The Ultimate Disney Live Action Remakes Film Guide: 2020-2024
Created | Updated May 23, 2023
1994-2014 | 2015-2019 | 2020-2024
The Films
Strangely films that feature entirely computer-generated characters are technically classed as 'Live Action' and not 'Animation'. 'Animated film' is a very specific term and relates to how a film is made, not how it appears. Since the controversy over whether motion-capture film Happy Feet (2006) should be classed as animation, 'animation' is defined by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as 'a motion picture in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, a significant number of the major characters are animated, and animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the running time'. Films made by filming actors against a bluescreen and replicating their movements into computer-generated characters rather than by utilising a frame-by-frame technique are classed as live action and not animation.
The summaries of the films below are concentrating on the live action remakes rather than the animated originals. Recurring characters and actors who appear in more than one live action remake are shown in Bold. Also mentioned is whether the films pass the Bechdel Test. This can be summarised as whether the film involves two or more female characters who have a conversation together that does not focus on men in general or a specific male character or man1. Also mentioned are the cases where the remake passes the Kevin Smith Reboot test of adding diversity.
Mulan (1998/2020)
| Film | 1998 Animated Original | 2020 Live Action Remake |
|---|---|---|
| Director | Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook | Niki Caro |
| Plot | During an invasion, a man from every family in China is conscripted into the army. In order to save her crippled father's life, young woman Mulan disguises herself as a young man and enlists in his place. | |
| Length | 87 minutes | 115 minutes |
| Setting | Imperial Middle Kingdom China | |
| Dramatis Personæ |
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| Source | Ballad of Mulan, traditional Chinese Ballad | |
| Songs | Music by Matthew Wilder, Lyrics by David Zippel
| None of the songs are in the body of film but are used in the end credits and hinted at in the score. |
| Sequels | Mulan II (2004) | None |
| Bechdel | Pass | Pass |
| Reboot | The cast is now made up of Chinese actors and there are more female characters, particularly a witch sympathetic to Mulan's situation. | |
The animated Mulan was a highly-regarded film made at the tail-end of the so-called 'Disney Renaissance' – praised for having a strong central female character who wasn't a princess and for its stunning visuals, though the songs were generally considered weaker than those in other Disney films of the decade. Nevertheless it remained a strong contender for the live action remake treatment, although the film has been dogged by controversy and bad timing.
Since being first announced the film attracted the attentions of petitioners calling on an all-Asian cast to avoid Whitewashing and to make the film more true to the original story. With China being a more profitable cinema market than the United States of America, Disney were keen to agree in order to make a profit from this lucrative market, yet despite an Asian cast the production team were predominantly white. Controversy continued in late 2019 when star Yifei Liu was accused of making statements on social media supporting police brutality against pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong, which later echoed with calls against police brutality in the following year's Black Lives Matter movement and resulted in an international call to boycott Mulan, particularly in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand.
The success of this boycott perhaps became academic when Mulan's premiere was in March 2020, just before the Covid-19 virus struck and closed cinemas around the world. This coincided with US President Donald Trump's anti-Chinese rhetoric encouraging anti-Chinese xenophobia. Other news stories, covering facts such as that the film was filmed in Xinjiang province close to where one million Muslim Uighurs are interred in concentration camps, proliferated.
Unable to be released in cinemas the film instead was released to Disney's Disney+ online viewing platform, which angered cinema companies worldwide amid speculation that Covid may cause cinemas to permanently close if films are no longer released in them. The film bombed, regaining only $70 million box office from a budget of over $200 million – reportedly the most expensive film ever directed by a woman.
Many of the original film's characters considered stereotypical in China, such as Mushu, were removed, as were the original film's songs, although Mulan sees a phoenix and the witch is similar to the original villain's hawk. Animated Mulan actress Ming-Na Wen cameos in the finale of the live-action remake having been offered the role of Mulan's mother, however her filming commitments prevented this.
