10 Worst Animated Movies of the ’90s, According to Letterboxd

The ’90s are easily one of the most iconic and acclaimed decades when it comes to the medium of animation, with some of the most beloved and critically acclaimed animated films of all time coming from the decade. Ranging from massive box office juggernauts like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast to films that greatly influenced the medium going forward like Toy Story and The Prince of Egypt to cult classics like Perfect Blue and The Iron Giant.

However, for every genre-defining and groundbreaking animated film that the decade saw, there was also a fair share of bottom-of-the-barrel, terrible films that never should have seen the light of day. It’s always nice to take a look at the worst of the worst that animation has to offer to place a greater perspective and respect on the other films of the era, even those that are middle-of-the-road quality-wise. Decades out from the 90s, it’s interesting to see which films have left the greatest impact on the modern generation of film fans on Letterboxd as the worst that 90s animation has to offer.

10 ‘Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights’ (1994)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.42/5

While to the unacquainted, it may seem shocking and confusing that a Scooby-Doo film could be of such low quality, Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights is truly only related to the franchise by name. The film follows Shaggy and Scooby as they travel to Arabia to become royal taste testers for the Caliph before unintentionally getting wrapped up in a wild adventure of magic and chaos. They soon find themselves as witnesses to a retelling of the classic story of Arabian Nights, with other Hanna-Barbera characters like Yogi Bear and Magilla Gorilla playing some of the pivotal roles.

Scooby-Doo as a franchise was in a strange era during the late 80s and early 2000s, with Arabian Nights being the best example of just how much they forgot what made the characters and premise so great. Scooby and Shaggy are the only returning characters, with no mention of Fred, Velma, or Daphne, and nothing close to a mystery to be solved, as it really is just the plot of Arabian Nights with cartoon characters tacked on. It’s clear that the film is a cheap attempt to cash in on the success of Arabian Nights following the success of Disney’s Aladdin 2 years prior, and thankfully, the Scooby-Doo franchise would bounce back 4 years later with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.

Watch on Boomerang

9 ‘The Mighty Kong’ (1998)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.42/5

A wild attempt to transform the classic story of King Kong into a Disney-style musical, The Mighty Kong is certainly one of the strangest and most confusing takes on one of cinema’s most iconic monsters. The film mostly follows the original story, with actress Ann Darrow traveling with a film director to Skull Island to film an authentic role before going face-to-face with natives and the legendary King Kong. Kong eventually finds himself rampaging across New York City after they bring him back to display him as a wonder of the world, kidnapping Ann in the process.

While the concept and motives behind transforming King Kong into a Disney-style musical aren’t exactly terrible in concept, the execution makes The Mighty Kong such an unbearable viewing experience. The combination of incredibly cheap animation done overseas to save money and painfully generic and underwhelming musical numbers made The Mighty Kong nothing but a disservice to the original film. Even the inclusion of talented voice actors like Jodi Benson and Dudley Moore wasn’t enough to save this film from being pure mediocrity.

Watch on Tubi

8 ‘Evil Toons’ (1992)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.40/5

Taking a sleazy, horror movie approach to the concept of 2D cartoon characters interacting with the real world as popularized by Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Evil Toons is nothing more than a cheap, exploitative mess. The film follows a group of young girls who, in the process of cleaning an old house to get it ready for new owners, stumble across an old, mysterious book filled with evil incantations. While reading the book, they accidentally summon a real-life cartoon character, who begins a bloodthirsty rampage upon the girls as well as the rest of the world.

For a movie called “Evil Toons,” there is very little focus placed upon the titular evil cartoon character, as animation is proven to be a very difficult and expensive endeavor. Instead, the film follows the skeleton structure of the trends of the worst horror movies of the 90s, using cheap sex appeal and exploration in order to get people interested in its lackluster execution. One of the only few times that the titular evil Toon makes his presence in the film is in an abhorrent and disgusting rape sequence, which says just about everything you need to know about the quality of the film.

Watch on Tubi

7 ‘Hercules’ (1997)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.40/5

Not to be confused with the iconic Disney film that was released the same year, this version of Hercules was released by the infamous Dingo Pictures, a German animation company notorious for its low-quality ripoff films. Unlike other ripoff films that simply copy and paste the story of the original film, this version of Hercules tells its own strange, unintelligible story of the mythical son of Zeus. The film sees Hercules, having been made immortal by Zeus to rule over Greece, having to prove to his parents that he is worthy of being called a hero.

Mind-bogglingly terrible visual style, painful audio mixing, and baffling story…

If you’ve seen one film from Dingo Pictures, you’ve seen them all, as they are largely defined by their mind-bogglingly terrible visual style, painful audio mixing, and baffling story that never comes close to making sense. Especially in comparison to the Disney classic, this version of Hercules deserves nothing more than to be cast away into the fires of the underworld. It can certainly make for a fun, so-bad-it’s-good watch, but it has very few actual qualities outside of this.

6 ‘Belle’s Magical World’ (1998)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.25/5

One of many low-budget and low-quality straight-to-DVD sequels from Disney, Belle’s Magical World acts as nothing more than a combination of segments that were meant to be episodes of a Beauty and the Beast TV series. These segments tackle topics including Belle and the Beast learning to forgive one another, Lumiere’s girlfriend getting jealous of his connection and friendship with Belle, and Beast learning to be kind to an injured bird that appears on the castle grounds.

