I have never understood why this is, but trying to find a 2000s cartoon on Disney+ is like trying to find teeth on a chicken. There is no House of Mouse, nor Dave the Barbarian, nor Fillmore, nor Brandy and Mr. Whiskers….if it didn’t star Stitch, it’s not there. But at last….AT LAST….we’re getting word that times could be changing.
Disney+ and Hulu have just launched a new summer campaign called Throwbacks that highlights past hits of the 90s and 2000s. In order to do this, those hits have to actually be there, which is why “new movies and shows from the vault” are about to be added. And they’re starting with two big ones!
Doug Langdale’s beloved early 2000s cartoon The Weekenders will be added to the service on Memorial Day. The show is about Tino, Lor, Carver and Tish, four seventh graders determined to make the most out of each weekend they have together. The press release only mentions “Seasons 1 and 2” but don’t panic — there were just two season orders that were spread out over four years. Despite airing until 2004, all episodes past #13 bear a copyright date of 2001.
On the same day, 1987’s The Brave Little Toaster — a sort-of-indie animated film produced by future Pixar rockstars — will be added at last. If you ask me, this movie is nearly flawless in its storytelling, and should be shown in every film class as an example of how to nail mood, tension and feeling. Last we heard, the movie wasn’t there because of rights entanglements (it wasn’t ENTIRELY a Disney movie) but they’ve had the crummy sequels up instead, which Disney DOES own 100%.
The only question now is what it will look like. I had longed to see the “widescreen” version of this film, but a scan of a 35mm reel posted to YouTube revealed The Brave Little Toaster was actually produced in 4:3 scale. Any “widescreen” version would be faux, meaning it would have the top and bottom chopped off, like what they did to Rescue Rangers. If Disney rescanned this, they likely pulled that dirty stunt. But if they’re using the fuzzy DVD master, the movie will still be properly square-shaped…just wobbly, as that master was made with a faulty reel.
Yes, I know far more about The Brave Little Toaster than any healthy person should. Moving on.
There is a lot more where these two came from. From the 2000s alone we have the aforementioned House of Mouse, Dave the Barbarian, Fillmore, and Brandy, but there’s also Lloyd in Space, The Legend of Tarzan, Teamo Supremo, The Buzz On Maggie, the second season of The Replacements. and House of Mouse’s progenitor Mickey Mouse Works.
The hardest one is probably going to be Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command from 2000, a show Pixar didn’t have anything to do with beyond its main title sequence. Lasseter is rumored to have hated the show, and its very premise — that the Buzz Lightyear of Andy’s world was a TV cartoon — has been retconned by Pixar to be a movie instead. That didn’t work out very well for them!
There are fewer holes in Disney+’s 1990s library, but they exist. The biggest omission is the entire Aladdin TV series from 1994, even though the DTV sequels are there. The Schnookums And Meat Funny Cartoon Show has also been MIA since the beginning. There’s also 1992’s Raw Toonage, but don’t count on that one, as it contains the presence of Marsupilami — a character Disney no longer holds the rights to and the angry creator will never let them have again. Likewise, Marsupilami’s own spinoff series will never appear.
But for everything else, there’s hope again! Make the most of your day off the way the Weekenders did by watching their show on May 25 — and don’t forget the Toaster, because you can’t betray an appliance that would throw himself into gears for you.
