One surprisingly high-quality element of the Into the Unknown, was a riveting release in summer 2020 that provided more honesty and context than Disney tends to be upfront about.
With that in mind, Disney+ could easily become a home of behind-the-scenes looks at even more troubled productions from throughout the studio's history. Not every film was a troubled production, but each of those that was deserves its making-of tell-all.
Frozen
While Frozen II received its own documentary series, its Snow White.
The story of the "Snow Queen" evolved many times over the years before the eventual success of Tangled enabled Disney to give the green light to their dominant force of the 2010s. A documentary could be a neat way to also show Disney's animation development through the decades.
Sleeping Beauty
While Frozen helped prove (twice over) that princesses were still viable for Disney, Sleeping Beauty essentially shelved the genre for the studio for three decades. It's no knock on the quality of the movie, though. Sleeping Beauty underwent a decade of turmoil.
Among the many issues a docu-series could touch on are directors replaced (due to health and creative reasons) and Walt Disney himself personally eschewing entire sequences from the film. The gorgeousness of the eventual movie would lead to a lovely ending, too.
Ratatouille
Disney+ does have access to Leslie Iwerks' top-notch doc, Ratatouille.
In addition to Brad Bird's many alterations to the film, a documentary could explore how this movie nearly marked Pixar's break-away from the Disney hold over them before Steve Jobs and Bob Iger made peace after previous CEO Michael Eisner's focus on straight-to-DVD sequels. The Blank Check podcast was fascinating enough; a whole series would be downright riveting.
The Little Mermaid
The best documentary on Disney+ might just be Don Hahn's Waking Sleeping Beauty, which details how Disney's animation studio nearly died in the 1980s before the Renaissance produced some of the most profitable and delightful films ever made.
There's a lot here about The Little Mermaid, but the making of this film could have much more depth in the story behind it. Not only thanks to Jodi Benson, Howard Ashman, and Alan Menken potentially rescuing Disney with one gorgeous overture but also thanks to its ties to Frozen's 1930s origins and a potential package film of Andersen tales.
The Emperor's New Groove
A documentary about the making of The Emperor's New Groove does exist. It's called The Sweatbox and it heavily features Sting. However, until Disney decides to approve the unedited doc for the streamer, a more in-depth look could still be considered desirable.
After all, it's been two decades since David Spade and John Goodman led one of Disney's funnier films. A retrospective on the creative process behind the grave-turned-wacky endeavor would be most welcome, in full.
The Jungle Book
Obviously, the story of Disney cannot be told without referencing its less-than-seemly connections to stories in the public domain and its stranglehold over copyright laws. One of the most fascinating narratives behind this would be the original Jungle Book.
For one, Disney implored his creative team to ignore the specifics behind Rudyard Kipling's original book. For another, it was the last film Disney worked on personally before his 1966 death. It'd be a heart-wrenching story, but a fascinating one.
Make Mine Music
One element of Disney's history that would be neat to explore is the war-era package films. When World War II dominated the globe, Disney took to stringing a slew of stories together as a way to save money and headaches at a time when fantastical animation was no one's top priority.
A docu-series could detail the making of some of these movies, like Melody Time and Fun and Fancy Free. But it would be most compelling to explore Make Mine Music, which is still kept at arm's length by Disney today.
Gigantic
If "Gigantic" sounds unfamiliar, that's because it never got to exist. In 2017, "Gigantic" was canceled by Disney after numerous delays and shelving moments. It's not the first time a Disney animated film died before it could live, but many details have been kept hush hush over the troubled production.
For one, it was based on a fairy tale (Jack and the Beanstalk) that seems like a surefire hit for Disney. But even involvement from the Lopezes wasn't enough and it never truly got off the ground. It'd be intriguing to find out why.
The Black Cauldron
If The Little Mermaid saved Disney animation, The Black Cauldron was the film that nearly killed it. A documentary about this misguided 1985 attempt at an epic would be riveting, largely because it would put the follies of executive Jeffrey Katzenberg on center stage.
Katzenberg is a curious figure in the history of Disney and his attempt at solo editing The Black Cauldron would be worth an entire chronicling episode of its own. But it would also give a lens into how Disney has consistently watered down its darker fare over the years.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
What would be most engaging in a documentary about Atlantis: The Lost Empire is the simple idea of what could go wrong when everything goes right. Production on an Atlantis film hummed along efficiently and with valuable creative input from a host of artists.
The process of making Atlantis was tricky, as multiple iterations were considered at once. But it was never combative or full of friction. Instead, it had all the ingredients for a smash hit and, instead, it ushered in a new nadir of Disney's animation department. In many ways, a documentary into the "why" of Atlantis' troubled results would be the boldest story of the ten that Disney could tell.