Cruella (2021)
| Film | 101 Dalmatians (1961) | Cruella (2021) |
|---|---|---|
| Director | Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske and Clyde Geronimi | Craig Gillespie |
| Plot | Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita, who live with Roger and Anita, have 15 puppies – six of whom have names. Anita's evil schoolfriend Cruella de Vil plots to kidnap the puppies. Owning 84 other Dalmation puppies, she wishes to turn the dogs' skins into a Dalmatian fur coat. | Estella Miller is a rebellious, creative child often nicknamed 'Cruella' by her beloved mother. At a fashionable party her mother is pushed off a cliff by a dalmatian that had been chasing her, leading Estella to blame herself for her mother's death. Fleeing to London, she is adapted into the gang of two street urchins, Jasper and Horace. Ten years later she gets a job as a clothes designer for fashion magnet the Baroness. She realises that the Baroness was responsible for her mother's death and, with her friends, plans her revenge. |
| Length | 76 minutes | 134 minutes |
| Setting | Late 1950s London | 1960s – 1970s London |
| Characters |
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| Source | The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (1956) | |
| Songs: | 'Cruella de Vil' by Mel Leven | |
| Bechdel | Pass | Pass |
| Sequel | 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003) | Two live-action films:
|
| Reboot | Jasper and Roger are no longer white while Artie was announced as being Disney's first original and openly gay character in a major blockbuster film, though this character has no relationships in the film. | |
The plot is very similar to The Lion King - both feature the main character as a child seeing their parent fall off a cliff and blaming themselves, running away and spending their adolescent years with lowlife diamonds in the rough (Timon and Pumba versus Horace and Jasper) who nevertheless support the main character in their time of need, and later learning that their parent was killed and seeking justice and to reclaim their birthright. Cruella just achieves the same story with fewer animals and more clothes. One of the film's early screenwriters was Aline Brosh McKenna, best known for The Devil Wears Prada.
The remake does away with the dodgy mid-Atlantic indecision of previous films, setting this firmly in a real London – although one which still inexplicably has American gaols with bars for doors rather than solid steel doors. As in previous remakes, there is a British Baddy, in this case Dame Emma Thompson playing the Baroness. It is finally revealed that Cruella adopts the name 'de Vil' from the car Panther de Ville. Unlike in previous films, Cruella does not smoke (as Disney has banned all representations of smoking since 2007) and is revealed to be a dog lover. American actress Tallulah Bankhead was an inspiration for the character of Cruella in the animated film and a scene from her film Lifeboat (1944) makes a cameo appearance in Cruella.
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (TV series: 1989-90/2022)
| Film | Animated Original | 2022 Live Action Remake |
|---|---|---|
| Directors | Akiva Schaffer | (Various) |
| Plot | (Various) Chip and Dale run a detective agency investigating matters that are 'too small' for the police to handle. They are aided by their friends, genius inventor mouse Gadget who made the Ranger Plane airship, super-strong mouse Montery 'Monty' Jack, who has a cheese addiction, and fly Zipper. | Friends since meeting at primary school, chipmunks Chip and Dale had a successful television career starring in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers alongside Gadget, Monterey Jack and Zipper until Dale is offered his own show, Double-O-Dale, which flopped and they all ended up unemployed. 30 years later both Chip and Dale are contacted by Monterey Jack who owes money to the criminal Valley Gang because of his addiction to stinky cheese. Monty goes missing soon after and the police, apart from Detective Ellie Steckler who is a Rescue Rangers fan, seem unwilling to take action. It is believed he will be 'bootlegged', having his appearance slightly altered and forced to appear in overseas rip-off mockbusters of Disney films with suspiciously similar names. Following a clue pointing to a muppet cheesemonger, Chip and Dale find themselves in Uncanny Valley, an area populated with characters from Mo-Capped animation, and are captured by the gang's leader, Sweet Pete. Can Chip and Dale reconcile their differences and use their knowledge from playing heroic detectives on television to save the day, and their friend Monty? Or will they find themselves bootlegged? |
| Length | 65 × 22 minute episodes | 97 minutes |
| Setting | 1980s world of anthropomorphic animals | 1980s, 1990s and 2020s in a world where cartoon characters and real people mix |
| Dramatis Personæ |
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| Bechdel | Fail | Most episodes fail |
| Reboot | Advertised with the words 'It is not a reboot, it is a come-back' , this might explain why female characters have less to do than the original show. Gadget has been reduced to having a cameo appearance, though Ellie, the main human character, is a female black police detective. | |
From the very first second, in which the Disney castle logo appears as a mash-up of Elsa's ice palace, Agrabah, the castle in The Little Mermaid and the stylised castle log seen in Incredibles 2, this Disney+ original film has a lot going for it. Heavily influenced by Who Framed Roger Rabbit, there are numerous delightful cameos from across the world of children's entertainment and not just Disney-owned characters. These include Alvin and the Chipmunks, Lumière, Roger Rabbit, He-Man, My Little Ponies and many, many more, as well as 'Bootleg' versions of cartoon characters which means multiple viewings are rewarded, with references to other films such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day. That said the film does heavily change Disney characters Chip 'n Dale quite heavily, retconning their origin from being brothers who have been together since their first appearance in 1943 from being friends who met in the early 1980s. Their voices are also completely different and really do not suit the characters whose high-pitched voices worked well for 80 years.
