Written by: Aimee Wright
Time is moving forward, new challenges are arising, and society is progressing faster now than ever before. But alongside all of the praise we’ve given to new iPhones and Amazon Prime over the years, it seems to be for a lot of people that childhood throwbacks and longing for the “good old days” are still at the front of their minds. As we edge one year closer to the next decade, Gen Z has become the newest generation to enter adulthood and board the bus down ‘Memory Lane’, celebrating 10 years since the release of Disney’s Frozen, Furby Boom toys and the loom bands craze. I know we’re all thinking the same thing – why couldn’t these trends have grown old with us?
To mark the start of this dream coming true, Disney released their first live action remake in 1996. 101 Dalmatians, starring Glenn Close as Cruella DeVil, grossed $320m in theatres against a $67m budget, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film of that year. This has inspired a large mass of remakes to be produced since, with Cinderella kicking off the latest collection of “reimagined” works in 2015, followed by The Jungle Book in 2016 and Beauty and the Beast in 2017.
More recently, after so much success with previous live action releases, there has been talk surrounding yet another collection of movies which Disney are planning to release later this year, following this same newfound style of cinema. Some of these include Lilo and Stitch, originally from 2002, and Moana from 2016.
In an interview with BBC, when asked about the appeal of adding the modern twist to our favourite childhood movies, former Walt Disney World employee Emma Talbut said: “A big reason why is the nostalgia playing into it. It’s the idea of going back to your childhood again – but in a reimagined way.”
As a young girl, her favourite Disney princess was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She explained: “Belle had brown hair, like I do, and she liked to read – and that was basically me. I could see myself in the character.”
Little Mermaid Remake:
Making audiences all around the world feel connected to their favourite animated characters has been Disney’s greatest talent for centuries. More specifically, the announcement of the remake of The Little Mermaid spread like wildfire across news headlines in 2023, not only due to it being another beloved cartoon turned into reality, but also because POC actress Halle Bailey was cast to play the lead role of Ariel, a character formerly recognised by her light skin and bright red hair.
While millions of social media users praised the actress for playing the role so well after the movie was released, the character’s drastic new look proved to be rather controversial to others, with one Twitter user stating he “ain’t racist for not wanting a black actress playing Ariel… Ariel is a redhead as played in our childhood movie.” As of February 2024, the movie has grossed a total of $569.6 million worldwide since its release in May last year.
However, despite receiving so much positive recognition for increasing diversity in their latest castings, Disney has still been heavily criticised for its dependence on remakes of its older stories in recent years. Including more minority groups in casting, such as people of colour and varying nationalities and cultures is most certainly a step in the right direction in a modern society where traditional norms and values are gradually becoming less relevant, however, I find it difficult to see past the idea that Disney is trampling over old ground by focusing too much on storylines and characters that already exist.
Live Action:
On the rare occasion that the live action versions are different to the originals, they only seem to be changed for the worse; creating more realistic and terrifying versions of our favourite cartoon animals, like Kaa the snake from The Jungle Book, and removing fan-favourite songs and characters from the final cut, like the unfortunate fate of Mushu the dragon from Mulan. For me to be encouraged to watch another new Disney release, I would much prefer a fresh face paired with a new adventure to watch unfold on the big screen, rather than being able to predict the next hour of events before making it past the first five minutes. After all, Disney’s collection of classics is limited; give the next generation a chance to see how movie magic is truly made.
