Disney remakes: An original film idea? When elephants fly...
Disney has become the master of the remake, and today’s release of Dumbo is the latest example of that. But is it what audiences want?
It is often said that a good film will stand the test of time and for the Disney classics that is certainly the case.
Those cherished cartoons are as popular now as they were amongst audiences of the generations which greeted their initial releases.
But right now we are in the midst of a new era. It’s the era of the remake, and in particular the live-action remake.
Many would argue it started back in the mid-nineties. In 1994 Disney made its first attempt at a live version of The Jungle Book, and 1996 Glenn Close became the face of one of Disney’s favourite villains when she played Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmations.
But it was 2010’s Tim Burton reinvention of Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway that really seemed to fire the starting gun for a new wave of Disney remakes – helped, no doubt, by the $1 billion the film raked in at the box office.
Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie, Cinderella featuring Lily James, Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson and of course the 2016 second reboot of The Jungle Book, have all gone on to massive success. And 2018’s reboot Mary Poppins Returns, starring Emily Blunt as the nanny extraordinaire, also grossed millions.
Today, Dumbo comes to the party when a new CGI-heavy retelling of the story of the flying elephant hits the big screen.
Kelly Jeffs is the chief executive of the Light House independent cinema in Wolverhampton.
“There is sometimes a bit of snobbery around remakes and a thought that some films should be left alone,” she says.
“But that doesn’t work these days. It’s a fast-paced life and we want new things all the time and cinema audiences want new experiences all the time. I think Disney realised that some time ago.”
Dumbo first captured the hearts of audiences around the world in 1941. Viewers were heartbroken in particular at a scene in which Dumbo’s mother is visited by her son and cradles him through the bars of captivity, to the strains of Bette Midler’s Baby Mine.
The budget for the remake is huge – Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton, Eva Green and Colin Farrell are all part of the cast, and Tim Burton is the man behind the camera.
But what are these Disney reboots actually doing for the cinema industry?
“There will always be a curiosity in these films,” says Kelly. “These types of movies are called the ‘bread and butter’. They are mainstream and they have huge marketing budgets behind them. This naturally happens with these Disney remakes and having these films enables us to also show more unknown films. Sometimes when you back a film that is unknown the cinema can end up making a loss.”
Ian Kerry is the director of Flicks in the Sticks which provides cinema to rural communities around Shropshire.
He says the group’s chief goal is to encourage community spirit and it does this by getting people together to watch a film.
The live-action releases in recent years have proved popular in terms of ticket sales, although he says the films themselves have sometimes had mixed reactions.
“People are always keen to see remakes,” he said. “Although sometimes people do think they aren’t a patch on the originals. If you look at the originals there are a bit grainy and less clean than these new films, but they are the classics.
“Film is in the eye of the beholder, and some remakes will always get a mixed reaction. But while someone may not think something is the best film, they will enjoy the experience and that is what we are all about at Flicks.
“We want to get people in the communities together and popular films like these remakes help us to do that.”
It’s set to be a bumper year for the Disney live action remake with Aladdin due for release in May while the highly anticipated The Lion King set for release in July. Mulan will follow in 2020, while Lady and the Tramp is in development along with Cruella, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Pinocchio and a number of others.
“I think The Lion King this summer is going to be a huge test of the remake,” adds Kelly. “It was originally released in 1994 and is a classic and I do wonder whether it is a little bit too soon.”