Pinocchio (1940/2022)
| Film | Animated Original | 2022 Live Action Remake |
|---|---|---|
| Directors | Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen | Robert Zemeckis |
| Plot | Woodcarver Geppetto, who desperately wants a son, makes a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, which is brought to life by the Blue Fairy and placed under the guidance of Jiminy Cricket. Overjoyed, Geppetto promptly tells Pinocchio to make his own way to school, despite him never even having been outside the house before. Pinocchio, naively trusting those who wish to take advantage of him, makes some poor decisions including wanting to be an actor, telling lies and heading to Pleasure Island. Will he bravely rescue Geppetto from Monstro and become a real boy? | |
| Length | 88 minutes | 105 minutes |
| Setting | Early industrial Italy | |
| Dramatis Personæ |
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| Source | Carlo Collodi's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) | |
| Songs | Music by Leigh Harline, lyrics by Ned Washington
| Music by Leigh Harline, lyrics by Ned Washington unless stated:
|
| Sequels | None, but Jiminy Cricket appears in Fun and Fancy Free (1947) and is the Ghost of Chrismas Past in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) | None |
| Bechdel | Fail | Fail |
| Reboot | While black actress Cynthia Erivo has been cast as the Blue Fairy and there are two additional female characters, a seagull and Fabiana whose leg is in a brace. It is notable that the villains are still played by non-American actors. Italian Battiston is evil gypsy Stromboli and British actors play unlikeable characters such as the Headmaster and Luke Evans is the Coachman | |
This adaptation was made in conjunction with Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers. Like his previous film The Polar Express it features Tom Hanks and like A Christmas Carol contains rollercoaster moments and others where the characters pop out of the screen, but seems to intend the audience to feel motion sickness rather than emotion when watching this film.
Despite the remake being longer, the characters have much less to do than in the original adaptation. This is most notable with Pinocchio, who instead of making poor decisions and suffering the consequences, such as wanting fame and being imprisoned, lying and having his nose grow and wishing for pleasure and turning into a donkey, this Pinocchio is very much a victim of circumstances who is carried along from place to place without deciding to go there. The new songs and characters add little, if anything, to the story. In fact, the only character who has a larger role is the Coachman, who gets a song. And shadow demons.
This film's strangest moment is now the 'Pleasure Island' section, which is visually impressive as Pinocchio enjoys a spectacular rollercoaster ride. Yet the underlying message seems to be that going to a theme park and being given free soft drinks is evil, which is strange coming from the world's largest theme park company, and indeed in Disneyworld in Florida, the nightclub area of Downtown Disney is called 'Pleasure Island'. There are plenty of cameos from other Disney characters and films in Gepetto's clocks, including Zemeckis' own Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Despite being set in Italy, and Tom Hanks' bizarre attempt at an Italian accent, there is very little that is Italian about this film, unlike Pixar's Luca. Which makes Pinocchio drinking root beer – a soft drink virtually unknown outside the North American continent.
Peter Pan / Peter Pan & Wendy (1953/2023)
| Film | Peter Pan | Peter Pan & Wendy |
|---|---|---|
| Directors | Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi and Wilfred Jackson | David Lowery |
| Plot | In London, Wendy Darling, on the brink of young womanhood, has captured the shadow of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up who lives in the magical realm of Never Land. When Peter retrieves his shadow, Wendy and her younger brothers John and Michael fly to Never Land with him. Yet fairy Tinker Bell is jealous, and after initial plans to have Wendy killed fail, enters into an alliance with dastardly one-handed pirate, Captain Hook. | In London Wendy Darling is spending her last night at home before being sent to a boarding school, and wishes she didn't have to grow up. Peter Pan, hearing her wish, takes her and her brothers John and Michael to Never Land. There they are attacked by pirates under the command of Captain Hook, who seeks revenge for Pan's cruel treatment of him. |
| Length | 76 minutes | 109 minutes |
| Setting | Edwardian London and the fantasy world, Never Land | |
| Dramatis Personæ |
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| Source | Peter Pan, 1904 play and Peter and Wendy 1911 novel, both by JM Barrie | |
| Songs | By Sammy Cahn & Sammy Fain unless stated:
| None |
| Sequels | Return to Never Land (2002) | None to date |
| Bechdel | Pass | Pass |
| Reboot | Unlike the original film, which contained racist references to 'Indians' particularly in song 'What made the Red Man Red?,' the remake has the character played by a Native American actress who is far more capable than in the cartoon and actually rescues Peter Pan, rather than vice versa. Tinker Bell is now played by a black actress2. There are now Lost Girls as well as Lost Boys, with the lost children of all ethnicities, with the lead Lost Boy played by Noah Matthews Matofsky, the first actor with Downs syndrome to have a starring role in a Disney film3. Alexander Molony is of mixed race, reportedly including Indian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, Mixed Race, and Latin American, but was born and raised in Britain. Captain Hook has been made more sympathetic with a back story, but being a baddy is played by a British actor. | |
Like director David Lowery's previous live-action Disney remake, Pete's Dragon, none of the original's songs have made it into the newer film. This was released direct to Disney + as previous films about the character Peter Pan (2003) and Pan (2015) had both flopped.
