Aladdin (2019)
Then there’s Aladdin, which hits the feminist message hard with Jasmine. As Jasmine, Naomi Scott fights for her rightful place as the next sultan and has a #MeToo ballad “Speechless” for Jasmine’s only song. She only sang a duet in the original. As a song, “Speechless” is a good one, but the problem is it sticks out like a sore thumb in the film. It needed to be there, but it didn’t fit stylistically with the other Howard Ashman/Tim Rice/Alan Menken numbers. In other words, it feels forced and reeks of virtue signaling.
Wokiness: Heightens the strength of Jasmine’s character to be the next sultan and gives her a #MeToo ballad.
The Lion King (2019)
Lastly, we have The Lion King. The all-black cast is the obvious fix, and this is hardly arguable with its African location, music, and themes. The only “woke” moment that really stuck out was the fight between Nala (Beyoncé) and Shenzi as an added moment. It’s also implied the Shenzi is the leader of the hyenas, but she never really “leads” the pack but acts more like the distant alpha. It just feels like Shenzi’s role was created for the sole purpose of fighting Nala at the end.
Wokiness: The female Shenzi leads the hyenas and virtue signaling of the fight between Nala and Shenzi.
So, is there a problem retelling “woke” versions of the originals? Yes and no. If anything it just raises more questions. As Disney and Pixar attempt to tell more “sensitive” original stories today, (did you notice the two mommies in Toy Story 4?) the remakes cast a bad shadow on Disney films of the past as parents throw away their VHS tapes as to not give the wrong message to their children. If the princesses of the past are looking for their princes, this then labels Walt Disney as a misogynist. If the classic tales are not racially diverse or contain music “of that time,” this then labels Walt Disney a racist.
“Let’s not forget Walt was a great man of his time, not ours.”
The game begins. Take any Disney film before 1970 and play the game “Find the Sexist/Racist undertones” and then throw the movie away. It’s only a matter of time we burn the original prints. We forget that each from is a story told at that time. Sure, a time that’s not quite so “enlightened” as today, but still stories about the dreams your heart makes, clothes don’t make a princess, and finding the confidence to use your talents. We also live in an era where audiences embrace diversity and may one day be open to a gay prince or trans-princess.
I feel the need to defend Walt Disney himself. By retelling the classic, we’re in a way negating the stories of the past and the strides and innovations in animation that Walt Disney had made. Looking back it’s easy to criticize the past and view Walt as a misogynist and a racist. Let’s not forget Walt was a great man of his time, not ours. The danger presented is in casting aside the man Walt Disney alongside the Confederate flag and the Founding Fathers as we unfairly judge our historical figures through a judgmental 2019 lens.
Coming up next is a black Ariel and a 100% all-Asian cast for Mulan. If my theory holds Peter Pan should be coming right around the corner to reconcile the first nations, indigenous audience. Bambi is safe since it already has an anti-gun, vegan message. What the hell are they going to do with Snow White and the Seven Little People?
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.