Disney live action remakes are
sweeping Disney news. I was completely unaware that these “live action” films
were so prevalent in Disney’s creative genius. The Lion King and Mulan have
been the latest additions to the live action remake list, with Mulan coming out
in 2018 and The Lion King’s date is not disclosed yet. After researching the live action remakes, I have come to a consensus that they are films that
originally were cartoons but now real actors and actresses play the roles.
Also, CGI (Computer Generated Imaging) is used to create some of the other
characters and to follow the general plot of the film. This marriage of real and animated worlds give the audience a realistic version of the old animated Disney movies we all love so much. Disney is planning to make 18 live action films, some of which are already made including Cinderella, 101 Dalmatians, Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent.
Disney has a tumultuous history with
live-action remakes. Some people raved about the new live action Cinderella.
They say that it has grossed insane amounts of money (over $500 million dollars)
and that the setting and costume design were of the highest caliber. Others argued that the movie, although beautiful and scenic,
was “empty”. The story line and camera angles were boring. (I would personally just
go see it for Richard Madden). Cinderella, as a live action film was considered a
successful piece even though it had much criticism about Cinderella’s waist
and the films lack of flair in camera angles.
Although Tim Burton’s live action rendition of Alice
in Wonderland was one of Disney’s most successful live action films, its following
live action film, Alice though the Looking Glass flopped. It only made about
$34 million on the opening weekend whereas Alice in Wonderland made $116
million and has now hit $1 billion. The film was condemned by Rotten Tomatoes and people agreed.
Also, Disney live action remake Pete’s Dragon also flopped in the box office. In summary, not all of Disney's live action films are so incredible.
Personally, I do not think that these live action films are “bad”;
However, so many people love the originally animated movies so they have to be really
careful and thorough in their execution of the films. Also, I am reserved about how much live action Disney can incorporate into The Lion King as they said they will not be using many human characters. Additionally, Live action films statistically do not make nearly
as much money as the original films. So if I were a Disney executive I would be looking towards
more original movies like Frozen, Big Hero 6 and Moana because those then to
have the best gross profits.
The positive side of the remakes is the ability to address
the old stereotypes in gender/race. Cinderella did a great job of changing the “love
at first sight without talking to each other” criticism. Cinderella and the Prince meet in the forest before they meet at the ball so they have a bit of
history before they get married. Those slight changes could alter the entire
message of the movie for a child whose mind is still maturing.
Mulan is my favorite Disney movie
(as previously stated in my blog many times). I do not know how I feel about a
live action version of it… All I can think about is the old adage, “why fix something
that is not broken”. If done right the new film could be an epic human version
of the already amazing movie, but if the CGI or music or just overall message
is not done right, it could change people’s feelings about the film as a whole.
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