My ACTUAL Biggest Problem With Disney Remakes

[@bradomer1978]

Spot on! I love the analysis. And I agree that Cinderella is the best remake! They hit magic with that one. Please keep sharing your thoughts!

[@kileychristianson3868]

Exactly! Imo Disney should just leave their animated movies alone, but if they have to drag them back as live action, retellings are better than remakes could ever be. Take inspiration from the base story / fairytale rather than the animated movie, tell the story from a different perspective, make it look different... maybe then it won't remind us of the far-better original movies. Then again, their recent retellings aren't looking all that great either (*cough*Cruella*cough*). I miss having new animated movies.

[@Hi-jw7oq]

Did you watch cruella? What did you think?

[@magicwandstudio3141]

@@Hi-jw7oq basically they rid off things that make her great “her unapologetically evilness”

[@CoolG97]

I like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, it treated itself as a sequel instead of a remake and is better for it. (I actually liked Time in the sequel.) Not too big a fan of Maleficent, I've really come to hate the "X isn't evil, just misunderstood." trope and I think we should have gotten the backstory on the four fairies instead.

[@magicwandstudio3141]

Exactly, i love the three fairies in the original and they are very underappreciated character amd the true main characters in original animated version.

[@Hi-jw7oq]

That’s what I hate too. Also the only thing I think that did well with the villain being misunderstood was wicked. But that’s just my opinion

[@dhruvgeorge]

Emma Watson was basically playing Hermione Granger cosplaying as a Disney princess

[@darkprose]

Great stuff. Great stuff. You know, in the live-action _Beauty and the Beast_ I didn’t buy at all that _this_ Belle’s favorite book was _Romeo and Juliet._ Her favorite book should have been _Macbeth._ Or a collection of Sylvia Plath poetry, I don’t know.

[@jordanserchuk7418]

So true. The remake puts so much effort into making Belle tougher, more practical and less sentimental than the animated Belle, yet they still throw in lines that paint her as a romantic dreamer, which don't seem to fit with the rest of her portrayal.

[@X_MissMary_X]

@@jordanserchuk7418 Reminds me of chi Jedi Mulan winning the battle with the avalanche like in the animated version when the avalanche scheme was directly tied to animated Mulan's ingenuity, but chi Jedi Mulan's asset was being a chi Jedi, not a mad genius

[@WildflowerHistory]

Thank you for this Video, I agree on many of your Points. The only remake I really liked was Cinderella, as they gave a bit more Family background, and didn't use the original songs, so the film works much on it's own - and Kenneth Branagh still managed to capture the feeling you had with the original. Every film after that was just a huge material battle featuring cgi. I would love to hear your opinion on the Mary Poppins Films, as I liked the fact that the director got an animation for the Royal Dalton Music Hall, which was beautifully done.

[@mmclean9560]

I am a list maker and one day I decided to make a Disney Live Action Remakes list. Loved It: Alice in Wonderland Maleficent Cinderella Alice Through the Looking Glass Didn't Hate It: 101 Dalmatians Jungle Book Christopher Robin Dumbo Cruella Don't Like It: Pete's Dragon Beauty and the Beast Aladdin Lion King Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Mulan Haven't Seen: Jungle Book 1994 102 Dalmatians Sorcerer's Apprentice Lady and the Tramp I love your videos and I agree with you on a lot of movie related things. Keep on being amazing!!

[@Hi-jw7oq]

I was glad dumbo remake was pretty entertaining and also cruella I had low expectations for it but I liked it. I agree with your list!

