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+.

Go-go-gadget reboot! Matthew Broderick starred in 1999's "Inspector Gadget," an unexpected live-action adaptation of the classic cartoon. Like his animated counterpart, this Inspector Gadget is a super spy reminiscent of James Bond with a "Robocop"-esque origin story. After being badly injured in an explosion orchestrated by a dastardly villain, bumbling security guard John Brown is reborn as a cyborg with a number of advanced technological gadgets at his disposal. As Inspector Gadget, he serves as a particularly goofy secret agent, with his young niece Penny and her pet beagle Brain by his side.

The small screen "Inspector Gadget" is a satirical send-up of spy movies and other kids shows. But on the big screen, the humor barely works. It's too juvenile for the show's now-adult fans, yet too dumb to entertain the kids in the audience. What results is a special effects-laden bore full of unimpressive visuals and lifeless laughs. Despite its critical drubbing, "Inspector Gadget" did just well enough at the box office to earn a sequel. Matthew Broderick, smart enough to steer clear, was replaced by "3rd Rock From the Sun" star French Stewart.

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.

1997's "That Darn Cat" wasn't Christina Ricci's first reboot of a '60s original: She got her breakthrough role in "The Addams Family" just a few years prior. But while 1965's "That Darn Cat!" was a hit, it wasn't exactly a cult classic, a la Gomez and Morticia Addams' escapades. A reboot happened regardless, starring Ricci as Patti Randall, a jaded teenager who hates her ordinary suburban life. Her companion, a cat named D.C., unwittingly stumbles upon a pair of bumbling crooks who've kidnapped a woman in town. Though her parents dismiss her claims as crazy teen talk, Patti and D.C. know what they must do. They team up with zany FBI Agent Zeke Kelso (Doug E. Doug) to solve the case and save the woman's life.

For some reason, the '90s were awash in terrible remakes of '60s classics. "That Darn Cat" is a great example: This 1997 flick is decidedly in-fur-ior to the original. While the 1965 movie is a simple and light-hearted family comedy that leaves audiences feline good, the 1997 reboot would be better off in the litter box. This story simply doesn't work as an off-the-wall caper for the MTV generation. What's worse, it gives charismatic rising star Ricci surprisingly little to do, other than look annoyed and be sarcastic. If this was an attempt to recapture her popular performance as Wednesday Addams, it failed miserably.

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.

1990's "Home Alone" remains a Hollywood classic more than 30 years after its debut. This is in spite of a series of sequels of declining quality, culminating — for a while, anyway — in the absolutely dreadful "Home Alone: The Holiday Heist." Disney got their mitts on the franchise following their acquisition of 20th Century Fox, which meant it was really only a matter of time before a reboot came about, given the love that still exists for the original. Alas, 2021's "Home Sweet Home Alone" dropped on Disney+ just in time for Christmas. It does its best to be the worst film in the franchise.

Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney star as a husband and wife on the verge of bankruptcy. They plot to break into the home of little Max Mercer (Archie Yates), who they believe has stolen a valuable toy. As Max's parents mistakenly leave him behind when departing for their Japanese vacation, he gets stuck defending their home from the two thieves, who he mistakes for dangerous kidnappers. 

A watered-down reboot with an unnecessarily complicated set-up, this movie's attempt to make the pair of bumbling burglars sympathetic is confusing at best. The ensuing hijinks are lifeless imitations of the clever and innovative original's. Frankly, the 1990 version of the film, led by Macaulay Culkin's endearing breakout performance as mischief-maker Kevin McCallister, still works for today's youngsters. It makes you wonder why Disney even bothered to put together yet another tired retread.

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.

One of the Disney Channel's best animated shows, "Kim Possible" was a cartoon spy comedy full of whip-smart humor and stylish animation. Bringing it back to the small screen probably seemed like a no-brainer. Thus, in 2019, we got a new "Kim Possible" movie. But to fans' disappointment, it's not a continuation, sequel, or animated reboot — it's an inexplicable live-action adaptation. 

While Disney has enjoyed a tremendous run of success with live-action remakes of their animated classics, remaking "Kim Possible" in live-action proved to be ill-advised. Any nostalgia that might have been mined among the now-adult core audience is entirely squandered with its cast of tween stars. Moreover, while the action-packed secret agent spectacle at the core of the series works in animation, it simply doesn't translate to a low-budget live-action flick. Perhaps, one wonders, they were looking to make "Mission: Impossible" for the little ones. But instead of getting a family-friendly action-adventure, fans got a weak imitation of "Spy Kids" that fails to entertain anyone but the most undiscerning viewers. While we still wouldn't mind an animated revival, if you liked the original "Kim Possible," don't feel bad about ignoring this live-action snooze-fest.

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.

A reboot of the 1963 sitcom starring Bill Bixby ("The Incredible Hulk") and Ray Walston ("Picket Fences"), the 1999 sci-fi comedy "My Favorite Martian" might just be the worst movie on this list. This is not just because it's awful, delivering few laughs and plenty of lackluster performances from its big name cast — it's because of its inexplicable attempt to relaunch a series that was only ever mediocre.

"My Favorite Martian" centers around Tim O'Hara (Jeff Daniels), a television newsman who meets a humanoid Martian(Christopher Lloyd) after the latter being crash-lands on Earth. Tim takes the alien in, hoping this act will lead to a major news story. But he's not the only reporter with this idea. With the help of camerawoman Lizzie (Daryl Hannah), Tim must stop his rival, Brace Channing (Elizabeth Hurley), from getting the scoop first.

This movie is a complete bust from top to bottom, to the point that you have to wonder what Disney was thinking. Perhaps the success of out-of-this-world sitcoms like "3rd Rock From The Sun" and alien-centric movies like "Men In Black" led Disney to set their sights on creating their own sci-fi-comedy franchise. Of course, this film is neither as clever, funny, or exciting as either of those two productions. "My Favorite Martian" produces nothing but groan-worthy slapstick that simply didn't play with audiences or critics.  

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.

2009's "Race to Witch Mountain" was actually Disney's second attempt at rebooting 1975's "Escape to Witch Mountain," following a 1995 television movie. With rising superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson leading the cast, the studio probably hoped this take would be a fresh start for the franchise. The story follows Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig), a pair of alien twins who possess incredible powers. Pursued by shadowy figures that want to use them for their own evil ends, the pair comes under the protection of Las Vegas cab driver Jack Bruno (Johnson). He must get them back to their spaceship, which lies somewhere atop Witch Mountain.

Though this sounds like a promising start to a grand adventure, "Race to Witch Mountain" offers little that audiences haven't seen before, all of which has been done better in other movies. Johnson is his usual charismatic self, and does his best to carry the film on his sizable back. But it's simply not enough to make this movie exciting, let alone start a new franchise.

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.