Hear Us Out - Disney remakes are good

Ash Walker • 25 Mar 2025 Features

Well, some of them…

Can a remake ever be better than the original? Absolutely! Just take a look at classics like The Thing, Scarface and A Star is Born - all generally considered to be superior to their respective originals.

Of course, Disney doesn’t have quite the same track record when it comes to remaking its own animated classics in live action; the recent slew of mega budget reimaginings has been a bit of a mixed bag.

Some have been decent, some have been bad, and an unholy few have been pure nightmare fuel - looking at you, Pinocchio. But sometimes, on a handful of magical occasions, the remake turns out to be even better than the original.

Why remake a classic?

Let’s get this out of the way up front - most of the Disney classics are timeless, groundbreaking masterpieces of animation. The people who made them regularly developed  new technologies and techniques that are still in use today.

Not to mention the fact that the stories and songs practically defined whole generations. So why remake any of them in the first place? Why stick so much money into rehashing something that Disney got so right the first time?

Part of it is trying to reach new audiences: there’s a huge chunk of the moviegoing population who simply won’t watch anything animated, or anything made before they were born.

Remaking Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, for example - which came out in 1937 - is an opportunity to reach a whole new generation of fans. Plus, these projects give filmmakers a chance to expand and try new things, which is really where these remakes shine.

More romance

In the original version of The Little Mermaid (1989), the romance between Ariel and love interest Prince Eric is reduced to a handful of (mostly silent) scenes.

It doesn’t feel super important, in the grand scheme of the story. Which is a shame, because it’s Ariel falling in love with a human that drives the whole plot.

By contrast, the 2023 remake gives the romance way more room to breathe, crafting a sweet, simple love story that’s way more convincing than the original attempt - and way more compelling. It also helps that the two leads, Halle Bailey and Jonah Hauer-King, have great chemistry.

More spectacular visuals

Translating some of Disney’s most iconic animated moments into live action also presents an opportunity for some truly stunning visuals.

Beauty and the Beast (2017) has some of the most lavish, gorgeous sets and costumes that you’ll ever see, and The Lion King (2019), while lacking the energy of the original, manages to perfectly capture the majesty of the African savannah, and the diverse wildlife that populates it.

The only problem is that its hyper-realistic feline leads just can’t emote like the cartoon versions can, and it makes the movie seem weirdly lifeless and flat. The Little Mermaid gets it spot-on, creating animal characters that are photo-accurate while still retaining their, well, character.

And then there’s The Jungle Book (2016), which gives us animals that can be adorable (Baloo) or terrifying (Shere Khan) in equal measure.

More adventure

The Jungle Book is a great example of filmmakers doing something new with an old story. The remake takes the basic concept of the original and amps up the action, turning a sweet but meandering tale into a rollicking jungle adventure.

It’s a very different experience - albeit with all of your favourite songs - that stands apart from the original and more than justifies its existence. In fact, maybe that’s when these remakes are at their absolute best: when they’re doing something different.

Whether it’s a newfound focus on romance or action, or shifting the story to revolve around a different character, like the villain-centric Cruella or Maleficent, a good remake finds a new, interesting angle on the source material. It complements, rather than replaces.

And that’s exactly what the best of the live action Disney remakes manage to do.

Snow White is now playing in cinemas, and the other films mentioned here are all available to stream on Disney+