The first straight-to-DVD sequel to Beauty and the Beast, The Enchanted Christmas, was already low-quality enough, but Belle’s Magical World takes it to the next level in terms of laziness and being a cash grab. It’s clear from the get-go exactly why this TV series never got greenlit in the first place, as there is very little that one can add to the original story and characters in an episodic format, creating a strange and banal viewing experience. The film is largely considered one of the worst straight-to-DVD sequels by Disney and is proof that even the most successful Disney films don’t need a sequel.

Watch on Disney+

5 ‘Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly’ (1994)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.07/5

The Dragon Ball franchise has had many ups and downs when it comes to its ventures into the realm of feature-length films, yet Dragon Ball Z: Bio Brolyeasily stands out as one of the series’ worst outings. The film sees Hercule Satan’s old sparring partner, Jaga Bada, inviting him out to his secret personal island in order to hold a grudge match, with Trunks, Goten, and Android #18 joining Mr. Satan on his quest. When they arrive, they quickly learn that Jaga Bada and his team of scientists have been creating an army of dangerous bioweapon soldiers, including the resurrection of the legendary super saiyan, Broly.

Bio Broly was already facing an uphill battle in the eyes of Dragon Ball fans, being one of the few films that don’t focus on Goku or Vegeta at all, instead using their children, Goten and Trunks, as the protagonists. While the potential was certainly there to see a glorious return of one of the series’ most iconic villains, Bio Broly fails to understand what made Broly such a likable villain in the first place. Making him a tool for a forgettable scientist and changing his design to be covered in disgusting sludge only served to annoy fans of the Dragon Ball series.

Watch on Crunchyroll

4 ‘The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue’ (1998)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.06/5

The original The Secret of NIMH is one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed animated films of its era, with Don Bluth‘s masterful 2D animation acting as the first true competition to Disney in decades. This sad, sorry excuse for a straight-to-video sequel that was released 16 years after the original film only served to spit in the face and legacy of everything that the original film stood for and was about. The film follows one of Mrs. Brisby’s children being prophesied to save Thorn Valley, with her youngest son, Timmy, being chosen to be trained to save the valley.

It’s difficult to understate just how much of the magic and charm of the original 2D animation masterpiece is lost in the creation of this sequel, with the film clearly acting as nothing more than a cash grab banking on name recognition. It wouldn’t burn nearly as much if there hadn’t been such a massive wait between the original film and this sorry excuse for an animated sequel, with the lack of involvement from Bluth being clear from the get-go. Even aside from simply being a bad follow-up, the film goes out of its way to retcon and change aspects of the original film, acting as a true gut-punch to fans of the original film.

Watch on Tubi

3 ‘Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World’ (1998)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.01/5

The original Pocahontas is already a largely controversial and divisive film in Disney’s filmography, so a straight-to-video sequel was always going to be a disaster in the eyes of critics and audiences. Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World attempts to continue the story of the original film, with Pocahontas reeling from the news of John Smith’s death and deciding to travel to London on a mission of diplomacy. While there is a major culture shock for Pocahontas, she and her new partner, John Rolfe, will stop at nothing to create peace and respect between the two great lands.

Pocahontas II has a lot of the same struggles and poorly aged aspects as the original film, with the additional difficulties of its minuscule straight-to-video budget and unwarranted existence. It’s easily among the most forgettable and underwhelming of the Disney straight-to-video sequels, coming across as more boring and uneventful than anything else. The baffling decision to kill off the love interest from the first film in the first act is also a jarring change that only served to confuse and annoy fans of the first film.

Watch on Disney+

2 ‘The Christmas Tree’ (1991)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.69/5

The original The Secret of NIMH is one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed animated films of its era, with Don Bluth‘s masterful 2D animation acting as the first true competition to Disney in decades. This sad, sorry excuse for a straight-to-video sequel that was released 16 years after the original film only served to spit in the face and legacy of everything that the original film stood for and was about. The film follows one of Mrs. Brisby’s children being prophesied to save Thorn Valley, with her youngest son, Timmy, being chosen to be trained to save the valley.

It’s difficult to understate just how much of the magic and charm of the original 2D animation masterpiece is lost in the creation of this sequel, with the film clearly acting as nothing more than a cash grab banking on name recognition. It wouldn’t burn nearly as much if there hadn’t been such a massive wait between the original film and this sorry excuse for an animated sequel, with the lack of involvement from Bluth being clear from the get-go. Even aside from simply being a bad follow-up, the film goes out of its way to retcon and change aspects of the original film, acting as a true gut-punch to fans of the original film.

Watch on Tubi

1 ‘The Legend of the Titanic’ (1999)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.51/5

Easily the most iconic and recognizable film from the 90s was James Cameron‘s Titanic, which took the world by storm with its beautiful story of love, tragedy, and ahead-of-the-time visuals. It was all but guaranteed for the film to have a multitude of ripoffs and poor-quality films attempting to ride the coattails of Cameron’s masterpiece, with The Legend of the Titanic being one of the most egregious examples. The film intersperses a similar love story taking place on the Titanic with talking animals, an evil underground whaling business, and a giant octopus who saves the people aboard the Titanic.

Like the many other animated movies before it, The Legend of the Titanic is egregiously terrible thanks to its minuscule animation quality and egregious status as a rip-off film. However, what puts the film above and beyond as one of the worst animated movies of not just the ’90s but of all time is its unforgivable disrespect and disservice to the victims of the original Titanic disaster. To say that it’s in poor taste to have a giant cartoon octopus save everyone from dying is a massive understatement, as it’s the type of decision and story choice that genuinely sounds too moronic and insane to be real. The only thing worse than this film’s existence is the fact that there are actually multiple animated Titanic ripoff films.

Watch on Tubi

NEXT: The Worst Animated Movies of All Time, According to Letterboxd