It happens every time a live-action Disney remake comes out. Social Media lights up with updates of “Why did this get made?” So why exactly is Walt Disney Studios remaking their animated classics? The first obvious answer is money..the big money grab. It’s a way of doubling revenues on stories the studio already owns, including the reselling of all the merchandise. Could it be more “sinister” than that? What I find interesting are the titles they’ve chosen to remake thus far and the specific changes they made to those stories.
It may be the conspiracy theorist in me, but it appears Disney is remaking the more problematic stories from its past. You know the stories that butt right up against identity politics and “woke” culture. In a way, it’s Disney attempting to “cover” their past sins. The brilliance of the plan is by retelling the stories with stronger roles for women and adding a diverse cast, you can still take your kids to Disney Parks, take photo opps, and not have to apologize for the problematic princesses.
“…it appears Disney is remaking the more problematic stories from its past.”
I’m not necessarily judging the decisions by Disney to remake their films, nor am I criticizing its diversity message or politically correct tone. What I fear is the army of internet trolls digging through the life’s work of Walt Disney with the sole purpose of branding him a racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, white man. More on this at the end.
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
It all started with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. While not a critical success, it was a financial one. Instead of the blue-dressed child on a wild drug-hazed adventure in Wonderland, Mia Wasikowska’s Alice escapes an arranged marriage to keep her mother’s English high-class status intact. Alice goes to Wonderland and becomes a self-confident warrior who defeats the Jabberwocky.
Wokiness: Alice is a strong woman with a particular set of skills and chooses to run her father’s business instead of marrying it away.
I agree with your article on why Disney is remaking their classics and it’s because of this manipulation that I won’t see them.
The classics were fine and I feel like telling Disney there’s no need for this apology tour your doing with these pointless remakes.
In a sense they are apologizing for nothing because really Disney was just following the source material from fairytales as they were. I took no offense to what their original classics did and never will.
Once upon a time it was about storytelling now it’s about opinion telling and that makes the story fall flat every time and they don’t age well.In fact the remakes feel too preachy.
I’ll be glad when this remake trend is over and Disney remembers what they once were.
They were once a source of inspiration but right now they are not except for something original that comes along in a blue moon.
Disney has a lot to apologize about in the sense that Disney has made a lot of racial insensitive movies/shows and remaking them is a sign of remorse. I do agree that some of the originals were just following some sort of twist on the original storylines but you have to understand Disney writes their own scripts and they know what their movies showcase better than the viewers. Some things are just inappropriate to put in a movie when all groups of people will see them.
In a way I guess that makes sense but you completely dismissed what this comment was saying. Please re-read it and then bring up a reasonable argument.