Dear Disney… Please Stop The Remakes

My family loves Disney. We’ve watched a lot of the new movies Disney has come out with. Frozen 2, Wreck- it Ralph 2, Coco… And of course, the live- action remakes. I’ve heard lots of people joke  “Disney is running out of ideas.” And honestly, it feels like that isn’t a joke. It’s true. 

Maleficent and Cinderella: 

These were some of the first remakes, and I actually really liked them. The costumes and sets in these movies (especially Cinderella) were breathtaking. The stories themselves were changed up a bit too. Instead of telling the story of Sleeping Beauty, they decided to tell it from the perspective of Maleficent, which I really liked. Cinderella wasn’t changed up as much, but still wasn’t a carbon copy of the original. These movies felt more like retellings than the others. 

Beauty and the Beast: 

This movie was visually pleasing. I liked how there were a lot of 18th century, France inspired costumes. It really gave a nice aesthetic to the movie. (Belle’s dress was honestly kind of anitclimatic compared to Cinderella’s ) But the thing that I didn’t like was that almost everything that happened in the original Beauty and the Beast happened in the remake too. It wasn’t a retelling, just a copy of the original film, which got a little boring and predictive. Sure, some things were changed up. New songs were added, they dove a little deeper into characters. But the plot itself was the same. We knew what was going to happen. This is what I liked about Maleficent and Cinderella. They changed up enough things to actually change the plot, which made it feel very refreshing. 

Aladdin: 

The sets and costumes in this movie were awesome. (I feel like that’s the main thing I like about the live- action remakes.) It was very similar to the original film, which seems to be how a lot of the more recent remakes are. Also, I would’ve liked to see an actual purpose to the song Speechless. It did nothing to move the plot and just filled in time. I liked Will Smith’s genie too, only because he was very different from Robin Williams. 

The Lion King: 

Being honest, I hated this one. The original film is so iconic that this remake just felt a little lame? Hardly anything was changed up in the story. I didn’t like Hakuna Matata because I feel like they just messed up one of my favorite Disney songs. (Seriously, singing about farts?) I haven’t seen the original Lion King for a long time, but this one still felt like a carbon copy. 

To sum it up…

I don’t hate all of these, but I do wish that there were more original stories from Disney coming out. In the beginning of this “era” of remakes, they actually changed up the story a little bit. They were able to dive deeper into characters. But the more recent movies like The Lion King and Aladdin just feel like carbon copies to the iconic original films. I’m tired of seeing the same story told over and over in different ways. I want to see something new and original from Disney. Live- action has some awesome opportunities with costumes and sets. Why can’t Disney come up with original stories and make them live- action? 

Coco and Big Hero 6 are really the only recent Disney movies that I’ve liked that have original stories. I’m honestly tired of all of the remakes and want original stories again. Or at least, put a spin on the remakes. Retell the story. That’s what a retelling is, and what a remake should be.

What do you think? Do you like the Disney remakes? Until next time! 

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