When Disney made live action versions of The Jungle Book and 101 Dalmatians, it was exciting. It was something new that nobody was used to. And yes, there are some live action remakes that are just as good as the original, maybe even better. But the more often it happens, the more controversy surrounds it.
People are becoming less happy with the remakes, as it’s just the same story being retold over and over again. While it used to be a fun throwback to childhood nostalgia, it has started feeling like Disney is trying to fix things that don’t need fixing. We don’t need an extra version of our childhood favorite movies.
One of the reasons people like those original movies so much in the first place is because the cartoon aspect helped encapsulate the fantasy world it takes place in. Part of the magic is the fact that it’s not real, and with some live action remakes, that is being completely disregarded.
Making the story take place in a realistic world almost makes it feel like more of someone’s weird, unrealistic dream that could never take place, rather than some fantastical story that is supposed to be a sort of escape from reality.
As mentioned, some of the live action remakes are actually not bad movies at all. For example, the live action Beauty and the Beast is great. The characters are exactly as they would be in the original film, the music is just as good as it was originally, and most importantly, the story stays exactly the same.
Similarly, the live action Aladdin was also a good movie due to the characters that are static to their original form, same plot line, and same music, with the addition of a song sung by Jasmine.
The thing that makes these movies acceptable is the fact that they do the original movie justice. They bring the story to life without removing anything valuable from the original.
On the other side of the coin, there are some movies that completely remove some things that people like about the original movie. The Mulan live action remake completely removes the musical aspect, which is many people’s favorite part of the movie in the first place. Especially with a film that’s music that is that good, it feels almost foolish to get rid of the music.
Flaws also lie within characters themselves in some cases. In Snow White, they did not change the story directly, however by casting who they did to play Snow White, it took away the princess-y nature from her character. As a character, Snow White is meant to be ethereal and charming and soft, but Rachel Zegler played her more bold and powerful. While strong independent female characters are important in film, it’s not something anyone really wanted out of Snow White specifically, and her being played that way really took away from the gentleness and the softness of her character.
The remakes that aren’t as good as the original also cause a lot of people to get angry internet tangents about how their childhood is ruined. When the trailer for the live action Little Mermaid came out, people were furious about the casting for Ariel, since it wasn’t exactly what they had grown up with. People are getting mad about casting suggestions that are being made for remakes that haven’t even been officially announced, and it’s just enforcing the narrative that these movies need to be remade.
