Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

General Discussions, Polls, Lists, Video Clips and Links
AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 9044
Joined: October 25th, 2004
Location: Binghamton, NY

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by ShyViolet » March 16th, 2019, 4:53 pm

Yeah, I definitely see the points you guys are making. Plus I didn’t really consider the whole issue with the Beauty and the Beast stage show on Broadway. That was not only live-action but also, as with these new remakes, had very little new material (although there was a bit here and there.). There’s also no way of knowing how Ashman would have felt about it since he’d died four years before it opened. (Although his partner Bill Lauch seemed ok with it, and was thrilled that they included “Human Again” which had been cut from the ‘91 film.)

As Ben said, it’s the copying shot-by-shot quality that really kills these films from being enjoyable on a creative level. And I completely agree that they can still make re-issues like these, but from a much more original angle. (As hopefully Burton’s Dumbo will be.).

And one GREAT example of remaking films from the Disney canon (but in a somewhat different format) is the Lion King Broadway Show!! :). Beauty was basically the 1991 film re-created but the Lion King show, (thanks to brilliant director Julie Taymore) came at it from a whole other angle while staying true to the basic story. Now THAT’s how you remake a movie. :)
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 7261
Joined: October 23rd, 2004
Location: SaskaTOON, Canada

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Randall » March 16th, 2019, 5:12 pm

Agreed. The Lion King stage show is inspired and worthwhile. (I've only seen the stripped-down Disney Parks version, but would love to see the full show sometime.)

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Ben » March 16th, 2019, 6:08 pm

Maybe we should do that in London...?

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 5192
Joined: September 27th, 2007

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by EricJ » March 16th, 2019, 6:18 pm

Randall wrote:No-win? Yes, probably, in terms of failing to gain mass acceptance. But I give them a win for Burton's Dumbo already, based on the trailers. I've got a good feeling about that one; it has potential to be one of his better films, mixing the odd with some real emotion. I missed the mice in the Cinderella "remake," but I can do without "speaking Timothy" if I still get a new compelling story about a dad making his kids proud. :)
Cinderella was a central enough story that had already had dozens of versions, from the Sherman Brothers to Rodgers & Hammerstein, so Kenneth Branagh could have just as easily taken the D-word off of his version, and it would still be entertaining--
They managed to redeem the character without going overboard on "feminist revision", nobody sings in the first place, and when Helena Bonham Carter's Fairy Godmother doesn't even try to bear the same resemblance to Verna Felton's, it feels as if there's no point in jamming "Bibbidy Bobbity Boo" on the end credits at all, except to push Corporate Entity into our heads.
The Disney connection felt as unnecessary as Christopher Walken suddenly breaking into Louis Prima songs in "Jungle Book".

There is no "Classic retold story" of Dumbo, OTOH--There's one version, the kids' story that was made into one corporate Disney movie, and it's got crows and a talking mouse in it...NON-negotiable.
If the Timster wants to put Michael Keaton and Eva Green in it--as (ahem, cough) usual :x --and do his own personal childhood "tribute" to the Pink Elephants and Creepy Clowns, then we're back to agreeing to disagree on what happened with the Alice movies.*
----
* - (And yeah, I know, "Alice" was supposed to be the videogame, but just for the sake of argument of everyone else thinking it was a "remake".)

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Ben » March 16th, 2019, 9:30 pm

I actually love how every single Tim Burton movie has Michael Keaton in it.

AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 7261
Joined: October 23rd, 2004
Location: SaskaTOON, Canada

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Randall » March 16th, 2019, 9:44 pm

Ben wrote:Maybe we should do that in London...?
Maybe. I'm torn. Haven't you seen Lion King already?

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 9044
Joined: October 25th, 2004
Location: Binghamton, NY

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by ShyViolet » March 17th, 2019, 2:16 pm

Yes, Michael Keaton, in my opinion, is one of the most underrated actors ever. :)


Also, not that this really matters, but I actually saw the Beauty and the Beast Broadway show in 1996. It was fun and everything and I enjoyed the musical numbers, but all in all it was more or less a carbon copy of the animated film. (The only part that felt really original/nice to see was when Belle teaches the Beast how to read. It was kinda brief, but really sweet. She asks him if he’d ever learned and he answers, kind of shyly, “A little.”)
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Ben » March 17th, 2019, 6:55 pm

I think the thing with Beauty was that it was quaint enough to see a "cartoon come to life" on stage back then, but by the time of Lion King they knew they couldn’t just replicate the movie every time.

I’ve seen LK on Broadway, Rand, but am eager to see what the London version is like. Or am I tempting fate? The New Yawk edition was phenomenal, so I wouldn’t mind seeing it "again". Actually, I think I’m more sure that the UK LK might be better than Aladdin, which for some reason I have kind of avoided even though I keep getting told how good it is! Still time...

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 9996
Joined: September 1st, 2006

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Daniel » March 26th, 2019, 4:03 pm

ShyViolet wrote:It’s basically the doppelgänger of including “Human Again” in the re-issue of the animated Beauty and the Beast. (Since I didn’t see the Emma Watson version I don’t know if they included it or not.)
Nope, that's the only song that's not in the live action version. I don't know if it would've worked though... love the animated version, but here the objects are just borderline ugly. I don't feel it would have the same impact.

AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 7261
Joined: October 23rd, 2004
Location: SaskaTOON, Canada

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Randall » March 27th, 2019, 12:59 am

Daniel wrote: but here the objects are just borderline ugly.
Thank you. I fully agree. Or, perhaps "ugly" isn't quite right.

I felt that the director picked designs he liked, designs that likely looked nice on the page, but they were totally the wrong choices in the context of the BATB film. Too busy, too magic-less, and without concern for how they would be realized as anthropomorphic entities.

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Ben » March 27th, 2019, 8:12 am

The whole thing was awfully realised. Literally every element of it has some issue or other. :(

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 5192
Joined: September 27th, 2007

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by EricJ » March 29th, 2019, 12:03 am

Meanwhile, in preparation for Burton's bird/rodent-free Dumbo paean, Honest Trailers has done its part:


(Y'know, I never really noticed the teeth/dentist thing before...It really is like Tarantino and the feet, isn't it?)

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 9996
Joined: September 1st, 2006

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Daniel » March 29th, 2019, 3:27 pm

No mention of Danny!? ;)

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by Ben » March 30th, 2019, 4:17 am

Yeah, they forgot the one consistent thing running through 95% of any Burton production, which was weird given the amount of music in this clip!

(They also didn’t mention "starring Eva Green (2012-Present)", but everything else was spot on!)

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 5192
Joined: September 27th, 2007

Re: Article on all the Disney live action remakes of animated classics

Post by EricJ » March 30th, 2019, 4:38 pm

Ben wrote:(They also didn’t mention "starring Eva Green (2012-Present)", but everything else was spot on!)
And only their second reminder that Burton's based his entire career on fans who loyal fans who thought he directed Nightmare Before Christmas...Which includes Tim.

(The first was in the HT for Nightmare: "From director...er, writer...er, produce...what the heck DID he do on this movie, anyway??--comes a movie for Burton fans to all celebrate how unique and odd and off-center they are, by all being fans of the exact same movie!")

Post Reply