During the 2008–18 decade, Disney not only notably revised the studio’s formula of fairy-tale romance but also ventured into and re-envisioned action-adventure cinema. This chapter specifically illuminates how the studio reframed the digital action-adventure spectacle, expanding the generic scope of its constructed formula in the process. Relying on Bolt (Byron Howard and Chris Williams, 2008), Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore, 2012), Big Hero 6 (Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014) and Moana (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2016) as case studies, this chapter examines how Disney animation reproduced action-adventure visuals and thrills, self-reflexively questioned the mise en scène behind such a dazzling experience, and expanded the generic boundaries of the potentially empowering action spectacle.

The selected case studies reveal the breadth of Disney’s generic explorations and reappropriations. Bolt focuses on a dog which is unknowingly the lead of an American television show. The latter features his fast-paced adventures as a ‘super dog’, helping his owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) to find her father, captured by villain Dr Calico (Malcolm McDowell). Wreck-It Ralph follows video-game ‘bad guy’ Ralph (John C. Reilly) on his quest to prove his worth, venturing into several games including first-person shooter ‘Hero’s Duty’ and kart-racing game ‘Sugar Rush’. Big Hero 6 depicts a team of young superheroes led by teenage genius Hiro (Ryan Potter) and his robotic nurse Baymax (Scott Adsit), investigating the death of Hiro’s brother in the fictional city of San Fransokyo. In Moana, the title character sets out on a perilous journey across the Pacific Ocean to find demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and save her island from destruction.

These synopses hint at the multifaceted action-adventure influences observable in Disney’s contemporary output in terms of narrative, character dynamic, aesthetics and gender constructions. Bolt, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6 and Moana semantically and syntactically distance themselves from Disney’s iconic fairy-tale genre: there are no enchanted kingdoms, no princes and princesses – both Wreck-It Ralph’s Vanellope and Moana explicitly refuse this generic label. These animated films generically look outwards to re-envision the Disney formula, while revisiting generic tropes and boundaries within the action mode.