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The Only Disney Remake That’s Actually Good, Honors the Original

Disney Live Action Remakes
Credit: Disney

The wave of CGI-dominated remakes of Disney’s classic animated feature films is not going away any time soon, despite the fact that almost none of them do their source material justice.

Born from a three-pronged marketing strategy simultaneously targeting Disney Adults’ sentimentalism, the woke mob’s demand for “morally revised” versions of the visual literature with “corrected” lyrics, cast, and context, and the internet’s lust for their favorite celebrities to play their favorite characters (AKA dream casts), the lazy projects present Walt Disney Studios with a far safer bet than any new idea could provide. And, unfortunately, Box Office numbers have only given them more incentive to continue down this path.

The Lion King Remake

Credit: Disney

Production costs are spent on manifesting “dream casts” that include Emma Stone, Emma Watson, Angelina Jolie, Ewan McGregor, Helena Bonham Carter, and Josh Gad; directors like Jon Favreau, Tim Burton, Guy Ritchie, and Robert Zemeckis; and honestly paid-off endorsements and collaboration from people who worked on the original films from Disney Animation, like legendary composer Alan Menken.

But as marketing strategies lead to profit, the stories of Disney remakes are left to suffer unnecessary mutilation. When I say Beauty and the Beast had an unbelievable cast, I mean that cast created a setting and story no one could believe in. For The Lion King, Disney seriously thought they could rewrite an already-perfect script. They also actually thought it was a good idea to cut one of the greatest villain’s songs ever written, “Be Prepared,” and shelved Nala’s Broadway ballad “Shadowland” for some Beyonce pop song. (Seriously, that whole movie was unnecessary. They should have saved the money and just had Beyonce and Childish Gambino do a cover album.)

So far, there is only one live-action remake that did justice to its original version, and that is Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book.

The Jungle Book: Disney’s Only Good Remake

The Jungle Book Remake

Photo Credit Disney

While this movie has its flaws, it is by far the only quality remake Disney’s produced so far. Favreau takes Walt Disney’s original adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s writings and actually builds upon it. While every other remake has stuck with superficial changes to provide visual and verbal affirmations for the left-leaning “creative” fan base, Favreau focuses on developing the actual story.

We see more of the book come to life. Sure, we lose the goofy elephants, but they are presented in a far richer version while also eliminating the previous version’s innocent reference to British colonialism in India. Kipling’s Law of the Jungle is also added, and the divide between man and nature is also on full display.

It is a deeper, darker story that is able to provide diversity and eliminate 1960s whitewash by also focusing on story and casting quality. No compromise. And rather than taking an originally lighthearted story and adding unnecessary darkness, it was a return to the original story that Disney originally lightened for a family audience.

But we are still able to have fun! Favreau’s team found a way to keep the best songs from the original movie! And, you want to talk about a dream cast? Ben Kingsley–the man who brought Gandhi to life on screen–played Bagera, Idris Elba played Sher Khan, Bill Murray played Baloo, and Christopher Walken as King Louis.

The Jungle Book Remake

Credit: Disney

Nowadays, it looks like Disney is losing faith in the successes of its live-action remakes. While a “corrected” version of The Little Mermaid is still set for a theatrical release, its other remakes of Peter Pan and Lilo & Stitch are given the straight-to-Disney+ treatment like Pinocchio. 

I am not against Disney live-action remakes. I am simply against how they are being created. As Bob Iger returns accountability to creative teams, hopefully, audience reactions will show that changes to their approach need to be made.

Also, Disney’s live-action Winnie the Pooh movie Christopher Robin is NOT a remake. Ewan McGregor plays the title character in a wonderful heart-aching sequel to the classic animated film and is not included in this analysis.

While the other remakes will be remembered as nothing more than basic products of their time, Disney’s The Jungle Book is the only one to be truly timeless.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s and may not reflect the sentiment of Disney Fanatic as a whole.

About T.K. Bosacki

Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, TK Bosacki is a professional writer, amateur adventurer, and lifelong Disney Fanatic. His Disney Park days include Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Nomad Lounge. He believes in starting at the Canada pavilion (IYKYK), and the Monorail is superior to all Ferry Boats.

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