Casey Chong delves into the Disney library to look at the Mouse House’s best live-action remakes…
Disney’s penchant for unearthing its own library of animated features and turning them into live-action remakes has been a pivotal part of the moviemaking business since Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland became a huge hit. That 2020 movie eventually paved the way for more live-action remakes from Cinderella to Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Aladdin with varying success. With Mufasa: The Lion King now in cinemas [read our review here], we have listed eight of the best live-action Disney remakes, in alphabetical order…
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
The timing was just right when Alice in Wonderland made its theatrical debut in 2010, just a few months after James Cameron’s Avatar made box-office history. That timing in question refers to the 3D craze at the time, even though Alice in Wonderland is more of a post-converted gimmick. And yet, the gimmick still paid off well with a little over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Still, there is something about Tim Burton’s live-action version worth mentioning here, namely his distinctive visual style that gives Alice in Wonderland a charmingly whimsical flair. It also helps a whopping $200 million budget allowed Burton to expand his filmmaking sandbox in the visual department while bringing out the best in his ensemble cast. This includes Johnny Depp, who is certainly born to play the zany Mad Hatter while another Burton regular Helena Bonham Carter steals the show as the Red Queen with her unforgettable catchphrase, “Off with the head!” The quirky and fantastical storytelling nature of Lewis Carroll’s oft-adapted children’s novel is right in Burton’s wheelhouse, even though casting then-unknown Mia Wasikowska seemed like a curious misstep, given the actress’ lackluster personality in playing the older Alice.
Christopher Robin (2018)
The charming Winnie the Pooh story gets a soulful live-action/CGI hybrid remake in Christopher Robin. Director Marc Forster is seemingly taking a cue from Steven Spielberg’s Hook, aging up the titular character to an adult, and played by Ewan McGregor. The movie isn’t afraid to hit the reality check associated with stress, midlife crisis and family issues, which at times feels dour for a supposedly family-friendly entertainment.
Yet, Christopher Robin’s predicament is eventually justified once he re-discovered his long-forgotten childlike wonder after he reunites with his old furry friend, Winnie the Pooh. The reunion brings back the sweet-natured, nostalgic charm with Pooh and his furry friends such as Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet are brought to vivid life using photorealistic CGI effects. The voice cast helps a lot in capturing A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard’s beloved furry characters’ eclectic personalities with Jim Cummings voicing both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger while Brad Garrett excels the most as the cynical Eeyore.
Cinderella (2015)
The Cinderella story is nothing new since it has been told and retold over the past decades from the 1995 musical The Glass Slipper to the revisionist spins seen in Ever After and Ella Enchanted released in 1998 and 2004 respectively. Director Kenneth Branagh and screenwriter Chris Weitz offer nothing new here but still manage to retain the magical, yet old-school charm of a fairy tale story in a classical fashion.
The success of Branagh’s Cinderella lies in its spot-on casting of Lily James, who delivers a wonderful and heartfelt titular character while Richard Madden brings enough charisma to his handsome prince role of Prince Kit and Helena Bonham Carter’s scene-stealing supporting turn as the Fairy Godmother. Let’s not forget about Cate Blanchett, who is perfectly cast as Cinderella’s wickedly evil stepmother Lady Tremaine. With a $90 million budget at Branagh’s disposal, he made good use of the money and brought his Cinderella to colorful life, resulting in a sumptuous visual feast with lavish production design and incredible costume design, notably Cinderella’s flowing sky-blue gown.
Cruella (2021)
It seems like a risk trying to top Stephen Herek’s 1996 live-action hit 101 Dalmatians featuring the incomparable Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil. But Craig Gillespie’s prequel to give the notorious antagonist a backstory proves to be a better-than-expected live-action Disney remake. Besides, prequels to successful IPs often get a bad rap due to the risk of redundancy in the character arcs and above all, the predetermined fate that we already know what’s going to happen to the character, which in turn, restricts creativity and elements of surprise.
And yet, Gillespie’s Devil Wears Prada-like storytelling approach focuses on the young and ambitious Estella/Cruella played by Emma Stone working under the cutthroat Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson) and how their working relationship turns sour resulting in some devilishly good black-comedy vibes. It also helps that Stone and Thompson play off each other well like Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in that 2006 hit dramedy. The character arcs surrounding the young Estella/Cruella’s backstory and how the character infamously becomes who she is in the future are efficiently told while the movie is equally noteworthy in its sumptuous costume and production design.
