Should Disney keep making live-action remakes?
Should Disney Keep Making Live Action Remakes Of The Classics?
Disney has gone on a spree, remaking all of the classics. Some of the remakes on the list include Mulan, Aladdin, Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Dumbo, all beloved classics. Though despite a large number of live-action remakes there are, not all of them are of quality.
Jordynn Harris thinks, “Instead of staying true to the original’s plot they added on things that weren’t necessary. It was just adding on things that most people won’t pay attention to.” and then Elenore Basoune added onto this idea saying, “They’re not making it unique or special.”
As stated by InsideTheMagic, people are upset about Disney’s new trend because they feel as if the movie producers are not doing the original films justice. The remakes never seem to live up to the original film’s charm. After all, most times the cast is not the right fit for the movie or the way the producers took liberties with some of the songs, namely, Be Prepared from The Lion King(2019). Although, on top of all this, many fans believe that the characters are devoid of their emotion, and lack the original allure.
Of course, some people oppose the criticism, namely Paul McGuire Grimes and Hannah Giorgis from Rotten Tomatoes who commented on two recent remakes. Paul McGuire Grimes said in his review of Dumbo, “Dumbo is filled with whimsy, magic, and adventure. This film can introduce a whole new younger generation to Dumbo who hasn’t seen the 1941 original.” and Hannah Giorgis in her of The Lion King review wrote, “The Lion King captures just enough of the original’s warmhearted excitement — and introduces enough new delights — to feel like more than a cynical Disney money grab.”
However, a positive view of the remakes is not popular at all. In a survey, fifteen out of twenty-three people stated that Disney needs to stop making live-action remakes. According to DispatchOnline, Disney was built on creating original stories and breathing life into all of the fairytales. This trend shows that Disney is running out ideas to make movies on and that, despite what some people say, the company is only trying to make more money. For them, it’s less about quality and more about preying upon viewers’ nostalgia.
As stated by CNBC, Disney is not predicted to stop anytime soon, because of the high amount of money that the company is making from the remakes. The amount of said money would be roughly more than seven billion US dollars worldwide, not counting the remakes of 2020. Lion King alone earned one billion US dollars in the box office and another 2019 Disney remake titled Mary Poppins Returns grossed 172 million dollars.
Disney needs to address the remake situation and take responsibility for their movie choices. As Elenore Basoune so eloquently stated in her interview, “I would tell Disney that they should come up with new ideas and new movies because, I mean, the classics are great but there needs to be something else to watch too. Otherwise, I feel like people are going to become a lot less interested in the company as a whole.”
All in all, despite what fans and audience members say when it comes down to it, Disney is going to keep creating live-action remakes out of everything until there are no more classics for them to bleed dry.