In March 2015, the live action remake of Cinderella was released in the UK and was a success with audiences and critics. This seemed to give Disney the notion that they should remake lots more of their animated classics in live action, and that’s exactly what they did.
The next few years saw them release one or two of these remakes per year, and most got a good response, both critically and financially. Since 2015 we have seen retelling of such classics as Pete’s Dragon, The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, and many more are said to be on the way.
Now obviously the first question here is, why remake something that’s already been done before, and done well? Besides, the plan isn’t foolproof, to judge by the relative failures of A Wrinkle in Time (2018) and Dumbo (2019). To my mind this is how many remakes have performed in the cinema, and yet they keep on coming. Apart from the obvious motive of making money, it may be that Disney also see the remakes as an opportunity to correct certain elements in the originals that some would now deem inappropriate or offensive. The game-plan appears to be remake them, but take out the allegedly dated elements of the films to fit with the sensibilities of 21st century audiences. And this policy applies even if the questionable content is something the original films are famous for – the crows in Dumbo, or the Siamese cats in The Aristocats (a remake of which is said to be in development).
My general complaint about the new films is this: with a remake, you have the opportunity to do some things differently, which may or may not succeed. Disney don’t work like that. Beyond adapting the films to be as inoffensive as possible, nothing much else changes – same characters and story, told in exactly the same order. I haven’t seen all of these remakes, but for those that I have, the key scenes of the originals were so well known it was all too predictable to tell what was going to happen, and when. With the musicals, nearly all the songs are the same, with occasional (forgettable) new ones.
There are some exceptions to this. There have been some instances of the remakes adding new material – such as a further exploration of how a character dies, or a dragging third act tacked on to a film that was originally just over seventy minutes – apparently just to meet the unwritten rule nowadays that Disney family features must be nearly two hours long. I know I sound far from pleased with this, but I feel that it’s the only real effort being made to change these films in an interesting way.
By contrast, in 2018 Disney released Mary Poppins Returns, which unlike the previous live-action films was clearly a sequel, not a remake. It was an attempt to update a classic with mostly new material. The only elements of the original that altered were those that were unavoidable, such as characters who had aged. It was a great success and was nominated for numerous awards. I thought it was enjoyable enough and for most people it was probably a refreshing change.
Poppins was also the first sign of Disney going in the direction all the other major film studios went in when this trend started, which saw many old properties that were destined to remain dormant suddenly become active again. Some were highly anticipated, like the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy (which, ironically, was distributed by Disney).
We have also had sequels that weren’t given much fanfare but were still a pleasant surprise, like Halloween (2018), which ignored all the previous sequels and focused solely on advancing the story of the first film in its own way. In the same year The Predator was released and it was less of a sequel and more of another entry to add to its franchise; but it went on to receive mixed reviews and became the franchise’s lowest-grossing film, and this has effectively lessened the odds of a further sequel.
A similar fate befell Sylvester Stallone when he released a fifth Rambo film in 2019, which came and went very quickly; like The Predator it got bad reviews and may well have killed off its franchise. It’s been alleged that xenophobic attitudes had a part to play in its lack of appeal, but Stallone seems content to carry on with his Rocky sequel/spin-off series Creed.
I feel that sometimes remakes are justified and if done right can work very well. For instance, they can represent a chance to improve on something that didn’t do so well in its original form. Hollywood seemed to learn this lesson with the surprise success of IT in 2017, which led to renewed interest in adapting other stories by its author. There followed a remake of Pet Semetary that was a moderate success, but The Dark Tower seemed to fail instantly. Now, more recent King works have been adapted like Doctor Sleep (in the cinema), and Mr Mercedes and The Outsider (on tv).
Besides that, the horror remakes are as variable as ever, with disappointments like The Grudge (2020) and surprisingly enjoyable ones like Child’s Play (2019). Comic book films have also been the subject of remakes, such as Hellboy (but look how that ended up). There is also talk of remaking the Fantastic Four yet again in the MCU, and when enough time has passed the X-Men will also be due to receive the same treatment.
It’s very clear to me that the remake is here to stay, especially with Disney’s streaming service on the way which will release live-action remakes of classics such as Lady and the Tramp and Lilo and Stitch. The pointlessness of remaking the latter was what originally caused me to start feeling irritated by all this, but I accept the film industry’s situation and will continue to see and review these remakes.
But as far as it goes, my preference would have to be for remakes where there’s something worth adding, or a well-made unexpected addition to a beloved series. Or, making a film to explore a character differently, like Disney did with Maleficent and Christopher Robin, and is apparently continuing to do with a film centred around Cruella de Vil set for release in 2021.
It’s up to the studios now, but rest assured I’ll be watching.
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