Once the most prolific producer of animated movies, Disney, barring Pixar, mostly releases live-action remakes of their classic animated films today. As the upcoming plans for Disney live-action remakes of animated movies demonstrate, multiple film are remade every year, to retain the copyrights of older films, or capitalize on the popularity of тιтles that are just a few years old.
From Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella in 2015 to Marc Webb’s Snow White earlier this year, only five Disney princess movies have been remade in live-action over the past decade. While animated princess movies are still being made, like Moana 2 last year, or Frozen 3 in 2027, more live-action remakes are planned, like Tangled and Moana, despite their animated versions’ recency.
Disney’s live-action remakes make changes to the movies, either to adjust for the constraints of live-action or to update the material to the current standards, as some of the original films haven’t aged well. While a few positive changes have been made, many have dissatisfied viewers, as they entirely change the stories or miss the point of the original films.
Whistle While You Work is No Longer A Solo Snow White Song
Of the two 2025 Disney remakes, everything went wrong with Snow White, from the heavily criticized CGI dwarves to the constant controversy that the cast courted during the press tour. Many story details have been updated in Marc Webb’s version, but this has led to the loss of some iconic Snow White moments that fans of the original movie love.
One of the sweetest details about the protagonist in the original film is that she would bake pies for the dwarves while they worked, and would sing and dance while doing her household chores. Whistle While You Work is an adorably upbeat song to sing along with while you work, and it shouldn’t have been changed into a group production.
Jafar is Not Fearsome in Aladdin
2019’s Aladdin features heavy changes from the original movie, to take care of problematic stereotypes and to accommodate the recasting of Robin Williams as the Genie, which many were skeptical about. While Will Smith’s genie is compelling in his own way, and Jasmine, while whitewashed, has a more well-rounded arc, one of the characters has mostly deteriorated after the changes.
Marwan Kanzari, who plays Jafar, was only 36 at the time of filming, and without the distortion of space that the animated movie features, his character is barely intimidating anymore. Jafar’s powers may be conceptually scary, but without the booming baritone and the terrifying facial features, he isn’t scary to look at, which makes him less compelling as a villain.
Ariel Defeats Ursula in The Little Mermaid
The live-action remake of The Little Mermaid was subject to relentless, unfair, racist criticism over the casting long before it was released. While these criticisms have no ground, the original director’s criticism about the live-action remake’s inexpressive animal characters is fair. Moreover, in a bid to give Ariel more agency, the live-action remake weakens the strength of the climactic message.
Prince Eric originally kills Ursula to save Ariel, proving to King Triton that not all humans are selfish. Ariel kills Ursula in the remake, giving her more to do, while reducing his role in the film. Eric no longer helps bridge the gap between merpeople and humans through his actions. The remake misses the point of Hans Christian Andersen’s story.
“Be Prepared” is Soulless in The Lion King
The irony of making a live-action movie where every character is rendered using CGI isn’t lost on most viewers, and despite the faithful adaptation, Jon Favreau’s The Lion King is among the most disliked Disney live-action remakes. The CGI characters are much closer to the actual animals in appearance, which makes them significantly less emotive, thus weakening some classic moments.
The opening sunrise scene in the live-action The Lion King features a real lion, but the rest of the film uses CGI to make the animals look more realistic. This is why Scar and his pack of Hyenas have much more subtle expressions, which render the lively song Be Prepared weak and soulless, as the characters look uninterested and pᴀssive.
Mowgli Returns to the Jungle in The Jungle Book
While even the CGI in recent Disney live-action remakes has gone awry, 2016’s The Jungle Book boasts fantastic visuals that seamlessly blend CGI animals with on-location live-action sH๏τs, featuring Neel Sethi as Mowgli. However, the universal point of contention with all live-action remakes applies to The Jungle Book too. Some of the changes to the story negatively affect the film.
2016’s The Jungle Book is actually the second live-action adaptation, as Stephen Sommers directed a live-action version in 1994, which was also the first time a Disney animated movie was remade in live-action.
The Jungle Book is essentially a coming-of-age story, which ends with Mowgli realizing he must live among humans and leaving the jungle after expressing his graтιтude to the wolves, Bagheera, and Baloo, who raised him. However, the live-action remake of The Jungle Book changes this detail, thus infantalizing Mowgli, and keeping him stuck forever in this state of childish wonder.
Timothy Q. Mouse Is Absent From Dumbo
I’m a huge fan of Tim Burton, especially his work as the director of some of the best Gothic movies of all time, but he wasn’t the best choice to direct the live-action Dumbo, and the creative choices make that apparent. Making the animals non-verbal detracts from the story and sidelines even the тιтular protagonist, shifting focus to humans instead.
Among the losses caused by the lack of dialogue from the animals, the biggest is the character of Timothy Q. Mouse, who represents Dumbo’s conscience in the original film. He has some of the best lines in the movie, and his role makes the film even more emotionally rich. However, the character is entirely missing from the movie’s live-action remake.
Pinocchio Actually Goes To School
Robert Zemeckis made the live-action adaptation of Pinocchio the same year that Guillermo del Toro reimagined the story in animation again. The former is worse, due to changes in the story. When Gepetto sends Pinocchio to school in the original, he ignores Jiminy Cricket and his father’s words, and follows con-artist Honest John, who eventually sells to the puppet master.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2023.
In the live-action version, Jiminy convinces Pinocchio to ignore Honest John, but the school’s headmaster throws him out, motivating Pinocchio to join the circus. The original message of Pinocchio being punished for disobeying his father and ignoring his conscience is thus missing. His actions in the live-action version seem more justified, which meddles with the lesson that the story teaches.
The People Dislike Gaston in Beauty and the Beast
A theory about Beauty and the Beast makes Gaston the hero, but there’s not much to it, as the man’s actions are far too despicable and problematic to defend him or see him in a positive light. The way he uses his charm and handsome looks to manipulate others into believing he’s altruistic makes him even more detestable and dangerous.
However, the live-action remake erases this element of Gaston’s character, and we see LeFou paying people to sing Gaston’s praise. One of the messages in Beauty and the Beast is about the dangers of subscribing to a mob mentality, but that lesson isn’t there in the remake, which makes the crowd suspicious of Gaston and his intentions from the beginning.
Nani Leaves At The End of Lilo & Sтιтch
Lilo & Sтιтch made a billion dollars at the box office and has likely secured the future for many of the planned Disney live-action remakes after Snow White‘s underwhelming performance threatened to jeopardize their future. However, a crucial detail in the climax of the new film completely changes the movie’s story and ruins the message that the original climax delivers.
The concept of Ohana, or family, is central to the story of Lilo & Sтιтch. While it’s not malicious, the live-action film ends with Lilo’s elder sister Nani leaving the тιтular duo to go to university. A mid-credit scene shows her visiting Lilo, but them living separately is a sour note to end on, especially if you love the original.
Mulan Has Magic Powers
Eddie Murphy as Mushu in Mulan is a performance that proves voice acting in movies deserves Oscars, too, which is why the absence of the character from the live-action version is already a disappointing aspect of the remake. Moreover, the beloved song I’ll Make A Man Out of You is missing from the movie. Worst of all, Mulan has powers.
What makes Mulan’s arc in the original animated movie so satisfying is her ultimate triumph in a male-dominated world, where she overcomes prejudice to prove worth. She’s not specially gifted, but uses her wits and her determination to succeed. However, the live-action remake gives Mulan literal magic powers, thus sullying the message, because she’s literally born better than everyone else.