[@nerdoftheatre]

I think what the remakes struggle with is figuring out *why* this story is being told live action. Why is it not animated? Why did they choose THIS medium in particular? What can they do in melding both mediums together? What is lost and gained in transferring from animation to live action? When I took a playwrighting class at my Alma Mater, the first things we were asked were, "Why are we telling this story on the stage? Why theatre? What makes this so different from film? Why not just film it?" A lot of what the new remakes fail to do is answer these questions. From seeing a few of these movies myself, I can tell you those questions were neither answered nor asked to begin with. I saw a touring production of Lion King musical in 2016. I was FLOORED. I cried three times. The sets were beautiful. It was more gorgeous than the movie, I think anyway. They were able to expand on the story. Shadowland was one of the best things that has happened to the story. It's beautiful. It makes sense. The Madness of King Scar is horrifying, yet makes sense. They were able to play to the strengths of the theatre and to the original story. And they found a way to meld them into a story that was both the same, yet different enough to justify a Broadway run. I hate putting Disney on such a high pedestal, but the Lion King musical is one of the best screen to stage musicals. It found a way to keep to the story while expanding into a new medium. And a lot of the remakes fail this. They are rehashing story for story's sake. There is no exploration of the medium. No creativity. No expansion into the world of live action film. No asking "Why film?" It is taking characters from one animated movie and moving them to a different type of movie. There is no creative answer to, "Why this medium?" It just seems so lackluster. Returning to nostalgia for money's sake..... Which is what has driven me away from Disney. They have no desire to expand upon these characters. (Heck, you can see it with the Frozen musical too.) They don't have an interest in expanding the story to fit a new type of medium. And what gets expanded on ends up bringing the movie down. (Looking at you Mulan live action remake.) They aren't expanding to fit the new medium. And when they do, it's fixing non-issues. They spend time fixing stuff that works fine for live action. They need to explore the live action medium more in their love action films. The answer to, "why this medium?" is not answered. I don't think it's ever been asked. There is no modifying the story to play to the strengths of live action movies adapted from animated movies. They, the people in charge, think the scripts are fine as is. Cause they know/think direct rehashings will bring them the big money. Despite a reimagined Broadway musical show showing exactly the opposite. People like the story being the same, but they also adore the story being expanded upon. Which is what is being lost in live action. Direct rehashings often just.... bring the story down. What new is there to gain from this medium that wasn't present in the original? Why should I watch this remake if the original tells the story in a way that makes sense (for the medium)?

[@AnywayJenniferSim]

Thank you for taking the time to write this!! That’s exactly the problem, no one is asking “why this medium?”. You put it perfectly.

[@genevieva_b]

i wish i could see the Lion King musical. looks stunning in pictures, and never have i ever said that about any other stage adaptation of Disney.

[@Nightman221k]

I agree wholeheartedly. I honestly think they can keep the skeleton of the story and plot but make changes that mix things up and give it new life. I was hoping and praying that the new Little Mermaid would be a new setting or even a different time period or era to keep it similar to the timeless Disney classic while changing the story enough that we have ACTUAL things that are unique unlike Aladdin and Lion King and Beauty and the Beast that legitimately just recycled a script. I feel like mermaid stories vary things up usually so I hoped they’d do that for the live action TLM. So much could be done to make these films special and they are just taking the laziest possible option to avoid being original.

[@neonennui]

100% agree with you. But lots of Disney fans are perfectly fine with these cheap scripts, miscasting errors (like Watson in Beauty and the Beast) and poor use of cgi. So Disney is not putting any effort in creating remakes, they just hire celebrities, shoot a corny movie then add sparkles and release it.

[@alexinburtonland]

Honestly dumbo was really really good, they expanded the story which I needed, every time I watched the original (I do enjoy it) and it got to the end I never felt like it was finished and the story was only kicking in. The remake does and the changes it makes fits into the context of live action. You can check out my review if you like for me info

[@DanielleSantos711]

Also adding extra new songs.

[@lydias376]

And taking away a few of the old ones.

[@danielomer4988]

So many awesome insights into "why" I've been so irked by most of the live remakes.

[@creativeannie]

I'm a little late but I wanted to say I absolutely agree with you on the copy and past, I like cinderella, but I would have liked it more if Lilly and the director weren't always saying the OG Cinderella was just waiting around for a man to save her, which I disagree with strongly. So even though it's certainly one of the better remakes I am slightly turned off by their comments towards the original.

