Sometimes, I envision the Disney executives sitting about in tweed suits, smoking cigars, and passing around a bowler hat filled with slips of paper that each say the name of a different Disney film. The men glibly slip a hand in and pull out a piece of paper.
“Dumbo,” one man puffs. “That was pretty big back in the day.”
The other men nod in agreement and decide to turn the film into a CGI-marvel while stroking their thick little wallets.
This is all just my imagination, of course, but you begin to wonder when you see the line-up of the latest films Disney will turn into live-action adaptations: Pete’s Dragon, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, Dumbo, The Jungle Book, Mulan, Tink, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, Night on Bald Mountain, and, most recently, Prince Charming. (Am I forgetting any? I probably am…)
With the recent onslaught of classic animated movies being made into live-action flicks, I thought that I would grab a metaphorical cigar of my own and think about a few animated movies that I pray will never be made into live-action remakes.
The Black Cauldron
This movie was terrifying enough in animated form. I don’t even want to think about how it would look in live-action.
Frozen
Disney is really milking the Frozen train, but I think that, at this point, they should really “Let it Go,” or my head may explode.
Cars
Can’t you just see Disney trying to make Pixar movies live-action once its gone through all its own original films? Under no circumstances would I want any Pixar film to be made live-action, but Cars least of all. This is mainly because it would really prove just how downhill that franchise has gone.
Lilo and Stitch
This is an adorable and underrated Disney movie that deserves more credit than it gets, but under no circumstances do I think Stitch would be as adorable as a CGI alien rampaging through a real-world Hawaii.
A Goofy Movie
Admittedly, I would be intrigued to see how they would make this work, since I am still not 100% sure what species Goofy is, but, yeah, nope. Let’s not go there.
Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, The Fox and the Hound, The Rescuers, Brother Bear, etc.
I just don’t know how this would work with animals as the main characters. Although, maybe it would look a little like SNL‘s version of Bambi? I’m still terrified to see how Dumbo will to turn out. I really cannot envision a world in which any animal or anthropomorphic Disney movie in CGI will not look totally fake and creepy.
And, basically, every other Disney animated movie should remain sacred and not be remade into a live-action CGI monstrosity because, let’s face it, it’s just ridiculous at this point. Let us just hope that no other studio tries to turn one of its animated movies into a live-action film (Can you just imagine the Minions movie in live-action? Now that would be terrifying.)
Which animated films do you hope will never, ever, ever be remade as live-action films?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes