Yeah About That...Disney's Live-Action Self-Remakes

They say originality is dead in Hollywood. The box office is filled with nothing but sequels, reboots, and remakes. Personally I'm on the fence of this argument, but one thing is for sure is that originality is on life support at the Walt Disney Studios.

A few years ago, the Mouse House started a trend of taking films from their animated classics line, and turning them into live-action films. Some not straight-forward remakes, so much as crude, god-awful reimaginings with no sense of the source material they're adapting...anyway. Quickly the number of these "live-action self-remakes" in development began to outweigh the number of them being released to theaters. At this point you can pretty much name a Disney animated film, and the chances are it's getting remade.

With the Beauty & The Beast remake now one of the high grossing films of all time, let's take a look at the rest of the remakes in the pipeline, while I offer my two-cents on each project. Shockingly, I'm not completely opposed to...most of them.

Mulan
Directed by Niki Caro
Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver
Starring: TBA
Coming To Theaters: November 2nd, 2018

Milan could actually really benefit in live-action, if done right. The fight scenes and the battle in the mountains could look amazing if choreographed properly and not completely dosed in CGI. The current word is it might not be a musical like original, and personally I'm fine with that. Let the film take on a more serious tone, but keep the comic relief so it's not completely dark and dull. Hell I suppose you could do like The Jungle Book remake and cherry pick one or two of the best songs so it's not a full-blown musical. Anyway this one I think can pass.


Mary Poppins Returns
Directed by Rob Marshall
Written by David Magee
Starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda
Coming To Theaters: December 25th, 2018

Okay this one's not a remake it's just a sequel, but it's a sequel to a classic Disney film that had an animated sequence. So yeah. The sequel's set to take place in London during the 1930s, where Jane, Micheal and Michael's three children, receive a visit from Ms. Poppins after a family tragedy. I love Emily Blunt and I have no doubt she'll nail the lead role. Rob Marshall can be a fairly decent director. Into The Woods was good, and the fourth Pirates of The Caribbean was entertaining enough in my opinion. Lin-Manuel Miranda is writing music for the movie so have fun with that (Clearly he's found a comfortable home at Disney post-Moana). There's also a really strong supporting cast, featuring Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, and the return of Dick Van Dyke. Based on Blunt's casting alone I'm cautiously optimistic for this film...despite the fact that P.L. Travers hated the first Mary Poppins, and forbid any more movies based on her books be made, so it just makes you wonder what kind of dark forces are we tempting here...but hey, you guys should watch Saving Mr. Banks.


The Lion King
Directed by Jon Favreau
Written by TBA
Starring: Donald Glover, James Earl Jones, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen
Coming To Theaters: July 19th, 2019

This one's apparently on the fast track. After the success Favreau had remaking The Jungle Book, this holds promise. But unless they actually use real animals, can this be considered a live-action remake, or just a remake with more realistic looking animation? One thing The Jungle Book has that The Lion King doesn't, is the human connection with Mowgli. Time will tell if this hurts the film. Donald Glover as Simba is an exciting casting choice, and bringing James Earl Jones back to reprise his iconic performance as Mufasa is a classy move. Eichner & Rogen as Timon & Pumbaa...I don't know. With the casting of James Earl Jones there's two ways of looking at this. Why can't we bring back other original cast members, and if we can, then really how much can this film distinguish itself from the 1994 epic?


Aladdin
Directed by Guy Ritchie
Written by John August
Starring ...maybe Will Smith? As The Genie?!?!
Coming To Theaters: TBA

I look at Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films, and I look at the style he's applied to his King Arthur (and the reviews...), and I wonder, is that going to work for a musical comedic-adventure like Aladdin? I have concerns. Let's be honest, this film is going to sink or swim solely based on the casting of The Genie. No one could ever hope to match the late Robin Williams's iconic performance. I don't envy the actor who has to fill those shoes. Apparently it might be Will Smith and honestly...that has a small chance of working, and a big chance of failing horribly. My fan-casting would be James Monroe Igelhart, who originated the role on Broadway. He was able to capture the spirit of Williams's performance while making it his own, and winning a Tony for it. Also it would help them to get Alan Menken back to do the music. He did it for the Beauty & The Beast remake.


