More Tricks Than Treats as Netflix Adds Four Video Sequels

As October rolls in, let's all remember Netflix currently hosts a terrific collection of Disney films. It's also helpful to recall they recently added the excellent Lilo and Stitch and The Emperor's New Groove to the lineup...because they've just ushered in a big pile of mediocre video sequels. These pale follow-ups serve as a reminder of the bad old days when Disney was shoving Stitch in the public's face over and over again and running a once-fresh concept like New Groove into the ground.

No, you weren't dreaming, Disney really did release a sequel called Leroy and Stitch.

It's a crummy pill to swallow, especially considering Netflix recently dropped The Muppet Movie from its streaming lineup. Despite that loss and this influx of ickiness, the majority of the Netflix Disney library remains very impressive.

If you're in the mood for a good laugh, I highly recommend streaming the original Lilo and Stitch and The Emperor's New Groove. Let the low-budget video sequels gather virtual dust.

Netflix Adds Five Disney Children's Series

I wish I had more exciting Netflix news for animation fans this month, but the streaming service has added no classic Disney films in the last several weeks. For younger viewers, however, four popular Disney pre-school shows and an action series for older children are arriving this month.

The two most recent shows on that short list are the fist to arrive--In fact, they're available now. Jake and the Never Land Pirates, the At-Least-It's-Not-As-Bad-As-Little-Einsteins preschool show and Tron Uprising, an action series for older children, are ready for viewing.

Later this month, the service will add the cheerful Handy Manny, the Someone-Please-Tell-Disney-That-Adult-James-Bond-References-Do-Not-Make-Appropriate-Preschool-Show-Episode-Titles awfulness of Special Agent Oso and the classic claymation Jo Jo's Circus.

Again, I wish I had more exciting news to report for older Disney fans, but I'm willing to cut Netflix some slack, for their current Disney selection has a decent number of great classics.

I wonder, though: Does anyone at Netflix realize how many subscribers they'd instantly gain if they added shows like Ducktales and Talespin to the roster?