Hollywood is seeing an increasing number of live-action remakes of animated movies and TV series. However, Disney is the studio that has done this most frequently.
With a few more sequels, there have been about seventeen live-action retelling or remakes of its beloved animation series. Even though some of these films have received negative reviews and are, at worst, average, the majority of these box office hits were highly profitable. As to Box Office Mojo, the films “Beauty and the Beast,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Aladdin,” and “The Lion King” have all surpassed the $1 billion milestone.
At D23, Disney’s biennial exposition event, Walt Disney unveiled its upcoming film slate in a three-hour extravaganza that included musical performances and star cameos. Early glimpses of the Toy Story, Moana, Lilo and Stitch, The Incredibles, and Zootopia remakes—or, maybe more accurately, their comebacks—were revealed at D23. According to its creator Britney Lee, the Oscar-winning movie Frozen will also get a third edition in the franchise sometime in 2027.
Disney has undoubtedly been producing films since the 1920s that have won over audiences’ hearts for a long time, but it’s depressing to think that it may soon lose them. Although the aim of these remakes may be to bring beloved animated classics to the big screen in an effort to please long-time fans and introduce them to new audiences, I don’t think I’ve ever heard as many people criticize movies for being unauthentic, sloppy, and nothing more than a money-making endeavor.
Why adapt well-loved animation masterpieces into live-action when you can create unique concepts, I wonder? Is this to suggest that Disney is starting to lose its appeal and that the only ways it can survive are by bringing out sequels and recreating previous films?
When you take a concept and construct a separate tale where the original serves just as background knowledge, inspiration, or more information, live-action makes sense, like in the situations of “Cruella” or “Maleficent.” Maleficent even achieved an audience rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
When production firms begin to remake every animated film and television program, a problem occurs. Modern computer-generated imagery (CGI) may produce amazing images, but it can’t bring back the fantasies of talking animals, dragons, mermaids, and many other fantastical creatures. Animation enhances the allure and plausibility of fantasies significantly.
Not every story is meant to be told in live action.