Live-Action

From Fairy Tales to Facsimiles: Fizzling Disney Magic

by

Why Live-Action Remakes Feel Fake and Hollow

I. Introduction – The Experiment That Broke Disney’s Spell

Disney’s live-action remakes of original animation began as an intriguing question posed in the language of modern filmmaking. What might it look like to re-stage an animated classic using today’s cinematic tools: digital effects, live-action framing, modern sound? The 2015 Cinderella answered with a polite flourish. It kept the bones of the original but dressed them in new fabric, nodding toward elegance and restraint. It felt like a thoughtful curiosity, charming in its own way, like a balloon released gently into the air.

Read more

“Beauty and the Beast” Pays Homage, but Can’t Compete with Better Films

by

When remaking a classic, withstanding the inevitable comparisons requires either flawless execution or inspired novelty.  Disney’s latest live-action adaptation has an even greater challenge, as it must compete with two masterpieces:  the studio’s own animated feature from 1991, and Jean Cocteau’s magnificent romantic fantasy La Belle et la Bête (1946).  And though this iteration of … Read more

Jon Favreau’s “The Jungle Book” Enhances the Animation, Plot, and Theme of the 1967 Original

by

Though Disney’s live-action adaptations of their traditional animated stories have been a mixed bag so far, Jon Favreau and company have delivered a surprising gem in The Jungle Book.  Like other adaptations, this film is certainly a re-make of the original and contains many of the same thematic elements, but some unique nuances add a great deal to the overall quality of the film.  Though the movie is not without its faults, it is vastly superior to the animated version from 1967 in almost every way:  it has a stronger sense of character development, a more coherent plot-theme, and even sports higher-quality animation.  This is hands-down the best of Disney’s recent live-action adaptations.

Read more