Mulan (2020)
Eschewing Mushu, Li Shang and Cri-Kee the cricket while giving the live-action remake of Mulan a mature, yet semi-grounded take seems like a bold choice. But Niki Caro, directing her first big-budget feature, knows what she’s doing here. The semi-grounded take in question refers to Gong Li’s shapeshifting witch character Xian Lang and the CGI red phoenix while the story retains its core structure, albeit with a few tweaks. She brings out the best in her ensemble cast including Liu Yifei in her charismatic lead performance as Mulan while convincingly portraying a tough warrior, who reportedly did 90% of her own stunts.
With a $200 million budget at Caro’s disposal, she proves to be an ace in the action department – all well-choreographed with style and dynamism minus the annoying shaky-cam approach. Mulan is equally stunning in its overall visuals from the lavish costume and production design to the spectacular cinematography with the feel and look of an epic wuxia/historical war-movie hybrid.
Pete’s Dragon (2016)
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery’s first foray into the mainstream studio picture is a lyrical update of the 1977 live-action/animation hybrid of the same name. Here, he chose to eschew the singing parts and ditched the former’s cartoon dragon in favor of a CGI version, which looks incredibly lifelike from Weta Digital. Lowery doesn’t let state-of-the-art technology get in the way of his storytelling, notably the poignant coming-of-age angle between Pete and his CGI co-star, Elliot the dragon. Oakes Fegley, who plays Pete, delivers a sympathetic performance while his chemistry with the dragon is the highlight of the movie.
Lowery also has an eye for idyllic visuals while Bojan Bazelli’s cinematography effectively captures the folksy charm of the Pacific Northwest countryside, even though it was shot on location around New Zealand. Then, there are elements of Spielbergian quality in Lowery’s direction, capturing the legendary director’s cinematic magic and wonder of an Amblin-style entertainment.
The Jungle Book (2016)
This isn’t the first time The Jungle Book is given a live-action treatment with past efforts like Zoltan Korda’s 1942 version and the 1994 Jason Scott Lee-led starrer already preceding Jon Favreau’s 2016 remake. The latter was a big hit at the time of its release, scoring over $966 million against a $175 million budget and deservedly so, thanks to its stunning visuals and a crowd-pleasing, yet resonant coming-of-age story of Mowgli’s journey of self-discovery. Favreau took a gamble in casting Neel Sethi, an unknown newcomer proven his worth as the only human actor in the role of Mowgli. He is the heart and soul of the movie while convincingly placed alongside the talking animal characters, where the likes of Bagheera the black panther and Baloo the bear are seamlessly brought to life using a combination of life-sized puppets and motion-capture technology.
Credits also go to Favreau for assembling a stellar voice cast from Ben Kingsley’s noble Bagheera to Bill Murray’s humorous Baloo and Idris Elba’s sinister Shere Khan the tiger. The overall state-of-the-art CGI is spectacular and more so if you managed to catch this on IMAX 3D at the time. The 2016 version of The Jungle Book equally excels as a thrilling, old-school action-adventure, complete with Favreau’s dynamic camerawork alongside Bill Pope’s majestic cinematography and John Debney’s lush score.
The Little Mermaid (2023)
1989’s The Little Mermaid played a huge part in the Disney Renaissance at the time when the House of Mouse was on the roll. But the news about turning the animated classic into a live-action rendition was subsequently met with disdain, notably the controversial casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel. However, Bailey’s take on Ariel has her own merits and the actress gives her all in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid with superb vocal range, notably the part where she belts out “Part of Your World” while bringing deeply expressive charm to her role. She also shared wonderful chemistry with Jonah Hauer-King’s Prince Eric while Melissa McCarthy steals the show each time she appears as the wicked Ursula.
The CGI may have been a mixed bag but Rob Marshall, who spearheaded the live-action remake, still deserves praise for retaining the core of its storyline while giving The Little Mermaid a few notable makeovers, namely Prince Eric is no longer a typical Disney prince but more of an independent thinker longing for freedom.
What are your favourite live-action Disney remakes? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong