Disney is making a lot of live-action movies based on their animated classics, the movies that are being called 'Disney remakes', but what is the point with them, and why shouldn't they be compared?
No spoilers.
What is the series 'Why This is Worth Watching'?
This post is the third in its series. It will feature movies or TV series that are less popular or could use more attention. Each post will feature my own opinion (TheDisneyFanBlog) as well as others' point of view. The purpose of the series is to get readers another way to see a production.
In this post I will take the focus on these specific titles which I've listed below:
101 Dalmatians (1996)
102 Dalmatians (2000)
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Cinderella (2015)
The Jungle Book (2016)
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Dumbo (2019)
Aladdin (2019)
The Lion King (2019)
Lady and the Tramp (2019)
Mulan (2020)
Although categorised as Disney remakes, this post does not include:
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
Maleficent (2014)
Pete's Dragon (2016)
Christopher Robin (2018)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)
While 'Maleficent', 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' and 'Christopher Robin' feature characters from respectively 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Winnie the Pooh', they do not tell a similar story as the animated movies, as they take place in another time. 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' is said to be a remake of the segment of the same name in 'Fantasia', but I have not counted that one as a remake. 'Pete's Dragon' is a remake of a live-action movie, not an animated, so not counted as well. And at last, I haven't had the chance to watch Disney's first live-action 'The Jungle Book', so that is not included as well.
Disney is making a lot of live-action movies based on their animated movies, but why do they produce them, what is the point with them, and most importantly, why shouldn't they be compared?
Before starting telling why the movies are worth watching, let's take a look at their running time, both animated and live-action.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) - 79 minutes
101 Dalmatians (1996) - 103 minutes
Alice in Wonderland (1951) - 75 minutes
Alice in Wonderland (2010) - 108 minutes
Cinderella (1950) - 74 minutes
Cinderella (2015) - 106 minutes
The Jungle Book (1967) - 78 minutes
The Jungle Book (2016) - 106 minutes
Beauty and the Beast (1991) - 84 minutes
Beauty and the Beast (2017) - 129 minutes
Dumbo (1941) - 64 minutes.
Dumbo (2019) - 112 minutes
Aladdin (1992) - 90 minutes
Aladdin (2019) - 128 minutes
The Lion King (1994) - 88 minutes
The Lion King (2019) - 118 minutes
Lady and the Tramp (1965) - 76 minutes
Lady and the Tramp (2019) - 104 minutes
Mulan (1998) - 87 minutes
Mulan (2020) - 115 minutes
The three movies that are closest to their animated movies in story are 'The Lion King', 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Lady and the Tramp', with the latter two expanding/changing details in story and characters, but the last remaining movies tell the same story in another way.
One of the things that makes me watch these movies personally is that they are live-action remakes of animated productions. I love to see how an animated character or a location could look like in the real world, our world, and I think about it a lot when watching animation. The world and characters can be drawn in so many ways. Nothing is impossible in drawing, but it is impossible to represent the world and characters 100% in the real world. We do not live with magic.
Although Disney is producing movies they mostly already have produced, they are just like new movies. Some elements have been removed, others have been added. Look at 'Mulan'. It is no secret that the movie does not feature either Mushu, nor any songs. I have watched that movie, and it was amazing. I didn't even need these elements in the movie for it to be good. The only reason one want Mushu or songs in the movie is because they compare them to the animated classic. Do you compare Pirates of the Caribbean with Star Wars? No, because they can't be compared. And that's why you must not compare those movies, because the movies are not showing the story 100%. You can say the animated 'Aladdin' (1992) is better than live-action 'Aladdin' (2019), like you can say 'The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" (1998) is better than 'The Lion King' (1994), but that's all. If you go deeper with story, characters and locations, this becomes your problem. If Disney released a live-action movie with the same story, character development and world, both with the same running time, then you're allowed to compare them.
But why does Disney do this? Probably at this time around Disney is trying to make money in any way they can, just like any other company, but that's not all. A new generation is growing up right now. Many children do not like watching older movies, and with Disney remaking these movies, those children get at chance to watch a similar story, just like their parents or grandparents did at their age.
Do the movies have the same 'Disney magic' as the animated classics? Of course they do. You just need not to compare them, and see how different they are. You need to cut that thought and think of them as a new movie. We don't either compare humans, do we? Disney has for example already made Freaky Friday four times, with the last remake being released as a Disney Channel Original Movie in 2018. Do you have to compare those movies? No.
It is easy to say that if you don't like the movies, just don't watch 'em, but what is the point with that? It is okay not to be a fan of everything, we are all different, but give the movies another point of view instead of criticising already. I understand it feels like the originals are being destroyed, but that is not the case in any way. Disney is not changing their old movies just because they are making a new, similar one.
Why does Disney not make movies with a new story and new characters? That's hard to tell, but today there are thousands of movies and it can take much time to find out if the movie already exists. This is an easy way to create an already existing production but adding or removing elements. And already mentioned earlier, it gives a new audience the change to watch a (probably) beloved classic. That's what matters.
So, next time Disney is releasing a remake, stop criticising and think of it as a brand-new movie. Remember the difference between 'better' and 'comparing'.
Image: TheDisneyFanBlog/Oh My Disney (various)
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