Live action remakes are causing viewers to think that Disney has lost all originality.
Walt Disney Studios has thrived on producing magical stories for the last 100 years, but some viewers feel that the recent lack of originality signals an end to the magic.
A live-action remake of Disney’s hit animated movie, “Moana,” is in the works, the company announced on April 4. Disney has released more than 10 live-action remakes since 2010 — including “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King” — and will release “The Little Mermaid” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” later this year.
“Even when re-telling old fairy tale classics…the creatives at the studio would rework the stories to include the company's own signature style and personality,” reported Movieweb. “Disney…has the resources to be pushing the medium of film forward and expanding the kinds of stories being told. Instead, over the last decade, Disney has chosen to focus almost exclusively on the past.”
While Disney live-action remakes are not typically well-regarded by critics, they often do well at the box office.
The 2010 remake of “Alice in Wonderland” has a 51% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes but grossed $1 billion worldwide, the 2019 remake of “Aladdin” has a 57% critics score but grossed $1.1 billion and the 2019 remake of “The Lion King” has a 52% critics score but grossed $1.6 billion.
Disney is using the nostalgia of their previous films to draw audiences to theaters while their new animated movies are having smaller in-person audiences than before the pandemic.
Disney’s animated film “Strange World” came out in theaters in November 2022 and grossed only $73.6 million on an estimated budget of $180 million. It was the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film to not get nominated for an Oscar in over a decade.
Disney’s animated film “Encanto” also had a disappointing opening weekend in November 2021 with $27.2 million. However, the film had a very successful Disney+ release a month later and eventually grossed $256.8 million worldwide.
“Perhaps this is more telling of what families want to see in a theater: movies that become a theatrical experience,” reported Forbes. “Animated movies…are viewed by millions of people everyday at home, and…the lack of theatrical experience doesn’t seem to make a difference in at-home viewing.”
It will be interesting to see how “Moana” performs in theaters, as the original came out in 2016 and does not have the same nostalgic appeal that other Disney classics do.
Disney is not the only studio producing remakes. HBO Max announced on April 12 that a television series of the “Harry Potter” books is in development.
While remakes rely on the love of past stories, some audience members believe that they may not necessarily lose all magic — they simply update the magic for new generations of viewers.
“Remakes mean introducing new audiences to…stories that are beloved by generations,” reported Screen Rant. “They give the creators a chance to rework such stories in a modern context, allowing them to amend parts of the scripts or songs that are no longer acceptable in today's day and age, thus adapting the…works to a more modern audience.”
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