When I think of my childhood, I think of the old Disney movies I would watch on VHS with my family. I would rewind the tapes to my favorite moments and watch them repeatedly. From Disney Channel to Star Wars, it was a major part of my exposure to film and media.
Disney began to make live-action movies in 1950 with the release of Treasure Island. At that point, the studio had only ever released animated cartoons. This mark in the studio’s history brought in almost 5 million dollars in earnings globally, while the movie had a budget of just under 2 million dollars. If we put those numbers into today’s money, the movie would have had an almost 24 million budget with earnings of almost 64 million.
Within the last 30 years, Disney has remade some of its classic animated films into live-action adaptations. Some of the first include The Jungle Book 1994 and 101 Dalmatians 1996. However, it wasn’t until 2010 with the release of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland that the concept of adapting more of the classic animated films became more of a reality. Following the release of Alice in Wonderland, movies remaking the classic stories, such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and The Jungle Book 2017, started hitting theaters. With the movies having various levels of success, many people began to question whether Disney should be making these new variants of their classics.
“They feel rushed, not thought out, and like they are just looking for a quick profit.” Said Mr. Herman, math teacher at West.
“It has mostly soured my opinion on Disney and the franchises they have been remaking into live-action.“
The most recent live-action Disney adaptation, Snow White, has received heavy criticism for many aspects of the film and how the studio approached making this version of the classic. The negative comments and talk started when a picture of Rachel Zegler in the Snow White princess dress was leaked online. People fled to the internet, calling the dress “Awful” and overall not liking the design. This also sparked online debate about whether Rachel Zegler was the right casting for the role.
“Ziegler is a great actress and singer, but she is not fit at all for the role of Snow White.”
Said student Em Crabb.
“Her voice is much too strong to fit Snow White, who is a 16-year-old, very soft girl.”
Along with this came a lot of criticism about Disney remaking their animated classics into live-action movies. Many people enjoy the remakes while others don’t.
“The direction behind these movies, especially the most recent ones, is so bland and trite, which is baffling considering the directors they hire for these projects.” Leaf Baxter said when asked about how he felt about the remakes.
Ultimately, the movies have mixed reviews and tend to vary with their box office performances. If you want my opinion, I don’t hate them. I don’t love them, but I don’t hate them.
