Thread:Alex2424121/@comment-3040909-20150509180039

I'm long overdue to discuss the things I said I'd discuss with you, so now I think is the time to do so.

The first thing that needs to be address is, as I discussed with you before, despite what the other Admins and certain members here want to believe, Disney's direct-to-videos ARE NOT canon and there are many reasons why:


 * First of all, aside from sporadic DVD reissues, the company hardly ever acknowledges their existence in most of their media (the parks, merchandise, books, trivia and info sites like D23.com, etc.). For instance:
 * Pocahontas & John Smith remain an official couple, completely ignoring John Rolfe
 * The "Pre-teen" Wendy Darling appears in the parks instead of the Adult Wendy from "Return to Neverland"
 * Characters from them (ie: John Rolfe, Melody, Abis Mal, etc.) don't appear in the parks as costumed characters in general
 * They hardly mention them or pay homage to them in attractions (such as Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom) or in parades or live shows


 * Second, they were not created by Walt Disney Animation Studios (aka Walt Disney Feature Animation), but were instead done by Walt Disney Television Animation and/or DisneyToon Studios. And the general rule of thumb is that the department that creates the canon keeps the canon. A few examples:
 * Frozen (WDAS) to Frozen Fever (WDAS) = Canon
 * The Rescues (WDAS) to The Rescuers Down Under (WDAS) = Canon
 * The Little Mermaid (WDAS) to The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (WDTA) = Not canon
 * Aladdin (WDAS) to The Return of Jafar/the Aladdin TV series/Aladdin and the King of Thieves (all WDTA) = Not canon
 * Pocahontas (WDAS) to Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (WDTA) = Not canon
 * The Lion King (WDAS) to The Lion King II: Simba's Pride/The Lion Guard/Timon & Pumbaa (all WDTA) = Not canon
 * Peter Pan (WDAS) to Return to Neverland (WDTA/DisneyToon)/Jake and the Neverland Pirates (WDTA) = Not canon


 * Third, contradictions. For example:
 * The Timon & Pumbaa episode "Once Upon a Timon" and The Lion King 1 1/2 contradict each other.
 * The Little Mermaid TV series and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning contradict each other.
 * In storybooks and such telling stories of Aladdin & Jasmine's wedding, it is very different from Aladdin and the King of Thieves (Iago and Cassim are nowhere to be seen, etc.)

Facts like these are constantly being reaffirmed by the company in their history books and by official Disney Company record-keepers such as Dave Smith. And whatever the company says is what goes and we have to acknowledge that cold-hard fact on this wiki, even if it means creating pages on here discussing the differences and why the direct-to-video sequels are non-canonical and such.

These same facts are also reaffirmed by Keith Lapining whose YouTube videos I REALLY recommend you take the time to watch and his Tumblr blog that I strongly encourage you to take the time out to read. Not only does he work for the company, but unlike a lot of other fans, he actually does his research on these things and has had actual correspondence with folks close to the source, including the Walt Disney Archives. I hope you'll do all this--it's well worth your time and the videos are very well done and informative.

I also strongly encourage you to invite Mr. Lapining to the Disney Wiki to start editing pages here with his vast amounts of knowledge and info and possibly make him an Admin someday--he'd perfect here and something that this wiki REALLY needs.

I hope you will understand what I'm getting at here and please reply soon. I will speak with you again soon. Thanks again. 