Disney live-action remakes of their animated classics have become a trend in their own right, and now make up a bulk of the studio's live-action release slate that is not already Star Wars and Marvel Studios. The films are a chance for audiences to revisit their favorites, re-imagined in live-action, while also offering an entry point for a younger audience who may not have seen the original. The studio is certainly not slowing down, with The Little Mermaid set for release on Memorial Day weekend in 2023 and a remake of Snow White starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot coming.
Additionally, both Robert Zemeckis' Pinocchio and Peter Pan & Wendy are set for release on Disney+ in 2022. Even sequels to the live-action Dinsey remakes are coming down the pipeline, with follow-ups to The Jungle Book, Cruella, and The Lion King all at various stages of development. The Disney live-action remake is here to stay.
Yet the trend of Disney remakes has proven to yield mixed results. While some like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast have been box office smash hits, grossing over $1 billion, they have been criticized for sticking too close to the original films and not offering anything new. Conversely, films like Mulan and Maleficent have been seen as straying too far from the originals. There is also the matter that Disney has become so reliant on modern remakes of classic movies, (or even not-so-classic), much like the rest of Hollywood, that the studio may be lacking original ideas. However, the prospect of a remake is not inherently bad; in some cases, Disney remakes have offered something new from old material or managed to capture the same magic as the original. These are the best of the Disney live-action remakes.
7 101 Dalmatians
While Disney's remakes have exploded in the 2010s after the runaway smash hit Alice in Wonderland, the studio had attempted to revitalize its live-action slate in the 1990s with remakes of some of their most successful animated films. The first was Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book in 1994, but the most successful was 1996's 101 Dalmatians, a remake of the 1961 film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The film keeps the same basic premise of the original, although it forgoes talking animals and puts extra emphasis on the villain Cruella de Vil, played by Glenn Close in one of her best performances, which earned her a Golden Globe Nomination For Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, and the film went on to become the sixth highest-grossing film of 1996.
6 Lady and the Tramp
Between 101 Dalmatians and the remake of Lady and the Tramp, it appears the key to a successful Disney remake is to be about dogs. Released on November 11, 2019 as one of the launch titles for Disney+, Lady and the Tramp retells the story from the 1955 film, with Lady (Tessa Thompson) falling for the street dog Tramp (Justin Theroux).
While remakes like The Lion King have been criticized for their talking animals being unable to emote, a combination of real dogs and CGI allows for a wider range of emotions in the canine stars. By nature of being a Disney+ release instead of a theatrical release, the movie is allowed to keep its small-scale action and romance front in center. At the end of the day, it's always a good time to watch good dogs be good dogs.
5 Cinderella
The 2015 Cinderella is one of many retellings of the classic tale, and director Kenneth Branagh (Thor) brings a classic storybook aesthetic to the film. The original 1950 film is one of the most iconic and classic Disney movies of all time and effectively turned the studio's fortunes around after a string of flops, becoming their most successful film since Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Remaking it was always going to be a daunting task, particularly one that would forgo some of the animated film's largest elements, like the talking mice which are a large part of that film's runtime and success.
The movie zeroes in on the central love story, and also on Cinderella's characterization that her kindness is not a weakness to be exploited but her greatest strength. Lily James is a great Cinderella, and as the Wicked Stepmother, Cate Blanchett's great performance remains unforgettable, offering a cold and calculating demeanor with a sinister charm that makes her as terrifying as her animated counterpart. The 2015 remake manages to both maintain a classic Disney traditionalism while also updating Cinderella's character to be a more active participant in her own story.
4 Cruella
In the second attempt at remaking One-Hundred and One Dalmatians, Cruella follows in the template laid out by Maleficent (which itself was inspired by the book Wicked), telling a sympathetic origin story for the series' main villain. While it would seem almost impossible to make a character like Cruella de Vil a sympathetic character while also maintaining her signature evil, Cruella finds an incredibly clever workaround. The movie showcases the Cruella de Vil persona from the original films, but it is a fabrication that the character has made up and one the media helps creates, effectively making the classic Disney film a sense of propaganda in the universe.
The finished film, directed by Craig Gillespie (Pam & Tommy) is a stylish and fun remake that allows Emma Stone to really chew the scenery in a variety of different tones. Cruella was released on Memorial Day weekend, effectively kicking off the summer 2021 movie season, and for many was a welcome return to theaters. Fittingly, a movie about Cruella de Vil has incredible fashion as every outfit stands out, and the movie was awarded Best Costume Design at the 94th Academy Awards.
3 The Jungle Book
1967's The Jungle Book is a Disney classic and, adjusted for inflation, one of the highest-grossing Disney animated films of all time. Yet despite great voice work, memorable songs, and stunning animation, the original film does lack a certain structure, with many of the events being episodic. In 2016, Jon Favreau (Iron Man) directed The Jungle Book remake, which sees the story of Mowgli (Neel Sethi) and his adventures in the jungle told with state-of-the-art VFX that creates life-like animals but also a stronger script that zeroes in on Mowgli's journey to defeating the villainous Sher Khan (Idris Elba) and finding his place in the jungle.
The film has a stellar voice cast that includes Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken, Lupita N'yongo, and Giancarlo Esposito. Whereas the original Jungle Book had more of the vibe of a hang-out film, the 2016 remake goes full-blown classic Hollywood adventure. In sharp contrast to the original story, which sees Mowgli return to the human world, the 2016 remake lets him stay in the jungle with his friends, thematically updating the story to say Mowgli may not be from the jungle, but it is his home and as long as he respects it and takes care of it he can live in harmony with it.
2 Christopher Robin
While more a sequel to the original 1977 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh than a direct remake, Christopher Robin was greenlit and sold as Winnie the Pooh in live-action, and the opening sequence of the film does effectively remake the end of the 1977 film. The story follows a grown-up Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) who has become a workaholic, and on one busy weekend he has to work apart from his family on holiday; his old friend Winnie the Pooh (Jim Cummings) shows up at his doorstep needing help finding his friends in 100 Acre Wood.
Christopher Robin goes for a more subdued nostalgic vibe, putting the viewer very much in the headspace of the title character with the joy coming from seeing beloved childhood characters again, not reinvented but instead stepping out into the real world as one remembers them. Pooh Bear, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, and the rest feel exactly like their animated counterparts, and the magic comes from seeing them one more time no matter how long it has been since they've crossed the viewer's mind. It is a film about remembering that one does not need to put childish things away, and sometimes catching up is the greatest reward.
1 Pete's Dragon
Pete's Dragon is everything a remake should be. The original Pete's Dragon was a 1977 live-action/animated musical that was a moderate hit but was never one of the major Disney films in the studio's back catalog. It is because of that fact that the studio had the freedom to rework it without having to be so loyal to the original story. The 2016 remake keeps the same basic premise, a young boy named Pete finds a dragon named Elliot but reworks it to be a family drama. Directed by arthouse master David Lowery (The Green Knight), Pete's Dragon is a sweet and intimate character study that examines the story through the lens of a child opening themselves up to family after a tragedy, and of adults recapturing a sense of magic that was lost from the world as they got older.
The movie is meditative and moves at a more leisurely pace, standing in contrast to a lot of family films and movies released for kids recently. It draws heavily from E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, as both stories are about young boys with supernatural creatures that a community turns on and tries to capture. With Pete's Dragon, Disney found a story that they had done before and realized it had a lot of unseen potential. Lowery is set to direct another remake for Disney, Peter Pan & Wendy, and if it is anything like Pete's Dragon, it is in good hands.