Are live action remakes the new cinema? Some may ask this question based on the mass amounts of remakes that have come out and continue to come out, but I think the real question that should be asked is “Are these remakes really necessary?”.
When you think of live action movies you may the main focus would be movies that had come out before the 2000’s like Aladdin, Lion King, Cinderella, etc, which makes sense since its been so long since the originals came out , but to the surprise of the public there is a upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s “Moana” is set for release on July 10, 2026. The first Moana movie came out only 9 years ago in 2016 so why is it that Disney is so quick to make as many live action remakes as possible? Are they trying to lure in its older fans for its box office success by nostalgia bating? Or are they steering their audiences away from animations for future live action projects? Here is what user sapphiespookerie from a Disney Reddit thread has to say about it.
“ I really enjoyed the live action Cinderella back in the day, and while it wasn’t a perfect movie I thought it was fun, but after that they’ve all been just so bland. Disney is just trying so hard to keep the copyright on their IPs that they’re willing to slop up these lazy cash grabs.”
Lazy cash grabs as described by sapphiespookerie isn’t so hard to believe. According to online sources Disney’s live-action remakes have generated nearly $9 billion in global ticket sales. Four of these films, including “The Lion King”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and “Aladdin”, have earned over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. With this amount of success its no surprise that Disney has moved forward with prioritizing live action remakes.
With the upcoming Moana movie set to release in 2026 it makes me wonder if the movie is even old enough to be remade . Something we need to remember is that for generations the concept of time to humans has always been a tricky thing to wrap your head around. What I mean by that is that some people still feel like it has only been 4 years since 2016 or others may feel like the 2000’s was just 10 years ago. The main point is that no matter when , humans don’t fully “download” how much time is being passed , in what brings me to my second point which is that Disney may not be giving us enough time to really process their animated movies , enough time to really soak in all its references and glory.
A good example of Disney doing this process correctly is the Lilo and Stitch movie, Lilo and Stitch was first released in June, 16 2002 and is now coming out with its live action remake May 23 2025 , that would make it a 23 year difference. While Lilo and stitch is still just as iconic as before , I think it’s fair to say that its fans have reminisce in its glory years and are ready for a new and fresh revisit from this iconic duo. Although Disney has its pro and cons of their remake movies release timeline, it may be something that could be worked on when it comes to knowing when the “right time” is for a revisit of their most iconic animations.
Now when it comes to the idea of these remakes we may question if they are even necessary, and yes its always nice to see your favorite childhood characters back on the big screen but what happens when these new character remakes distort your precious memories? A recent trend that has been seen online is people speaking out about how their favorite characters are now “ruined” by these live action remakes. For example the Genie from the live action Aladdin played by Will Smith has been known to disappoint its fans that notoriously loved its animated version played by Robin William. Both actors have very different approaches to humor and acting so it’s makes sense to why people are so hard to please when it comes to these new live action characters but maybe it’s not so much the characters themselves but instead the memories and connections people hold to these characters and not wanting to accept a new perspective of them.
Although the public has had a variety of opinions , there are still some live action remakes that Disney has been able to win over the hearts of their die hard animation fans. Here at the Spectator have created our own tier list based on online sources and our personal opinions on the movies as shown below. With the jungle book all the way at the top in A tier and Snow White all the way to the bottom at D tier, it’s clear to see that the remakes don’t all completely disappoint its audience.
Based off of the tier list the is a huge elephant in the room, an elephant so big that people refuse to take part in, which is the Snow white movie. The Snow White live action remakes came out earlier this year on March 21 , 2025 but before the movie made its big debut the public already had its opinions of the movie and the direction the directors decided to take one of Disney’s most iconic Disney princess. Snow white is known to be a soft and gentle princess , a princess that is comfortable in her femininity and embraces it. The femininity in Snow white is what made her such an iconic and inspiring character to little girls and those same little girls growing into a woman, now of course there are many different ways to express yourself as a woman but in her case she served as an inspiration for those who want to embrace their femininity.
An opposite example of this would be Mulan, a strong independent warrior princess who inspired little girls to go against the odds and stand up for themselves. Now imagine taking a historically know princess and forcing her into a new perspective, a perspective that has already been seen numerous of times. What message is Disney trying to share with this? Is being submissive and feminine a bad thing now? Are the little girls that watch these movies expected to look down on the original Snow white?
Aside from the forced narratives, another issues viewers have pointed out is the use of CGI dwarfs, which at first seems like a good thing when it comes to the movies graphics and accuracy to its characters but on the other end this loss of opportunity to the dwarf community is something the just doesn’t sit right with people. Many people think that the seven dwarfs should have been played by real actors , and given an opportunity to actors with dwarfism. With Hollywood being such a competitive industry it’s a shame to see opportunities like these taken away from substandard actors by CGI. Some pros that did come from the Snow white movies is Rachel Zeglers performance and musical talents according to rotten tomatoes movie critics.Apart from her interview dissing the original snow white, the actress was able to achieve a captivating portrayal of Snow White.
Despite the public’s different opinions of Disney’s live-action remake , Disney will forever continue to amaze us with their work, even if our generation (Gen Z) has hit a stop, and what i mean by this is that every generation has its prime time in Disney, Disney’s main focus is children so when those children grow up they’re no longer the main focus. Disney will forever touch the hearts of children watching their movies for the first time. It may not be ideal to see your favorite character in a new light or on the contrary it may be for others , in the end Disney movies will forever be apart of millions of people’s lives. There still may be hope with the upcoming live action remakes of Lilo and Stitch and Moana , all we can do is hope they give the animations the justice they deserve.