[@Susannah.N]

Yes, so true! Well said. I haven't seen every remake, but the points you're making make sense. Cinderella is my favorite, with Aladdin being my second favorite. Not many people seem to like the new Aladdin and I'm not really sure why. (unless it's because of Jafar. I think they really missed the mark with him there) Going off of what you said about what a live action movie does well vs what an animated movie does well, I think another reason the new Cinderella works well is because they executed that perfectly! It added what a live action movie needs more of: depth in characters. Giving the prince a bit more of a backstory, having Cinderella and Kit meet and get to know eachother before the ball, giving a reason why Cinderella stays with her stepmother, among other things. And subtracted - while not cutting out entirely - what animation does best: The talking mice. The mice were almost bigger characters than Cinderella, in the old film. But in the new one they are just a small part of the story, and it works great!

[@kitty4ever763]

I have been enjoying your videos immensely & agree with all of your analysis. My compliments for being knowledgeable & eloquent. And as a suggestion, I would encourage you to see the Disney remake of Dumbo by Tim Burton. It is a unique retelling of the character, while being different from the original animated motion picture. For the rest, keep doing what you are doing with these videos, keep educating others on critical thinking & I wish you the best! 😊

[@Femmeaesthetic]

I’m worried about Hercules, tinkerbelle and Snow White live action remake and I shouldn’t be cause probs gonna ruin it anyway, I should be more worried about the animation, hoping disney doesn’t ruin it like they did with live action.

[@Creative_Spirit_ab]

One thing I want to say (btw what I'm about to say is a super common misconception so it is not a nitpick at you, just something interesting to bring to light) is that Scar's plan was actually to kill both Mufasa AND Simba. If you remember that then the "practicing roar" thing in the remake actually makes LESS sense. All Scar intended to do was kill them, the guilt Simba felt was actually just an unintentional result. I agree with everything you said in the video too. One thing I really appreciate about your videos is that you said you are not a writer yourself, so I feel you really speak from a place of intuition as a viewer instead of more an analytical approach a writer would. It's so insightful. Also I think Atlantis would be perfect for a live-action format.

[@Femmeaesthetic]

The only Disney live action remake is my favorite is Alice in wonderland, even though I don’t completely think it’s a remake but a sequel bc of the event when Alice as a grown woman experience wonderland for the 2nd time and trying to devalope her character. I like how they did something different with it compared to other live action remakes which they could’ve done something like Alice in wonderland sequel live action.

[@magicwandstudio3141]

Alice in Wonderland was not exactly meant to be remake of Disney Alice, it was developed by Tim Burton first and planned tonsell the script to other companies until disney bought it, but it does inspired disney to make a string of live actionadaptation of their animated classic.

[@Femmeaesthetic]

@@magicwandstudio3141 yeah u have point it wasn't really a remake but a sequel which is something what other remakes could've at least done (if the story is well done)

[@magicwandstudio3141]

@@Femmeaesthetic sorry what I mean not a remake means it does not have anything to do with disney animated version. So its more like a sequel to the book rather than the animated version

[@xxangie_x2538]

@@magicwandstudio3141I know I’m really late but it’s also not a sequel to the books either because they make the Queen of Hearts the same character as the Red Queen and the Duchess and they combine through the looking glass with Alice in wonderland that are different worlds of nonsense and they give a much different reasoning on why the mad hatter is mad in my opinion the movie is kinda bad as an Alice in wonderland retelling/sequel (unfortunately it’s kinda considered the worst version of Alice in wonderland) but as it’s own movie I think it’s really great

[@moritzmartini4132]

I mean imo 2015 Cinderella should´ve had some more similarities to the 1950 animated one (both visually and storytellingwise, but especially visually) but they still changed enough to make it unique. Like introducing the mother and showing us how Ella slowly got more and more abused? really good and it makes sense for her story.