Christopher Robin
Directed by Marc Forster
Written by Alex Ross Perry and Tom McCarthy
Starring Ewan McGregor?
Coming To Theaters: TBA

This one is basically Ted meets Toy Story 3. Christopher Robin is now an adult and forgotten his childhood imagination and adventures with Winnie The Pooh and company in the Hundred Acre Wood. His mundane adult life is thrown a curveball when Pooh shows up on his doorstep. Actually it sounds like Hook but with Winnie The Pooh not Peter Pan. There's real potential here, if the film amps up the nostalgia factor and goes right for the feels. Ewan McGregor could be adding another Disney remake to his resume, taking the lead role here which will be great. Marc Forster directed Finding Neverland and Quantum of Solace so stylistically it could be interesting. Tom McCarthy co-wrote Up and Spotlight, and rewrote Ross Perry's original script, so it's hard to say this early in the game what kind of film will get. Also for the love of God if you don't CGI Winnie The Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, etc. in the right way we could all be creeped the *bleep* and running out of the theaters in fear...


Oliver Twist
Directed by Tommy Kail
Written by TBA
Starring Ice Cube and TBA
Coming To Theaters: TBA

I guess you can consider this a remake of Oliver & Company...starring Ice Cube as Fagin...and it's being directed by the guy who directed "Hamilton" so it's going to be like hip-hop of the Charles Dickens story...okay? Yeah I'm not loving it.


James and The Giant Peach
Directed by Sam Mendes
Written by Nick Hornby
Starring TBA
Coming To Theaters: TBA

Not everything getting remade is from the animated classics line. NO FILM IS SAFE.
I didn't see the original stop-motion film until I was older, and I didn't really care for it so I couldn't care less about this project, and I don't think it's anyone's favorite Disney film so this remake isn't all that offensive as others. Sam Mendes is a talented director so maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.


Cruella
Directed by TBA
Written by Aline Brosh McKenna and Kelly Marcel
Starring Emma Stone
Coming To Theaters: TBA

Much like a certain other Disney film...this will focus on the origins of the villain of the animated original, i.e. Cruella DeVil. Emma Stone is set to play the iconic Disney villain, which sounds amazing but here's the kicker. Brosh McKenna, who wrote The Devil Wears Prada (Heh..The DeVil Wears Prada...) but Marcel came in and rewrote it. She wrote Fifty Shades of Grey...
I love Emma Stone but I think it best she really think this through before she signed on the dotted line...or should I say the spotted line...okay I'll stop.


Tink
Directed by TBA
Written by Victoria Strouse
Starring Reese Witherspoom
Coming To Theaters: TBA

Why is this necessary when you've done like eight direct-to-video films on Tinker Bell and her fairy friends that have racked in a fair amount of money-oh wait...do we really need to know the untold origins of Disney's favorite fairy? Again? Who really wasn't that layered of a character to begin with?


Peter Pan
Directed by David Lowrey
Written by David Lowrey and Toby Halbrooks
Starring TBA
Coming To Theaters: TBA

Did you see Pan? It might be time to lay off Peter Pan films for now...and are you trying to set up a Peter Pan cinematic universe with this and Tink? If so that's...stupid.


The Sword In The Stone
Directed by TBA
Written by Bryan Cogman
Starring TBA
Coming To Theaters: TBA

The original is kind of a clunky film to begin with, so this one could probably benefit from a remake, granted that if they do the scenes where they turn into fish, squirrels, and birds and the CGI isn't horrifying. Also there's a guy from Game of Thrones writing it, but don't expect a ton of nudity and graphic violence.


Dumbo
Directed by Tim Burton
Written by Ehren Kruger
Starring Eva Green, Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton and TBA
Coming To Theaters: TBA

No! Hell no! No wants to see the cute, heart-warming story of Dumbo, get the creepy, dirty Tim Burton treatment. Look what he did to Alice In Wonderland! Also Tim Burton stop remaking stuff and gives us something original. Seriously get out of this funk and make a good film. And I keep bringing CGI up and I'm going to keep bringing it up, but I don't want to see a horrifying CGI Dumbo.


