Does Disney Need To Stop Live-Action Remakes Or Are They Good For New Audiences?

TV & Film

Jun 17

Disney is always getting the media’s attention, and, since there is no such thing as “bad” publicity, it’s safe to say that the Mouse’s empire is always in the limelight.

Lately, much of the spotlight is being aimed at whether Disney should remake their classic animated features into live-action films with real people filling the roles that their cartoon counterparts had, or, replacing cartoon animation with CGI-digitalization. So, why should Disney remake their classics? We shall take a look at the potential reasons behind these moves.

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Nostalgia

This is an animated picture of Snow White, the Seven Dwarves, a cottage in the trees on top of a hill, and the Evil Witch looking at the apple in her hand in front of a mirror

Let’s face it: many classic movies are in the “classic” category because they are older. Their original audience has aged along with them, and which one of us hasn’t looked back with some fondness at an aspect of our youth? When it comes to many of the classic Disney movies, there is an even richer past, as most of these films, such as “Snow White”, “Cinderella”, and “The Little Mermaid”, are based on folk tales and fairy tales that were passed down for generations before being written down and made into features. These stories already had an audience thanks to the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.

I know for myself that I enjoy sharing parts of my childhood with my children especially when it comes to these fairy tales and the movies I enjoyed when I was little which include the Disney movies. With basic cable and Disney +, this is easy to do, and we have our own family movie nights where the kids will pick a movie that we watch together and make our own homey memories. The original Snow White was on the must-see list in our house. However, when the recent live-action remake hit the theaters, they did not ask to go see it. They were happy with the 1937 version.

Artistic & Technological Advancements

Animation has certainly come a long way from the 1920s. From hand-drawn pieces of paper to the computer-generated imagery we have gotten used to, there is a difference between the earlier movies and how they can be made today, and that new technology can be blended into live-action. One of the first examples of this was when George Lucas made alterations to the original Star Wars trilogy in 1997 to show that Industrial Light and Magic could incorporate CGI effects in the prequels, Episodes I-III, that were to be released a few years later.

Over the next few decades, this has become commonplace. Dumbo, from 1941, has been remade into a live-action movie in 2019 with CGI and real-life human characters. Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, hailed as part of Disney’s Renaissance comeback movies from the 1990s were remade into live-action coupled with CGI animation in 2017 and 2023, respectively. The directors and creators of these films say that these new advances gives them the opportunity to tell the story the way they actually envisioned it and not be constrained by the medium or lack of technology. As George Lucas claims:

Most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work. They've got a new perspective on it, they've got more resources, they have better technology, and they can fix or finish the things that were never done.

Lucas argues that the audience is actually seeing the movie the way the director / creator intended, thus getting the more authentic experience.

Making Money

Lest we forget, show business is just that, a business. And the business of business is making money. So, while we debate whether or not it’s good for audiences to have remade animated classics, the audiences seem to think so because the box office shows that people do flock to these films. And as long as they keep going to the theaters, or become new streaming subscribers, Disney will keep remaking their classics into new movies, with all the merchandising that goes with it.

As I am writing this, Lilo & Stitch has surpassed the $800 million mark, with projections to make over a billion dollars when all is said and done. I just bought my niece Lilo & Stitch Uno cards from an endcap filled with different Lilo & Stitch products. Is this good for audiences? Well, if the audience is entertained, comes out from the venue happier than when they came out, or, perhaps, can critically think about what they just saw and appreciate the changes that were made, then yes, these remakes are good for audiences and movie lovers worldwide.

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