[@tonywinters1283]

I feel your video is competent, you're not trashing them or mindless hate. Its good to critique movies . I love the remakes and people hating on them makes me like them even more. I agree with your points but for me i want the remakes to be like the original and the songs.

[@McCammalot]

I ADORED Maleficent. ADORED.

[@madisonpollard2769]

So excited that you posted! Haven't finished the video yet but I know it'll be amazing as usual!

[@Kille483]

One live action remake that gets overlooked is the 101 Dalmatians one. How do you guys feel about it? I’ve got mixed feelings 😕

[@Natalie66796]

I enjoyed Aladdin's live action remake, but only because of Will Smith. But in my eyes, no one will ever replace Robin Williams. And I appreciate that Will Smith even pointed out that he could never live up to what Robin Williams did.

[@spookyjester443]

Yes, yes and yes!! This is on point i swear! This was so fun and refreshing to watch, i really hope for this channel to be big in the near future :) keep it up!!

[@ShootingStarStudio]

Cinderella is the best remake, but I actually did enjoy the new Aladdin. I think the introduction of Dahlia and the addition of “Speechless” as a song did so much for Jasmine as a character because in the original, there wasn’t a lot to work with. She felt more like a person than an object in the remake. Her having other outfits than her blue one from the original also made a world of difference, and those dresses were absolutely gorgeous. As for my biggest problem with Mulan? Sideways summed it up perfectly, but I’ll reiterate. You can’t take out the songs, aka the emotional parts that progress the story, and replace them with nothing. It’s also a giant middle finger to use the original songs in the score because you’re directly referencing a superior film.

[@just_extremely_confused]

Love your voice,you sound soo sweet

[@Femmeaesthetic]

19:47 honestly I was upset that they weren’t gonna have Mushu or Shang even though if it was gonna be different

[@krisynthiagomez5883]

After listening to this I realize that Jungle Book made the same mistake that Lion King did as far as the “villain’s” song goes. I loved Be Prepared with Scar but the in the remake they just butcher it completely and King Louis’s “I want to be like you” is the same it’s like they were trying to make it a song but not really to make it seem more realistic? And it completely ruined the tempo and took you out of the story.

[@cabellero1120]

I agree with you, for the most part. The non musical films seem to be better. Cinderella, Jungle Book, Alice In Wonderland and Maleficent work nicely. I do like Beauty and the Beast. Pinocchio was pretty good. Lion King was.....Awful! I think they messed up The Little Mermaid!! They just ruined it! they should just let these movies alone They're going to destroy Snow White by making it Woke!!

[@yorurei4047]

It's like they don't understand the original characters but force them into the same story

[@emmam4123]

I agree with your assessment!! That’s why I’m not too interested in watching Pinocchio on Disney+.

[@IsomerMashups]

This is my comment to hopefully boost the video in the algorithm. I don't really have much to say. I agree with your opinions here. Nice analysis.

[@faketohma]

for beauty in the beast I kept saying, I could be watching the animated version. Why am I not watching that one? It's much better.

[@TeylaDex]

I've never seen the new alladin, and DAMN that Genie CGI (2:40) looks wonky... right from the uncanny valley...

[@tonywinters1283]

Cinderella remake was amazing. But I loved The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Mulan was good but it needed the songs badly. I don't mind people not liking the remakes. For me the remake needs to be super faithful to the original. If they changed too much it would be bad. I like the remakes , I see the remakes as a companion to the original.

[@angelagokool9514]

Why can't Disney just make original movies, instead of just retreading old ground? And they're not the only ones, who are doing this. Lately, there has been an endless barrage of movies and shows, either animated or live action, that are constantly being remade, and Hollywood needs to stop. But I understand how difficult it is to stay original, in the field of writing. I'm not a professional writer, but I do write stories, and sometimes, I've had original ideas, that just didn't really pan out. Also, most of the Disney movies based on fairy tales don't follow the original stories, anyway. For instance, Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid is actually pretty bleak, as most fairy tales often are. But Disney just wants to give us the happy ending, because that's what audiences want. And that's fine, but they really need to stop ruining our animated nostalgia, with unimaginative remakes.

