Live-Action Remakes

 Recently, I watched Lilo and Stitch live-action remake in theaters this past week. The remake in my personal opinion landed in the middle for me. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. There were certainly changes made. Some of these made sense, and had some realistic approach backing them, but others felt more awkward, and made me scratch my head. Plowing forward, I will not delve too deeply to avoid major spoilers at the current time. I will continue the discussion of remakes after the asterisk lines. If you do not wish to be spoiled in the slightest then stop reading now.

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The few awkward decisions that they made were to remove a major character and change some aspects of Lilo's and Nani's personalities. With an essential, original character missing, it changed the third act of the film greatly, shocking many. While, I personally don't mind a surprise twist, like Prince Hans being the villain of Frozen, this one, in a similar boat, didn't have the same effect. It left the film feeling awkward and odd. They also removed Lilo's disability side and Nani's empathy to a degree that left it feeling more off. Other minor changes even removed the emotional strings of the original too.

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Now, I wish to address the ongoing discussion about live-action remakes in a broad general way because analyzing each and every adaptation is going to be a too lengthy of a discussion here. Each individual remake will have its due on this blog, so don't worry.

I always love to start broad general discussions like this with my own personal view on the matter as a whole. I personally don't mind an occasional live-action remake from time-to-time of animated film that had come over a decade or so ago. Like it has to feel like a generally long time to a point where I think - it would interesting to see this in live action. This isn't something I think about with most animated films, much less recent ones. In other words, they need to be old enough that times have changed, the film feels kind of outdated in some of its elements, and that it is screaming for a remake like Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, and etc. At the same time, a live-action remake of a classic cannot be taken lightly. They need to be thought through and lot of thought needs to be put in to consider the best approach in remaking it.

Frankly, I feel that Disney and even Dreamworks, now, aren't entirely getting this. They are more concerned about a financial gain from a box office hit than the story itself. This is what I feel has happened to Lilo and Stitch, Peter Pan (Peter Pan and Wendy), Mulan, and other live-action remakes. These films are quickly made and released with little thought and heart, which had been put into the originals. In the process, the remakes lose what made the original animated film so special. It could be certain minor elements like not mentioning why the main character's parents have died, casting choices to be more inclusive, or visual effects. It honestly feels like these concepts look like an amazing draft to a beautiful remake, but remain just that - a draft.

Films like 101 Dalmatian, Alice in Wonderland, and Jungle Book, did a fine job in the remake department. Now, I know some might argue with me due to their own personal opinions, but I'm here to bring my own, and back them up with reasonable evidence. 101 Dalmatians with Glenn Close came out sometime in the 90s, I believe, and I really fell in love with story, visuals, and art styles picked for the film. True, it is certainly different from the animated film, where the animals could talk and it had a cat aiding in the puppies' escape from DeVil Manor. Yes, the live-action didn't have talking animals and Sargant Tibs was missing, but despite the changes, the execution of the film was stunning. You didn't need to hear the animals talk; you can figure out from the body stance to the barks and tweets of the animals to know roughly what is going on in a scene with just animals.

Alice in Wonderland from what I heard was a mixed bag in terms of its reception from audience and fans. For me, I loved it. However, I didn't watch the Disney's original Alice in Wonderland, but I did read the book by Lewis Carroll. I personally disliked the book because there was no sense of plot and felt like a very weird dream, as dreams often are. Yes, I'm aware that is kind of the point because it was all Alice's dream in the novel. This doesn't mean I want to be in one while awake and reading. So, watching Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was a pure joy for me. I felt it certainly did better than the book in this regard because it had a plot. As for the remake aspect from the animated, I cannot judge it. However, I will say this - Walt Disney himself had admitted that Alice in Wonderland was one of his worst animated films he'd ever produced. Yes, the man himself hated it. Sadly, I can't speak for the legend himself, if he would have loved the live-action remake, but I feel, based on his response to original, and my take on the live-action vs the book, it is better.

The reason I feel the three of these did well is because they had had enough time in between each other to do well. A lot of time and effort was put to execute these films well. Now, I'm not saying the rest are complete trash because of it.

2017's Beauty and the Beast did a phenomenal job of cleaning up the plot holes left by original animated film. Also, I love the artistic musical approach it made. That doesn't mean the film was without flaws. Two of which I feel was Emma Watson's singing and her dress. Watson I feel was perfectly suited to the role of Belle, but I can't say the same for her singing voice. I also agree with many about the ballroom dress she wore. It certainly felt too modern. While, I appreciate wanting to change it up and get a new vibe and feel, but sadly it failed to deliver.

Films like Peter Pan and Wendy, while I appreciate the concept of maturity added, and being faithful the to Native American culture, which the original Disney film didn't do, I feel the magic joy I felt watching the original fell short with the visuals, and the filmmakers trying too hard to not make Peter the sole hero of the story. I don't mind Peter going on a character arc journey of learning to be selfless and mature, but I felt it was poorly executed.

The last aspect I wish to bring up, which I've heard many bring up and it has bothered me, is that people complain about not sticking to the originals scene for scene. I understand the desire to see every scene and moment you loved in the original animated film be adapted, but at the same time I feel it is tad unrealistic and boring. A lot of the remakes, brought new, interesting twists to outdated themes, which made the watch of the remake a little more enjoyable and appreciated. Honestly, I've seen a strict and faithful adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time and I was honestly bored because I knew what would happen next because I've read the book. Certain things have to change because the times have changed, and I might sound woke about it, but it is true. We have to respect and represent all aspect life, faithfully. We needed Cinderella and the prince to meet prior to the ball, otherwise it would be the same theme of "love at first sight" which isn't always true.

Overall, remakes have to walk the delicate balance of keeping what works and makes the heart of the original, at the same time, changing the things that are outdated. The best way I feel studios can do this is by giving these masterpieces time. Work through the stories and analyze all this before production. Also, pick stories that could use work because they did poorly in the box office and have room to grow like Atlantis, Treasure Planet, and The Black Cauldron. In addition, give these stories room to breathe and become their own classics before deciding to make them into live-action like How to Train Your Dragon and Moana (Yes, Moana is becoming a live action.).

These are my opinion and thoughts on all this. Please feel free to share yours. Do you agree? Disagree? Remember, be polite. Rudeness will not be tolerated here.