Pinocchio
Directed by TBA
Written by Peter Hedges
Starring TBA
Coming To Theaters: TBA

Again, like Peter Pan I think this is a story that needs to stop being remade because no film has really worked since Disney's animated original. I think the last one was Roberto Benigni's version...*shudders* I would much rather see the potential versions done by Guillermo del Toro or Robert Downey Jr, just because of their involvement.


The Little Mermaid
Directed by TBA
Written by TBA
Starring TBA
Coming To Theaters: TBA

I am curious to see how the underwater scenes are done, and I will laugh out loud if this film gets to theaters before and does underwater better than one of James Cameron's Avatar sequels (One's supposed to feature an underwater world). Alan Menken will be back to do music so that's good, along with Lin-Manuel Miranda who's going to produce (He's clearly getting comfortable at Disney). But I imagine a CGI Flounder and Sebastian looking gross...


The Second Jungle Book
Directed by Jon Favreau
Written by John Favreau & Justin Marks
Starring TBA
Coming To Theaters: 2019-ish?

So a sequel of a remake that's neat...unless they're remaking the direct-to-video sequel...no they wouldn't. There's plenty more from Kipling's books to adapt. Favrueau and Marks returning is a good thing, but with this supposedly shooting back-to-back with The Lion King, I wonder if Favreau is stretching himself too thin, and if both films will suffer. Hopefully some of the original cast can return, and they can get this going before Mowgli (Neel Sethi) gets too old.


Maleficent 2
Directed by TBA
Written by TBA
Starring Angelina Jolie
Coming To Theaters: TBA

......No........


That's all of them I think. Having gone down the calendar one by one, it's clear that some of these remakes have a far better chance at success than others. So far Disney's remakes have had pretty solid track record. I never saw Cinderella but it had favorable reviews, and The Jungle Book I thought was probably better than the original, in terms of script and pacing. Pete's Dragon, I never saw the original and I really have no desire to see the remake. Beauty & The Beast for the most part is a very entertaining and loving tribute to the original, but not without its flaws.

In order for these remakes to succeed, they need to distinguish themselves enough from the original like The Jungle Book did to justify their existence. In an interview a few years ago, Beauty remake director Bill Condon raised the question on why remake a film that, in his words is "so perfect"? He went on to say "Technology has caught up to the ideas that were introduced in that movie." That's not a good reason to remake a film, and frankly an insult to the animated original, and to a greater extent the legacy of the company that allowed the creation of both Beauty & The Beast films.

If you're going to remake these films in live-action just so we can have a non-animated versions of them, that seems like a waste of production and resources. Why can't Disney devote all this energy to making original live-action fairy-tale musicals in the same spirit of their animated classics, that can stand beside them in the studio's catalog? I don't know, if the films are as good as The Jungle Book and Beauty & The Beast, I suppose it's a harmless practice, but what if they're not?

Walt himself was always looking to push the boundaries of filmmaking and technology. Hell even in his later years he was becoming less interested in animation and more with live-action filmmaking and his theme parks, so you have to wonder what he'd make of all this. When once asked about making a sequel to The Three Little Pigs short, he said "You can't top pigs with pigs"...but then he did go and make more shorts starring the pigs...

I'll go back and forth on this issue more and more as these films continue to develop and make their way to theaters. One thing is clear though from this list. Not every Disney film needs to be remade.

Film Review - "Beauty & The Beast" (2017)

Beauty & The Beast 
Directed by Bill Condon
Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, etc.

It's not much of a secret as it used to be,but let me just put in print: The original animated Beauty & The Beast is my favorite Disney film, and just my favorite film in general. Dare I say, it's one of the few films I could arguably label as "perfect".

So when Disney got on it's "live-action self-remake" kick, and this film was on the docket, I was more than skeptical. But as the casting announcements, production updates and trailers started to come out I started to feel more confident. It looked like Disney was treating one of its greatest properties with thought and care. After having seen the film twice now, I can say that while the original will always be superior, this one is a wonderful but not perfect tribute to it.

