Letās talk about Disneyās Live Action Remakesā¦
I have a ton of issues with Disneyās recent trend of taking their animated films and remaking them in live action.
For starters, it feels like a big
Go back and watch Beauty and the Beast and watch how the Beast is animated. Heās so expressive, he doesnāt need to say a word, yet you know what heās thinking.
Once he starts getting his act together and starts being nice to Belle, heās no longer scary. I wanna hug this guy!
With the live action film, heās never as expressive and he never really cleans up his act. Heās still a jerk. He doesnāt give Belle the library as a kind gesture because he knows itās something sheād love, he gives her permission to read his books because he dislikes her taste in stories and wants her to expand her horizons.
Go and listen to the 1991 directors talk about animating the Beast, itās incredibly fascinating, and they explain it far better than I can.
Speaking of Beauty and the Beast, Disneyās remaking films that were successful and beloved.
The animated Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film nominated for BEST PICTURE!! Why would you want to remake a film so good, the Academy nominated it for one of the highest honors in cinema?!
The remake couldnāt even get an original song nomination!
And itās not just Beauty getting this treatment.
Dumbo, Aladdin, Mulan, Lilo and Stitch and even goddamn LION KING are getting remade in live action as well.
That was the 1990s equivalent of Frozen! It was the highest grossing animated film for years!
On top of that, THERE ARE NO HUMANS IN THAT STORY!!
How the hell are you gonna make a live action version of the Lion King when there are no humans?!
I see a handful of ways they could do it.
Do it in the style of the Broadway show
Insert pointless human characters
Photoshop animals mouths (ie Underdog)
CGI characters on live action backgrounds (ie Dinosaur)
CGI animals on a CGI background in which case it wonāt be a live action remake it will be a CGI REMAKE!
If Disney really wants to keep doing live action remakes, how about remaking a film that can be improved?
For example, the Black Cauldron.
The film was a financial and critical bomb (the Care Bears Movie beat it at the box office, it was that bad) and it would take Disney years to recover from it.
This story has plenty of potential, being based on a book, and the Horned King being a very intimidating villain. If given to the right person, this could be an amazing film!
And I believe they had the perfect person for such a project right under their noses.
He was once Disney animator who designed concept art for the film, but was later fired from the studio after his short film endeavors failed to meet expectations. He went on to make some amazing movies for other studios like Warner Bros. Even returning to Disney years later to help with some of their most successful movies.
Imagine a live action Black Cauldron remake directed by Tim Burton!!
Get him off Dumbo and get him on the Black Cauldron! Itās a match made in heaven!!
But, its a risky project. Black Cauldron is a very scary film, mainly because of the Horned King. Several shots had to be cut because they were too intense, the film was almost rated R because of them. Imagine seeing such imagery brought to life by Burton.
However, I feel itās a risk worth taking.
And thatās my biggest issue with these remakes.
Theyāll make money, either because people are legitimately excited about them or theyāre going to see them out of spite.
And if they keep making money, theyāll keep throwing them out.
And after theyāve made their quick buck, everyone will slowly go back to the originals, leaving these remakes to be forgotten, because they never took risks.