Disney does NOT do live action movies well by Zoe Belle Green

Disney does NOT do live action movies well. In the recent past, Disney has been translating amazing classics into live action slop, and it feels very low effort and poorly done. Disney has been relying on classic titles like Aladdin, Mulan, and Snow White to bring in money and in turn producing unimaginative films and ruining many classic movies. Though these movies bring in money, it does not at all capture the Disney magic. In my opinion, recycling old hits proves that Disney is currently focused more on capitalizing on our childhood nostalgia than coming out with worthwhile cinema. 

The biggest flaw in Disney live action is that the studio completely ruins the original storylines by making unnecessary changes. Instead of respecting the plots that worked perfectly the first time, Disney executives butcher the narrative as an attempt to make the films more realistic or modern. Take Mulan for example. The studio completely unnecessarily (and rudely might I add) removes the absolute ICON: Mushu the Dragon. Yet in a strange twist they gave Mulan supernatural “chi” powers. These odd changes completely destroyed the original, inspiring storyline. In the animated cartoon, Mulan succeeds through determination and hard work. By giving her super powers from the get go, all of her best character traits are erased, and her entire journey is ruined. 

In addition to ruining the scripts, Disney repeatedly misses the mark with terrible casting choices that completely clash with the characters. Animated characters have amazing larger than life personalities that are almost completely impossible for real actors to replicate, yet Disney insists on casting big names just to grab viewers attention. A perfect example of this is Will Smith as the Genie in Aladdin. Will Smith had absolutely NO business playing Genie.  Trying to replace Robin Williams’ iconic, high energy performance was already a difficult task, but trying to force Will Smith to meet that performance was just down right wrong and the final product was just awkward and terrible. Instead of getting a whimsical, magical Genie, the audience was just unpleasantly surprised with an awkward, CGI filled, celebrity appearance. This proves that Disney does not do a good job casting fitting actors to match the original cartoon whimsey. 

On the contrary, someone may argue that the high profit in the box office easily proves that the live action is worth watching. It is true that films like Aladdin bring in lots of money globally. However, financial profit does not always prove a movie to be good, and should never be confused with artistic quality. The success in the box office only proves Disney is good at marketing and exploiting nostalgia and doesn’t defend the quality of the movie itself at all. Relying on famous titles to bring in money is a lazy business strategy not good filmmaking. 

In a poor attempt to turn an animated wonderland into the real world they usually create an awkward CGI mess. On Rotten Tomatoes, a website that tracks movie ratings and reviews, the numbers reflect just how little fans really like these movies. For instance, the live action Aladdin sits at a mediocre 57% score, heavily dogged on for its hollow execution. Somehow worse, Snow White’s live action adaptation got a miserable 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviewers pointed out that the movie suffers from a mix of clunky, uncanny CGI dwarfs and atrocious story-ruining changes. 

Ultimately, expensive, digital CGI slop can never replace the warmth and comfort of a hand drawn classic. Disney’s live action lineup will remain nothing more than a collection of pricey, hollow imitations of vastly superior animated legacy.