I posted a new (non-Disney) TLM trailer in the appropriate thread, and I started writing more but didn't want to derail the thread with what I was writing so I didn't post it there.
I feel like I've talked ad nauseum about this topic for years...
I think the new Conglomerate Media and Kingsway Productions TLM movie looks awesome. (Many people in the Deadline.com comment section think it looks cheesy...)
I'm opposed to Disney remaking their animated movies into live-action movies, but, similar to how different
Pete's Dragon (2016) is to the 1977 version, where it's the same in title only, I'm not necessarily opposed to using the same basic framework (for lack of a better term at 5:05am!) [like if Disney made
The Emperor's New Clothes, or their 2010
Sorcerer's Apprentice. Those use a classic tale (not a Disney version) and uses it in a completely different way, with different characters, than the animated classics (or live-action films).
Both versions of
Pete's Dragon have completely different characters (1977's dragon is not the same character as 2016's- their names are even spelled differently). If Disney's upcoming "Snow White and Rose Red" movie doesn't have Grumpy, Doc, Sleepy, Sneezy, Happy, Bashful, and Dopey, but other dwarfs, and it has a Queen who is different, etc., where it's not a remake, then I can be okay with that. I guess it's why I'm not a fan of "Once Upon a Time"-- while I'm always curious to see what the new characters look like/what the new songs sound like, etc., as I am with the live-action remakes, it just makes me wonder- why bother. Like with the B&tB remake...you've literally already made that movie, Disney. While I suppose the live-action remakes are akin to the animated sequels, at least those told new stories. The live-action B&tB, while I haven't seen it (and I haven't seen
Cinderella-- I only saw
The Jungle Book because we were on a vacation and needed something to do and that was the only movie that I was interested in [although if
Zootopia was playing, we could have seen that again, and we saw
Deadpool later and I liked that...anyhoo.), in many parts, seems to be a play-by-play of the amazing 1991 original; in many clips I've seen, the dialogue is exactly the same as it was in the 1991 films.
I'd still love, love, love to see more live action fairy tales from Disney (a la
Enchanted, one of my all-time favorite movies), as long as they aren't true remakes (there are so many stories that Disney could use that they never have used before), or more made on non-Disney properties (a la
Return to Oz, one of my other all-time favorites).
I already mentioned
Snow White and Rose Red (as long as they use different characters, since Disney already has characters such as Doc, Dopey, etc-- why remake them into someone their not? (I know they're *just characters,* but still.)
I know that Disney made the
Gepetto TV movie, and I didn't see that...I don't know how far it strays from the 1940 movie, and in that case, it's not like they were going to rename Gepetto and Pinocchio, etc.... But, like, Disney could make a movie on a similar
theme... like a doll coming to life, or something. Kind of like how, if you think about it,
Enchanted is a similar fish-out-of-water tale.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice was totally the way Disney should be doing "remakes," in my opinion. No Yensid, no Mickey...it's another sorcerer's apprentice in the world.
From the little we know about
Dumbo, it seems like a completely different movie from the 1941 movie...and for name recognizability, I guess they wouldn't have named the title character something else...If that's the only similarity, then it's not as bad as doing a really-for-real remake (a la B&tB-- again, judging it in this way without seeing it [and I have been impressed with Josh Gad and Luke Evans, for example, and I like Emma Watson...I have Disney Vevo open on the computer to take a listen to when I have time...]...it could be a fine movie, but was it necessary? Was it a story begging to be told? Uh, no, because it's been told before. Maybe make a different B&tB story. I've never seen it, but the 1980s B&tB TV show. It had a beauty. It had a beast. But they weren't Belle/Beast/Gaston/LeFou/Maurice/Lumiere/Cogsworth/Mrs. Potts/Chip/etc. Does that make sense?
With a movie like
Pocahontas, there is only so much you can do with that-- it'd have to have Pocahontas, and if you're talking about that part of her life (vs. seeing a movie where she grows up), then it's going to have John Smith and possibly John Rolfe in it. Not that I think Disney would touch
Pocahontas again due to potential backlash, but I wouldn't 100% think they wouldn't go there... I love that movie so much, so I think it's perfect the way it is (like B&tB...). The things I liked about
The Jungle Book (2016) was how Mowgli made inventions, and I liked spending more time with the wolves. But it wasn't necesary to tell the whole story again...
Let's say Disney were to remake
Hercules, but make it a non-musical drama. (I just pulled this out of my head- nothing's been announced!) To my way of thinking, why remake Hercules? Why not just make a live-action film about another Greek god/tale? ("Because then, we couldn't use a The Weeknd cover of "Go the Distance" over the credits." Touche, Disney. :/)
Or remaking a movie like
Atlantis. Why revisit Atlantis, when there are other forgotten worlds (either currently existing in literature/folklore/history, like the Fountain of Youth ["because of POTC!"], or Easter Island, The Bermuda Triangle, the Pyramids, Stonehenge, etc., or new worlds that could be made up) to be explored in a Disney film.
Kind of like how Tron and Wreck-It Ralph are completely different movies but kind of using a similar theme...I mean, they're so different, but they're about the lives of computer/video game characters.
With Mary Poppins Returns, it's not a remake, so I'm pretty okay with that. I'm actually looking forward to it. There were multiple Mary Poppins books, and it's not a remake, it's an extension, a new chapter, if you will. Unlike a movie like B&tB. If it were a new chapter in the lives of Belle and Beast, etc., then I'd be more okay with it, just not rehashing the same story with a new angle/slant (Mowgli builds stuff! Belle is an inventor! That's still the same exact story with a new thing or 2 thrown in.) I'm just salty on the subject.
I know I'm making a big deal about trying to get my points across on this subject, and it doesn't really matter since they're making them and they're making money with them regardless. But it's a forum, and it's what it's here for, dammit. 