The Epidemic of Disney Live Actions

“The Lion King,” “Mulan,” “Lady and the Tramp,” and “The Jungle Book,” are just a few of Disney’s animated movies with a live-action remake. These remakes take a classic Disney movie but replace the colorful cartoon worlds with real actors and CGI. While in theory, this sounds like an amazing way to profit off pre-existing characters and brands: completely bringing life back into a brand, it can unfortunately end up driving a franchise into the dirt.

One movie to get a live-action remake was Disney’s 1967 “The Jungle Book” directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and written by Larry Clemmons. Released on April 15, 2016, “The Jungle Book” received a fresh score of 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5/10 on IMDb. Despite this adaptation being the second attempt at a live-action remake of “The Jungle Book,” the 2016 version did significantly better than the cartoon predecessor from 1994. Directed by Jon Favreau, the 2016 “The Jungle Book” is the highest-regarded Disney live-action remake to date, followed by “Pete’s Dragon” in 2016 and “Cinderella” in 2015. 

 While Disney found evident success with “The Jungle Book,” they were not always as lucky with the remakes. In 2022, Disney released its live-action adaptation of “Pinocchio” from 1940, which received a whopping score of 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.1/10 on IMDb. While it was one of the most highly anticipated (and advertised) remakes, it fell flat with audiences and critics alike. 

Allyssa Brentlinger, 10 shared her thoughts, “I prefer animated Disney since I’m more familiar with cartoons.” “Animated Disney brings more of a magical journey with each movie, causing people to want more,” Allyssa said, “I think live-action remakes kind of ruin the originals, most of the remakes are not good or don't follow the original, and even if the remake is good it doesn't feel the same as (the) animated (version).”

While both movies are simply remakes of classic Disney stories told in live-action, there must be a deciding factor between a movie bombing its premiere and a movie joining the big leagues of Disney classics. Surprisingly it's normally the animation. CGI plays a big part in creating a live-action remake of stories centered around magical characters and talking animals—which, if done wrong, can ruin a movie before it has a chance to even release. One of the biggest complaints from the 2022 remake of “Pinocchio” is how the character of Pinocchio looks out of place in his environment. Disney had chosen to keep Pinnichio the same as the original, just in 3-D, but then chose to adjust Jiminy Cricket to fit in the live-action environment—leading to a weird mix and lack of order. Unlike “Pinnochio,” “The Jungle Book” was praised for its life-like cast of animals and how well the leading character, Mowgli, fits in with the CGI.

Next up on the live-action agenda is Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch,” “Snow White,” and “Moana.” These live actions have most definitely become a staple in the Disney brand. Whether you love them or hate them, Disney's live actions are here and here to stay.