With Disney’s most recent live-action remake, Pinocchio (2022), proving to be redundant and unnecessary, I wanted to share my thoughts on what I think about their collection of remakes as a whole. Everywhere I look online, Pinocchio (2022) has been receiving the utmost negative reviews. After scouring the internet, I’ve read many comments saying they were disappointed with the movie, that it was uninspired and that it did not do the original justice. If you read my review (you can read it here!), you’ll remember I shared similar thoughts. Now the question is, are we all just being too harsh? Or are these “reimagined classics” just not working?
In my personal opinion, no, they’re not working. While not all of the live-action remakes are as disappointingly bad as Pinocchio (2022), there’s always something about them that doesn’t quite work for me. I think my main gripe is that I don’t see a reason why these movies need to be remade in the first place. The original animated versions of the films aren’t forgotten by any means and they’re still greatly loved and watched to this day. It’s sad to say, but it makes me feel like Disney is just creating these new films as a money grab – they’re not creating anything new or special.
However, as I just mentioned, there are a couple live-action films that I did enjoy (although certainly not as much as the originals). To name a few, I thought Cinderella (2015) and The Jungle Book (2016) were decently entertaining adaptions of the classics. The problem is, my mind always immediately goes to the animated classics when I feel like rewatching these stories, never the live-action versions. While both of these movies are pretty well executed, they don’t feel inspired and they don’t add anything new to the stories we’re so familiar with. Yes I enjoyed them, but I also don’t think I’ve rewatched them since, simply because I haven’t felt a need to.
And the question is, what kind of fantastical magic does Disney think they can create in these live-action versions of the story? Animations aren’t always easily translated into live-action, and honestly, they’re not meant to be. I think animated movies belong in their own genre; they allow a different kind of creativity and imagination that is free from the constraints of reality. Transforming the movie to make it feel more “real” by adding in relevant modern references and realistic depictions just takes away the charm.
That’s certainly a big reason why these live-action remakes aren’t being well received by the public – when people watch Disney movies, they’re looking to experience magic and wonder. The biggest complaint I see online is that Disney should be focused on producing new movies instead of rehashing the old ones. I have to say I agree because I would love for the studio to turn their focus on developing fresh content. Tell us new stories, give us new characters, and show us new worlds!
What are your thoughts on Disney’s live-action remakes? Do you enjoy them or do you avoid them? I would love for you to share your opinions in the comments below! Have a great weekend everyone 🙂
Fan First Reviews 
Winnie the Pooh thinking – great placement in this post! Agree with you they are not working at all. To me, Disney is on such a “cash grab” right now with new Star Wars series every couple of months, more Star Wars movies in the works, flooding the market with Marvel series, and yes…also trying to reinvent every classic animated movie in their vault. They are all about quantity over quality.
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Always love a good Winnie the Pooh reference! 😊 And I definitely agree, Disney’s overproducing is resulting in some seriously subpar movies and shows…
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One movie example is the new Aladdin. It was mediocre in my opinion. Some examples were the sets were too small to show the scale of the enormity of the sultans palace. Jafar was not threatening in any manner. Just so many errors.
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Yeah, that’s a great example. I didn’t enjoy Aladdin either, it’s almost on the same level as Pinocchio in my opinion. I didn’t think it was well done at all unfortunately 😦
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I think live action version of animated properties (and this extends beyond Disney to all cartoons and Anime too) fall under the remit of “Just because you CAN do something, it doesn’t mean you SHOULD”… <_<
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100% agree – it’s pretty rare to find a live-action remake that’s actually better than the original. I certainly can’t think of any off the top of my head right now…
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I don’t think it necessarily has to be better, just good and entertaining in its own right, which is often difficult as animation is a medium that works under a different set of rules that even CGI can’t replicate.
Successful attempts are rare I will concur – Bleach, GANTZ, the first Death Note film, and some of Takashi Miike’s adaptations like Blade of the Immortal, Yatterman, and Ichi The Killer come to mind (the latter perhaps a debatable inclusion) as good efforts with regard to live action takes on anime series.
Hollywood on the other hand always misses the point I feel, and you end up with films that look good, such as The Jungle Book, but lack the charm of the original. Unfortunately, mainstream audiences like shiny, bright things and care little for substance, so as long as there is the means and a captive audience, they will continue to milk a property for all it is worth.
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Yeah, I hate how you can definitely see when Hollywood creates a movie just because it’s a “money grab”. A purely “corporate” film as I like to call it. It’s especially sad that I’m feeling that more and more these days 😕 Appreciate you sharing your thoughts ^^
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Pretty much agree with you. I’m against these remakes in principle because I see them as ways to denigrate animation and prove that a film is only truly a film if they’re live-action and that animated films is only kiddie fare and not a proper film. And the ironic thing is all these “live-action” remakes heavily utilize animation in them anyway, lol!
I also agree that these are pretty much just Disney doing a cash grab. I can’t wait until we are out of this era of live-action Disney remakes.
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Very true – live-action is just another form of animation! I really don’t see the need to make it feel more “modern” when they’re timeless classics for a reason.
Unfortunately, I think we’re going to be stuck in this era for a while 😕
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I Agree with you
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I Hate Disney’s Live-Action Remakes
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