The Worst Reboots You'll Find On Disney+

Disney+ is home to some of the biggest and best movies ever made, from old Hollywood classics to modern award-winners. Box office smashes like "Star Wars" and "The Avengers" are here, as well as long-running shows like "The Simpsons." But Disney+ doesn't merely present the cream of the crop. It essentially flings the company's famous vault wide open, offering up everything from beloved blockbusters to absolute busts, and everything in between. That includes plenty of attempts to reboot old favorites, with decidedly mixed results.

Disney has been trying to bring hit movies and TV shows back from the dead longer than most. Some of their attempts have led to incredible success — but others have resulted in some of the worst films in their catalog. Those stinking failures aren't hidden away, though: They're available on the company's streaming service, right beside their most sparkling classics. We're taking a look back at the worst remakes, reboots, and rehashes you can find right now on Disney+.

Few movies have spawned as many reboots and remakes as the 1976 teen comedy "Freaky Friday." They've ranged in quality from surprisingly good to laughably bad, but it's the 2018 remake that sits at the bottom of the list. Starring Cozi Zuehlsdorff and Heidi Blickenstaff, this one is a musical that once again tells the story of a teenage girl and her overbearing mother who are forced to live each other's lives after a magical body swap.

Stuck in the form of rebellious Ellie, middle-aged Katherine must deal with demanding teachers, cruel bullies, a handsome crush, and an upcoming scavenger hunt. Ellie, meanwhile, must balance her mother's work life, upcoming wedding, and parental responsibilities to Fletcher, her younger brother. All the while, mother and daughter must track down a mystical hourglass to reverse the spell. The musical angle gives the movie a fresh twist that may justify its existence — which is really saying something, as previous versions still hold up. But it really doesn't add that much to the proceedings, because the songs just aren't very good. While critics didn't seem too bothered, audiences weren't having it. Freighted with a mediocre cast and unimpressive musical numbers, this "Freaky Friday" simply can't compete with its predecessors.

With Disney+ in need of fresh content every month, audiences are often greeted with new and sometimes surprising reboots when they launch the streaming service. In 2022, they discovered "Cheaper by the Dozen," the second remake of the 1950 film starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy. This version stars Zach Braff ("Scrubs") and Gabrielle Union ("Bring It On"), a married couple with a huge blended family. Their already-harried lives become even more packed as their restaurant business expands, forcing the loving clan to face tough choices.

Chaos and hilarity are supposed to be the result of this frenzied premise, but we get more noise and nonsense than lunacy and laughs. It was absolutely lambasted by reviewers, who declared it a formulaic drag. This film isn't the first "Cheaper by the Dozen" to endure a drubbing, however: The 2003 version starring Steve Martin, Hilary Duff, and Tom Welling could easily qualify for this list. Though it also disappointed critics and audiences, it did well enough at the box office to earn a sequel ... that is somehow even worse. If the 2022 film can claim one success, it's that it's not as bad as that disaster.

A mostly-forgotten Tom Hanks comedy from 1989, the original "Turner & Hooch" is a buddy movie about an investigator and a rambunctious dog. Apparently desperate for fresh content, Disney decided to adapt this so-so film into a streaming series. It launched in 2021 with a 12-episode season starring Disney mainstay Josh Peck.

This "Turner & Hooch" introduces us to a lawman, U.S. Marshal Scott Turner Jr., who inherits a pooch named Hooch. He soon becomes man's best friend in fighting crime. Scott is the son of Tom Hanks' original character, which makes this series part sequel, part reboot. But it's a ruff imitation, as Peck can't live up to '80s Hanks' manic comic skills. A bit too cornball for modern audiences, it repeats tired jokes and gets old a lot more quickly than the movie does. The show is not entirely without merit — many critics deemed it serviceable entertainment, if not much more. But it feels distinctly paws-ible that it would have made a better movie than a full series. There's just not enough meat on the bone to fill out 12 episodes. Unsurprisingly, the series did not receive a Season 2, and went straight to the dog house.

Disney has made millions at the box office with live-action reboots like "Beauty and the Beast," "The Jungle Book," and "Cinderella." Continuing this streak with one of their oldest classics seemed like a natural choice. But who could possibly translate the absurdist fantasy of "Dumbo" into live-action? Tim Burton, of course — especially since he made 2010's "Alice In Wonderland" into a huge hit.

Reuniting "Batman Returns" stars Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito, the cast of 2019's "Dumbo" also features big-name talents like Colin Farrell ("Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them") and Eva Green ("Penny Dreadful"). But while the original 1941 masterpiece tells a heartfelt story about an outcast finding his place in the world, the live-action remake trips over its floppy ears. This is in spite of some truly wondrous visuals, which do a tremendous job of bringing the tale into the modern age. But the story itself is flat and spiritless, full of characters who feel more like toy figurines placed in a vast and beautiful diorama than living, breathing people. What results is a gorgeous film utterly devoid of anything more than the most superficial delights. Thankfully, it proved to be a box office disappointment, sparing us from an original live-action sequel.

Between "That Darn Cat" and "My Favorite Martian," late '90s Disney threw pretty much everything against the wall to see what would stick. With 1997's "Flubber," they tried adapting yet another 1960s classic, "The Absent Minded Professor." "Flubber" replaces iconic star Fred MacMurray with zany comedian Robin Williams in the role of the socially awkward scientist who discovers a compound with seemingly magical properties. This film was released one year after "The Nutty Professor," a similarly-themed remake of a classic comedy, succeeded at the box office. With a big comic star attached and plenty of special effects, Disney probably thought they had the next big family franchise on their hands in "Flubber."

Of course, as it's on this list, you can probably guess that "Flubber" was anything but a smash hit. It didn't become a box office flop, granted, but it did prove to be a major flub with critics. Williams is his usual wacky self, but the movie plays up the CGI so much, it overwhelms his natural charm. All the comic cleverness of the original is replaced with elastic spectacle and bizarre attempts at physical comedy that just fall flat. Thus, "Flubber" bounced its way right out of theaters and oozed limply into the dustbin of forgotten family films. If you're a fan of Robin Williams (and, let's face it, who isn't), it may be worth a watch, but as far as Disney reboots go, this one went splat.

The "Mighty Ducks" franchise began with the 1992 sports comedy of the same name, which follows a bedraggled youth hockey team as they fight to make it to the playoffs. It was a big hit, earning two sequels and even spawning its own NHL hockey team. And yet 1996's "Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series" still manages to stand alone as the franchise's most bizarre creation.

For some reason, Disney thought turning their live-action hockey comedy into a sci-fi action show was a good idea. This series follows a team of anthropomorphic ducks from outer space who wind up on Earth. There, they continue their war with their interstellar rivals, who they've fought across multiple dimensions. To make things even weirder, our heroes become big league hockey players operating out of Anaheim, California, just like the real team the original movie spawned.

Disney might have hoped to take the "Mighty Ducks" franchise to new heights with this series, but what results is utter quackery. The story is woefully over-complicated, with a mythology and backstory complex enough to rival "The Lord Of The Rings." While it has some entertainment value as an animated adventure, none of it really makes any sense. Moreover, it now looks dated. This cartoon is one-of-a-kind, but that's not necessarily a good thing.