film & tv
Disney and Live-Ac Remakes: A Match
One of Disney’s most recent ventures is churning out live-action remakes of their original animated films. As a business decision it’s fairly easy to see why, nostalgia sells and seeing everyone’s favourite childhood cartoons brought to life with state-of-the-art technology is a winning formula that has brought millions to Disney; ensuring that they’re going to keep making more in the future. With that being said, most of these films, whilst they’re not completely terrible, feel more like the quick cash grabs Disney obviously intended them to be, lacking the heart or passion of the original versions. It feels like Disney made these films on a conveyor belt, checking off the memorable songs and fights they needed to recreate while also attempting to fix problematic elements of the originals to appeal to a mass audience. While there are undoubtedly some offensive elements of old Disney films, the remakes feel so safe and sterilised, that they feel outright soulless. This can be seen throughout all their main characters: they’re more or less all the same template. A diverse range of expressive characters are now bland, sassy, wide-eyed dreamers, held down by their cranky old authority figures, who don’t share the same visions. They’re also all geniuses now, who never feel negative emotions. The best example of this is Mulan. The original Mulan was awkward, clumsy but also determined
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and loyal. The original movie gave ample time to show her insecurities but also resolved these with the song “Reflection” and cutting her hair to symbolise that she couldn’t turn back from the army; both scenes are cut from the new version. Instead Mulan has superpowers from birth and her only struggle is to learn to show them off. The relatable underdog story is completely gone and all we’re left with is an emotionless kung fu robot. Belle and Mowgli likewise go from quiet, bookworm and curious, naïve child to expert inventors, who can make washing machines and weed whackers much to the chagrin of their simple-minded society around them that doesn’t appreciate their talents. By trying too hard to make these characters empowering, Disney actually just removes their relatability. As a result, the message of these films seems less about ordinary people, achieving happiness/greatness through hard work and perseverance and is instead replaced with the idea that some people are just born prodigies and thus flawless. This is a very superficial idea of empowerment. Making the characters stronger or more defiant doesn’t mean much if they’re more two dimensional than the cartoons they’re based on. The same problem extends to side characters. Comic reliefs in the animated features, like the Sultan in Aladdin or Mushu (who has been changed to a phoenix),
