however London looks quite small with Big Ben near the countryside. Dr Griffiths, despite being an English character, uses Americanisms such as 'trunk' when he means 'boot'.

43. Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings (2012)

Another highly enjoyable entry in the fairies series, concentrating on the value of friendship, separation and unifying in the face of adversity. There are some enjoyable touches, with Scribble the librarian fairy facially resembling Stephen Hawking while the Keeper looks just like Einstein. Megan Hilty replaces Kristin Chenoweth as Rosetta.

44. Planes (2013)

This story was based on an idea by John Lasseter, the writer-director of the first two Cars films. Set in the same world, the film follows the same basic plot as the first two Cars films, involving a race with the hero facing an arrogant opponent. One character, Brent Mustangburger, had appeared in Cars 2 as the race commentator, while two characters, Skipper and Sparky, had appeared in 'Air Mater', an episode of Cars Toons: Maters Tall Tales.

Yet though the plot is incredibly predictable, there are still plenty of details to pick up on. Two minor characters were played by Val Kilmer and Anthony Edwards based on their characters Goose and Ice Man in Top Gun. In the Iceland to Germany section of the race the aircraft fly through Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, which inspired the appearance of the Disney Castle. Also many of the landscapes in the background and clouds also appear in the shape of different aircraft.

The film was so successful at the box office that it was the eighth most successful animated film of the year⁵.

45. Tinker Bell: The Pirate Fairy (2014)

This enjoyable film contains numerous references to Peter Pan, including Hook, Smee and the Tick-Tock Croc. This is a bit confusing as the first film in the series, Tinker Bell, shows a young Wendy only a few years younger than when she was seen in Peter Pan, yet Hook here in this film set later is roughly 20 years younger. Fairy characters that appeared in previous films in the series can be seen attending the Four Seasons Festival. Another reference is to The Wizard of Oz where like in this film, poppies put people to sleep.

46. Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014)

Also called Planes 2: Fire and Rescue, this sequel is a better film than the first, having a more original plot that doesn't copy the first two Cars films. That said, the plot of the heroic racer crashing and coming to terms with choosing an alternative career would feature in Cars 3 (2017), which nevertheless does it much better.

Like the original, this made the top ten most successful animated films of the year, coming eighth⁶.

47. Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast (2015)

This was not expected to be the final film in the series, or indeed the final DisneyToons Studios film, with both another Tinker Bell and Planes film in development but abandoned. This is the only film in the series not to concentrate on Tinker Bell, instead focusing on her friend Fawn, who is now played by Ginnifer Goodwin, the third actress to voice her. Many of the regular Tinker characters such as Fairy Mary, Bobble and Clank do not appear either.

The End

Despite many of the films having a short cinematic run, the majority of DisneyToon Studios' income remained from the home entertainment market and video⁷ sales. Although Disneytoon Studios had planned to continue to develop new films in both the Tinker Bell and Planes series, Disney announced in June 2018 the immediate closure of DisneyToon Studios, with 75 animators and other staff losing their job. The reason given was the decline of home video sales since the rise of online video streaming services. Although Disney Television Animation would continue making occasional feature-length direct-to-video films, it was felt that having an entire animation studio dedicated to this declining area was superfluous. Especially as Walt Disney Animation Studios recently embraced the concept of making sequels to their films, making recent animated sequels Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and Frozen 2 as big budget official films rather than low-budget, lesser releases.

Also in mid-2018 it was announced that Walt Disney intended to acquire 21st Century Fox, including Blue Sky Studios, the animation studio most famous for the Ice Age series. This deal was finalised in 2019. Disney being set to acquire another prestigious animation studio was another reason for no longer needing DisneyToon Studios.

There was an additional factor for the studio's closure. John Lasseter had fully supported the continuation of both the Planes and Tinker Bell / Disney Fairies series. In late 2017 he admitted sexual misconduct⁸, resulting in an initial six month leave-of-absence followed by an announcement he would step down at the end of 2018. It was no longer considered appropriate to continue to support projects such as Planes and Tinker Bell that he was closely associated with. He was replaced as Chief Creative Officer at Pixar by Pete Docter, who had directed Monsters, Inc (2001), Up (2009) and Inside Out (2015), while Jennifer Lee, writer/director of Frozen (2013), was appointed Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios.