Photo courtesy of movies.disney.com
Walt Disney Pictures recently released their first entry into their live action movie phase with the The Jungle Book on April 15, 2016.
Disney is currently planning to remake 13 of their classic animated features into live action counterparts. They’ve already started with examples such as Alice in Wonderland in 2010 starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton, Maleficent in 2014 starring Angelina Jolie, and Cinderella in 2015 starring Lily James.
However, the company is planning a major surge in the coming years. The Jungle Book is the only live action film to come out in 2016. Alice Through the Looking Glass, starring the same cast as the first, plans to release on May 26. Later this year Pete’s Dragon, starring Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World) is releasing on August 12.
In 2017, a remake of Beauty and The Beast is planned, but no month or day has been specified yet. The film is starring none other than Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame as the legendary princess, Belle.
In 2018, a remake of the classic animated feature The Sword in The Stone has a planned release. But like Beauty and The Beast, there is no month or day set yet. No one is attached to star yet for the film’s script is still being written.
Most of the planned remakes do not have any form of a release date set at all. This goes for Dumbo directed by Tim Burton, Pinocchio starring Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., Cruella (101 Dalmatians) starring Emma Stone, Tinker Bell starring Reese Witherspoon, Maleficent 2 starring Angelina Jolie, and The Jungle Book 2, once again directed by Jon Favreau.
The list continues with movies that have no one attached. Winnie The Pooh, Mulan, Genies (a prequel to Aladdin), Night on Bald Mountain (a remake of the scene from Fantasia), and Prince Charming.
However, this isn’t disney’s first voyage into live action movies. Back in 1996, a live action version of 101 Dalmatians was released starring Glenn Close, but had poor critical reception but did make back it’s budget of $54,000,000.
However in an article by Cinema Blend, they believe Disney has solid reasoning to try again. Some reasons are: They are opportunities to expand on the characters and story, we have the possible technology to make them, and a way to expose new generations to the classics.
They’re off to a great start with The Jungle Book too. The movie has an 8.0 on iMDB.com, and according to iMDB, it was number one at the box office for 2 weeks after it’s release.
Sophomore Baylie Andersen believes they are not ruining the originals and sees it as an example for a new way to tell the story. “They are bringing the originals to life in human form instead of animation form. She is most excited for Beauty and The Beast and believes as long as they stay true to the originals then they will be successful.
Freshman Ashley Gough is also excited for the movies. She believes they aren’t ruining the originals either and sees it as a way to expand on the story and make it edgier and more realistic. She has good expectations for the movies and is most excited for Aladdin.
Freshman Isabel Rodriguez does not think they are ruining the originals, but does not believe they will have the same impact as the originals. “In animation you can do so many more things that you couldn’t replicate in real life.” She is also most excited for Aladdin and expects them to be good and heavy on visual effects.
Disney’s next venture into live action is with the release of Alice Through the Looking Glass on May 27, 2016.