[@TabbyLibrary]

I don't have a problem seeing the same fairy tale told again. I have a problem with remakes of adaptations. The problem with remakes is that basically they're copies of copies and therefore lose quality. If they really want to tell the story again, they should base their new story off of the original source material. It doesn't guarantee greatness, but it does increase the chances.

[@bigeyegreedy]

Cinderella is Disney’s best remake.

[@bekkyc9780]

Do we love Rey and Captain Marvel? 🤔 Absolutely agree with everything else 😄 I also had high hopes for Mulan because I heard it wasn’t going to be a copy paste and that worked so well for Cinderella. Alas

[@juliamorriss]

Could you do a review of the new little mermaid live action. That was a great Disney remake . I cried at the end of the movie. I love Halle Bailey.

[@donnie2832]

To me the only one that worked was 101 Dalmatians. I liked both the animated and live versions. None of the other live action films needs to exist.

[@steady8712]

Writers find it hard to adapt soft characteristics in movies, think Christian grey in 50 shades. Just feels off.

[@toosleepyforeverything]

To be honest i grow up with the live actions instead of the original ones so i like them all or most of them. (Lion king was the only one i grow up with the original one and hell you cant like the live action) I watched some of the original ones after and I understand why people hate them and when it comes e.g to beauty and the beast i find myself not enjoying it as much as i used to anymore. But for example Aladdin i like both versions

[@aubreyunoficalcastmemberwd1522]

I dislike Pinocchio 2022, because they changed my fav character Jiminy and made him arrogant self-rightous and annoying In the animated Pinocchio Jiminy Cricket was warm humble treated The Blue Fairy like a princess In remake the personality was changed to make him. more modern Why, Disney? I don't like when Disney changes character to appeal more hip because it doesn't work. Instead they could've gave Jiminy a. backstory intlo why he had to wear rags maybe he was born into poverty like aladdin and maybe he didn't always know right from wrong, so The Blue Fairy takes pitty on him and offers Jiminy to be Pinocchio's conscience which Jiminy accepts, because he wants a job and he's tired of being poor? That would make him more modern I think!

[@explodingdynamite7319]

How Bad Can They Be?

[@scout08713]

Nice video!

[@Hi-jw7oq]

I didn’t like Aladdin but that’s just me

[@genevieva_b]

i really enjoyed Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo. not a fan of Maleficent and Cinderella, though. quite decent movies, but i didn't fall in love with them. some parts of Cinderella were a bit too silly for me, or too saccharined, and Cinderella's character was perhaps the biggest drawback for me (wish they weren't trying to make her so perfect). also, the way the original had Cinderella orphaned as a child made more sense to me. but i appreciate it was more of its own thing in a lot of ways. Aladdin was a mixed bag for me, mainly because i didn't feel their relationship with Jasmine really worked in this one. where in the original she totally led him on to say a cringy thing, and in that same scene he redeemed himself by acknowledging her perspective, in the remake he screwed all on his own, in a way that didn't feel redeemable to me, and definitely not because he was "adorkably" awkward a couple of scenes later. it did have quite a few enjoyable things about it, though.

[@strongrex2615]

