This week I went and saw Disney's "The Lion King," and immediately it got me thinking about the live-action remake revolution. Disney's first live-action movie was "The Jungle Book" in 1994, followed by the live-action versions of "101 Dalmatians" in 1996 and 2000. However, it wasn't until the 2010 Tim Burton remake of "Alice in Wonderland" that the Disney live-action remake kick began. Since 2014, there has been at least one live-action remake for every year, excluding 2017 where there were two and the current year of 2019 where there will be four. But it doesn't end there, as of the publication of this article Disney has twelve upcoming projects, and I don't think they plan on stopping after that.
I first heard complaints about Disney's live-action creations around 2017 with the release of "Beauty and The Beast." They had missed the mark the previous year with "Alice and The Looking Glass," and some people felt the same way towards "Beauty and The Beast" as well. And with the excitement over "Christopher Robin" and even "Dumbo," the announcement of so many live-action movies had some people a bit outraged for a few different reasons. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and of course, I'm not saying people aren't allowed to feel a certain way about these movies. And that's what I plan to discuss, that you're allowed to not enjoy the movies, but don't discredit the other's who did.
One of the criticisms that I take particular interest in is that by turning animated movies into live-action, it discredits the animators who made the originals and makes their work seem trivial. I can see why people believe that, but when you consider the animated movies that they turn into live-action, they always have some element of fantasy that has to be animated somehow. Especially movies like "The Jungle Book" and "The Lion King" that have to be entirely digitally animated. And I don't think that live-action movies discredit animated movies; if anything it creates a sense of nostalgia and makes people more interested in seeing the new ones.
On that note, people also unfairly criticize the new movies because they aren't exactly like the old ones. For example, people criticized the new "Aladdin" because of the presentation of the genie. They couldn't turn Will Smith into a giant blue blob-like the cartoon version or else it would've looked comical with everything else in live-action. Just as people are criticizing the casting Halle Bailey's casting as Ariel in "The Little Mermaid" because Ariel isn't black. And because of the over criticization of audiences, and the scrutiny of movie critics, people expect these movies to fail rather than wanting them to succeed, and even refrain from seeing the movie because of it, letting their opinions be based on other's people.
With all of this in mind, it seems as if these new live-action remakes are made to be stripped of their element of fun and nostalgia because people would rather nitpick and hold onto their originals forever; hoping that they hold immortal importance. Truth is, no one has forgotten or grown out of the classics like "The Little Mermaid" and "The Lion King," but by remaking them it brings a new audience into the picture and keeps it alive and breathing, while also showcasing the new technology we have as far as animation goes. The key is to be open-minded and think positively about what's to come, as well as accepting that in this new chapter there might be changes made, but they may not necessarily be negative changes. Have faith in Disney, and keep an open mind when Disney announces its next live-action production.
