Over the past several years Disney has churned out Live Action remakes of many of their beloved animated films. Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and most recently The Jungle Book and Pete's Dragon have all been rebooted/remade. Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Dumbo,The Sword in the Stone and Winnie the Pooh are being remade as we speak or will be in the future. Even an Aladdin Prequel is in the works. Does this slew of live action/future live action films show that Disney is running out of ideas? Would it make more sense to remake/reboot some of their films more than others (such as their lesser known animated films)? Also include how Disney compares to Pixar (which is part of their company), and other animation studios today, and to other companies in general in terms of creativity.
I believe it's less so a case of "running out of ideas" than it is "easy money." Familiarity has been one of Disney's most valuable resources since the very beginning, making it require less effort to market recognizably-titled classics with preexisting positive intertextual connotations. Pair that with the less effort required in writer's room, and you arrive at a cost effective formula for successful filmmaking and distribution. As the animated Disney films from the past decade have indicated, there is currently no lack of original and/or previously unused content to be made. – ProtoCanon8 years ago
I saw a video where the creators said that they wanted to redo a lot of the old cartoons because the "technology is better." That "people want to see it all come to life." Something to think about. – Jaye Freeland8 years ago
I do agree with ProtoCanon's "easy money," comment, but I also think it's a move of trying to stay relevant. Those movies mentioned are outdated and do not really have an audience to speak to any longer. Even when trying to show the films to your children, kids do not respond to the films, no matter how good the story telling may be, due to their having grown accustomed to the graphics of today. Disney is basically attempting to reboot its brand. – danielle5778 years ago
Jaye Freeland, excellent point. Music's the same way. The accurate protestations of Neil Young and Bob Dylan, etc., aside, the "cleanness" of digital recording technology is a boon. If they could clean up Vocalion Records' catalogue - which recorded less lucrative "race records" on bowling ball-quality vinyl - I'd be happy. – Tigey8 years ago