No. No no no. I’m not just going to have to disagree completely with you about Maleficent, but I’m gonna have to blow your argument completely out of the water. It does not make sense, I was with you up until you were saying Maleficent was one of the good remakes. You couldn’t be any more wrong when you say things like if you just don’t compare it to the original movie, it works on its own terms. What Maleficent does is completely weaken the story and characters by turning Sleeping Beauty from a black-and-white story to a white-and-black story, which is the laziest way you can write “the other point of view.” I mean, are you kidding me? You’re not comparing it to the original when you’re watching it because they changed so many things? How about the fact that they made Disney’s most iconic villain a good guy (also, the incompetent team behind this movie didn’t seem to realize that maleficent is an actual word, and it means one who commits evil)? You may not be thinking it, but lots of fans, including me, were just gaping at the screen and saying “No” and face palming each time Maleficent was not being her evil self (which was literally the entire movie). First of all, Maleficent as a character is so iconic that it is impossible to not make any comparisons. The movie is not supposed to stand alone. It is called Maleficent. It was made with the specific purpose that people like me, who know and love the character, would come and see it. It is counting on me assuming that it is going to at least try to be faithful to a character that I love and am therefore willing to part with my money to see. And that's fine. But since it's getting my money because I associate it with a character I love, it doesn't get to disavow that association if I don't like what I see. The same goes for Cruella and any other Disney villain (or any Disney character) they decide to give their own movie. Second, you seem to be in the camp of people who are saying that as a movie standing on its own (even though it can’t), Maleficent is really good. And you couldn’t be more wrong about that. This movie was made because Maleficent was such a popular villain and the princess franchise is a cash cow. Now, make the story completely original. What do you have? You have a one-dimensional villain who is evil just because, you have a princess who is cute and kind but that's it, a love interest for the princess who doesn't do anything, you have the three fairies who do nothing but bicker and act inept and incompetent for no reason, you have the protagonist who does bad things because of (you guessed it) a man who broke her heart, etc. You have boring, underdeveloped characters and a plot that's been recycled many times over. If you were to tell me it insulted the original movie, I would agree completely with you. The original had some great characters. Sure, you had the beautiful princess, the handsome and brave prince, and a love-at-first-sight subplot. However, you also had three female protagonists who rescue men, fight dragons and save women. You also had a female antagonist whose power surpassed all. She also reigned in chaos. She cursed infants to die, kidnapped a prince to keep the curse in place, and even psychologically tortured her captive by letting him know that one day, after spending a lifetime in her dungeon, he will be released and only released because the woman that he loves is gone forever. The “Maleficent” film takes these great characters and destroys them. What makes me angry the most is not that Maleficent changes the story, not that it changes the characters beyond recognition, not even that it downplayed Disney's most iconic villain, but that it exists and it shouldn't. On top of all that, this movie is insulting to both men AND women. Just look at the dissection done on Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather alone. And when you look at the Maleficent character herself, the movie touts her as this bad-ass character and powerful force yet the tree monsters do most of the fighting for her and she can’t even grow a new pair of wings (which first, it’s kid logic to assume that if you’re a fairy you MUST have wings, and second it is actually an insult to her power if she is supposedly the most powerful fairy in the land, yet she can’t grow a new pair of wings) let alone transform into a dragon, she has her raven do that for her. Seriously, this movie should be ranked a lot lower than it is. I do consider this one of the worst, like bottom-of-the-barrel worst Disney has ever done. And I will never forgive them for that.

[@Hi-jw7oq]

I actually kinda liked dumbo

[@IDontWantThisStupidHandle]

I haven't seen any of the remakes, and (baring threat of death, I never will) (and when I say that, I don't include Cinderella, Maleficent or Alice in Wonderland in that group. They aren't remakes in my opinion, they are new stories, like you said), but I completely understand your gripe with the soundtracks, which I have seen snippets of in commercials. For the 90s remakes, Howard Ashman was the driving force in the Disney Rivival. He, and Alan Menken, lived musical theater and Howard in particular talked with the Disney team every step of the way on how to make a musical film. This is a huge factor behind the success of every 90s Disney animated hit (even after he died, Menken kept his spirit going through his music). For the classic remakes (like Cinderella), film at that time heavily burrowed from medical theatre in general anyway, the Golden era of Hollywood musicals had just come to a close at that point. Artists knew not only how important the songs were to the characters, but how to deftly, and appropriately, weave them into the film. The same level of care is lacking in today's films in general, let alone Disney musicals.