You know the story. A young girl named Belle (Watson) lives a provincial life in a French village. While on his journey home from the market, her father Maurice (Kevin Kline) ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the prisoner of of a cruel prince-turned-Beast (Stevens) in an enchanted castle. Belle finds her father, offers herself in his place, and the Beast accepts. Belle and the Beast grow closer, as does the hope that she might be the one to set him and his subjects free from their curse, while the wicked Gaston (Evans) schemes to make Belle his wife.

I'll be honest, this is a tough review to write. It feels like a betrayal to praise this film, because I love the original and when it comes right down to it, this is still an unnecessary remake. Hell, I think all these Disney remakes are but more on that later. Let's look at the remake of The Jungle Book for a second. That film managed to rework the story in a way that actually improved upon the original's script. Beauty & The Beast, there's not much to improve upon in the original, so really the changes here are minimal, and the result is mostly a shot-for-shot remake.

The film does suffer because of it. I'd say that until we got to the "Gaston" musical number I wasn't truly enjoying myself. As it progresses, the film does allow itself to become its own thing, but there's still a hesitance to stray too far from the source material. But to play devil's advocate, the film is a beautiful, touching homage to the animated classic. Nostalgia is one of the film's greatest strengths. Those who look fondly on Disney's original film will find it hard to not have their heartstrings pulled at. I found myself getting emotional as some iconic scenes were brought to life anew, particularly "Be Our Guest" and the dance in the ballroom to the title song.

I should mention that while the film does play its cards close to the chest, Bill Condon and his team do make some changes to the story, and they attempt to fill some plot-holes that have bugged fans for years. Some changes work well, and some not as well as others. I felt some key story moments were glossed over or not given enough attention. For example the scene where Belle saves her father and first meets the Beast feels rushed, like a drive-by plot point. The pacing of some songs and scenes, like "Something There" are reworked to let the audience see Belle and Beast's relationship grow overtime. The personas and development of some characters, like the Beast, Maurice, and LeFou are changed in ways that I thought worked really well.

Another one of the film's greatest strengths is that they got Alan Menken back to do the music, and it pays off gloriously. The songs feel almost grander, and more cinematic, not to say that all renditions outshine their predecessors. Some personal favorites are "Gaston" and "The Mob Song". The new songs work well too. "Days In The Sun" is a lovely, warm-hearted replacement for "Human Again" (but I did miss that song). "Evermore" is so powerful and heartbreaking. "How Does A Moment Last Forever" is fine, but its too fleeting to leave a lasting impression like the other two. Maybe its from decades of listening to the soundtrack of the original over and over, but the score for the remake is almost forgettable.

The cast is fantastic. Emma Watson plays a pitch-perfect Belle, but unfortunately the same can't be said about her singing. She does a fine job, but there is evidence of auto-tuning. Dan Stevens is an amazing Beast. The real scene-stealers are Kevin Kline, Luke Evans, and Josh Gad as Maurice, Gaston, and LeFou. Kevin Kline is at his best as Maurice. Luke Evans is delightfully wicked as Gaston, and is a highlight among the ensemble. Josh Gad gives a great performance as LeFou, who is an actual character here and not a one-note sidekick. Ewan McGregor is a fine Lumiere, and his performance in "Be Our Guest" is pretty fantastic, but his "French" accent is meh. Ian McKellen is a spot on Cogsworth, and Emma Thompson plays Mrs. Potts with just the right amount of warmth and maternal sass.

So in conclusion, I really enjoyed this film and will always admire it for what it does, which is give a loving and well-crafted tribute to the animated classic. I encourage all fans of the original to give this film a shot. I will revisit this film in future, but it will not replace or overshadow the original Beauty & The Beast. As good as this remake is, it doesn't do enough to stand on its own or justify its own existence. There's the age old debate of what makes a film "necessary" to make, and while I find this film falls in the "unnecessary" category, it's not a bad thing that it was made. It's not exactly a bad thing to revisit a tale as old as time.

PS: If you'd like to see me interview audience members on their hopes and reactions to the film on opening night, click here.