It seems as though Disney’s live action remakes are a little
hit-and-miss. While the Tim Burton adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (2010) maintained a rather bland and
rudimentary narrative, and Cinderella (2015)
was hindered by its sluggish pacing, their latest remake The Jungle Book (2016), based upon the 1967 animated feature of the
same name, seems to be a success. But
with the recent slate of animated movies planned for live action/CG reboots, I’m
more than a little concerned about Disney’s direction, although until now it’s
been hard to pinpoint precisely why. I mean, the majority of Disney animated
movies are themselves derived from works of fiction, implying that these
so-called ‘remakes’ aren’t necessarily remakes at all, but alternate
adaptations, which isn’t really such a bad thing. However, with the news that The Lion King (1994) is next in line, it’s
fast becoming apparent that Disney’s focus is entirely monetary.
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| The Jungle Book, Disney, 2016 |
This isn’t at all a criticism of the techniques applied to
recreate these movies. I’ll admit that, when it comes to animated films, my
preferences have often tended to be, well, conservative, in a sense, and
anchored by a strong, somewhat tantalising, yearning for a reprisal of
traditional methods. That said, I have since warmed to what I would have
previously referred to as ‘the new-fangled’ way, since Disney and indeed many
other production companies have, over the last two decades, proven their
ability to convey a complex and powerful story through the utilisation of
computer imagery. With that in mind, this latest criticism in no way revolves
around the means by which story is conveyed, but instead focuses predominantly
on story itself. The Jungle Book manages
to get away with being another adaptation of the same work of fiction (Rudyard
Kipling’s Mowgli stories), even if it does borrow sequences from the 1967
Disney classic. All the same, considering the latter’s continual popularity
amongst audiences, many likely see it as a remake – a carbon copy – rather than
a reimagining, especially considering the string of Disney animated classics
that have also fallen victim to the same process, such as Cinderella (2015), Maleficent
(2014) and Alice in Wonderland (2010).
And there’s more to come, including a live action version of the ‘Night On Bald
Mountain’ sequence from Fantasia (1940).
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| The Lion King, Disney, 1994 |
News of a Lion King remake
follows the overwhelming success of The Jungle
Book, which managed to draw in $103 in box office revenue in its opening
weekend. The trouble with a rehash of The
Lion King, however, is that it makes Disney’s artifice all the more
visible. While previous ‘remakes’ were clearly based on works of fiction, The Lion King falls into the trap of
being a blatant recreation of a classic animated film – and an unnecessary one
at that. While the film is indeed loosely based on Hamlet, a live-action and/or computer animated rehash highlights
Disney’s complete disregard for original story or, at the very least, fresh
perspective. The Jungle Book may have
been a box office success, and audience reception indicates that it’s indeed a
quality adaptation – but the fact remains that it’s devoid of the originality
that made Disney a household name. A Lion
King remake merely substantiates my fears that very little thought at all
is given to the original source material. Why not make another adaptation,
based on another, separate work of fiction?
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| The Jungle Book, Disney, 2016 |
This is nothing new, of course. As far back as 1996, Disney
unveiled a live action 101 Dalmatians,
which, while still inspired by the novel by Dodie Smith, is ultimately no more
than a remake of the Disney animated classic from 1961. And the remakes don’t
seem to be grinding to a halt any time soon. Other films that are reported to
be on the way include Pete’s Dragon, Peter Pan and Dumbo. Indeed, it appears we’re in the midst of a ‘remake era’, in
which classic Disney movies are being given reboots, whether they’re actually
in demand or not. Let’s face it, there are already plenty of Peter Pan adaptations already, and Pete’s Dragon is a strange choice for a
reboot. Besides the promise of visual potential, there’s nothing particularly
innovative or necessary about these remakes – which isn’t really a problem as
such, as long as there remains a firm focus on narrative and character as
opposed to technical aspects. Put it this way – the original Cinderella (1950) and Alice in Wonderland (1951) are
ironically more three-dimensional than their live action counterparts. In that
respect, I for one am not looking forward to a Lion King remake, simply because it’s not necessary, and can only
pale in comparison to what is one of the greatest animated movies of all time.
I only hope Disney don’t lose sight of what’s truly important. That’s assuming
they haven’t already. Even so, it seems as though this may actually be
happening, so there’s nothing more I can do than to reserve judgment until the
film arrives. Only time will tell if The
Lion King, and Disney’s other
remakes for that matter, will be a roaring success.
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