In recent years, animated films have received more live-action remakes — especially from Disney. After remake releases for properties such as "The Lion King," "Mulan," and "Aladdin," the industry giant just announced a live-action remake of "Moana." And "Moana" isn't the only live-action remake set to release in the near future. Disney is also producing a live-action version of the 2002 animated classic "Lilo & Stitch," as well as "Hunchback," a remake of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Although the original movies are all fantastic films with gorgeous art and heartwarming storylines, there's no real need for live-action remakes of them. In fact, there's no need for this overabundance of live-action remakes at all.
Live-action remakes don't do anything particularly new. Most of them just rehash the same story and add little improvement, if they add anything at all. Still, there's a reason people like live-action remakes. They like to see their favorite actors playing their favorite characters. They like the novelty of seeing animation brought to life. They like the nostalgia of watching a slightly new spin on something they loved when they were kids — the comfort of knowing that they already like it and know how it ends. But that excitement begins to wear off when remake after remake is announced, flooding theaters with films that everyone has seen before.
The worst part is that they're always doomed to disappoint due to the nature of remakes. To a large extent, these remakes aren't terrible films. Many of them are enjoyable. But classics become classics because people love the original, and remakes can never quite emulate that. The audience is expecting to recapture the feeling of seeing their favorite movie for the first time, and when the remake inevitably fails to do that, they're going to leave unsatisfied.
So why does Disney keep remaking films? The most likely answer is it makes a lot of money. "The Lion King" remake grossed $1.6 billion worldwide. The live-action "Beauty and The Beast" earned a gross of $1.2 billion worldwide. The "Aladdin" remake brought in a gross of over $1 billion worldwide. Live-action remakes are a profitable business because nostalgia is a powerful motivator. Despite their success at the box office, remaking the same films over and over again provides less room for creativity and originality. Instead of rebooting movies that were already good, perhaps Disney, as well as the rest of Hollywood, should invest in making more original animated films.
Seeing what feels like thousands of announcements for live-action remakes of already beloved films has gotten tiring. Classic stories don't go bad with age — they're classics because they've withstood the test of time. There's no reason to revive them if they're not dead. Besides, we've had enough remakes to last a lifetime, and audiences are ready to see new and original stories again. Hopefully, this trend of remaking animated movies into live-action versions will soon come to an end. At this point, I think everyone wants something fresh.
Lillian Barry is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to share your thoughts? Let Lillian know by tweeting her at @lillianbarry_.
