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Did you see last year’s live action version of Cinderella? It was a lovely rendition of Disney’s animated classic.
We really enjoyed it, with one only one complaint – We would’ve preferred less cleavage. Modesty is something we appreciate. And notice.
Nonetheless, the movie sold over 24 million tickets, so clearly we weren’t the only ones that enjoyed it.
Well, Disney has taken notice, and has plans in the works to release a number of live action remakes of other animated films.
There are a couple out this year, even. Jungle Book was released on April 15 and Alice Through the Looking Glass on May 27.
It’ll be awhile before many of these come out, but it’s definitely a trend to watch for.
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Beauty and the Beast – Release date March, 2017
This is already in post production, and the cast looks stellar. Harry Potter star Emma Watson is playing the heroine Belle. More of the cast includes: Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellan as Cogsworth, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Josh Gad as Le Fou, and Dan Stevens as the Beast. (If you watched Downton Abbey, you’ll recognize Dan Stevens as the actor who played Matthew Crawley).
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Cruella – Slated to begin filming later this year (2016)
Much like Maleficent told Sleeping Beauty from the villain’s perspective, Cruella will do the same, giving us Cruella de Vil’s backstory. Emma Stone is in talks for the starring role.
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Pinocchio
In reading about this one, I saw Robert Downey Jr.’s name attached to it in several places. Iron Man as Geppetto…sure, I’d buy that. Ron Howard is also attached to this. If you remember much about the 1940 animated film, it was quite dark, and could translate as pretty scary in live action. Rumor is, it will only loosely be based on the animated version, though.
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Dumbo
Tim Burton is slated to direct this film that will feature both computer animation and live action. I guess that means Johnny Depp will be in it (isn’t he in everything Tim Burton does?) Seriously, though, no cast has been named.
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Mulan
Not a whole lot out there on this one except that Disney has a script for it.
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Winnie the Pooh
The plot will be based on Christopher Robin returning to the Hundred Acre Wood as an adult. (For some reason when I think of a live action Winnie the Pooh, all I can envision are the Teletubbies).
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Sword in the Stone
Not much to say about this one. I did learn that this was the last animated feature to be released while Walt Disney was still alive.
Supporting Characters Getting Their Own Features:
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Rose Red
Snow White’s sister in the Grimm fairytale doesn’t appear in the original Disney classic. It seems that instead of creating a new story for Red, the plan is to re-imagine the classic tale with Rose Red adventuring with the dwarves to save Snow White after she bites the poisonous apple.
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Cinderella’s Prince Charming
Disney has purchased the script for this. No details about cast or director. I’d love it if they cast Richard Madden, who played the Prince in the 2015 Cinderella.
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Genies
This will look at the backstory of how Genie ended up in Aladdin’s lamp. It’s described as an adventure-comedy, and will possibly pave the way for an Aladdin live action film.
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Tink
Peter Pan’s feisty fairy friend is slated to get her own spinoff. Reese Witherspoon is attached to this project as well as the writer for this summer’s Finding Dory.
Although not remakes of animated movies, I came across a couple of other interesting things in the works at Disney…
A Wrinkle in Time (with the screenwriter from Frozen attached to it)
A film based on The Jungle Cruise ride at Disney parks (with Dwayne Johnson)
Maleficent 2
The Jungle Book 2
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,
A sequel to Mary Poppins (starring Emily Blunt)
So…tell me,
Which Live Action Remake Are You Most Interested to See?
Thanks for that – I was disappointed to have Emma Watson cast as belle- don’t think I could ever believe in the choice as she is too much hermione to me now .
Dan Stevens is a good choice for the beast though although he will be angry a lot so that at least is a change for him with acting.
Interesting.
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We thought the same thing about Emma Watson. She is great, but you just think “Hermione” whenever you see her. Fingers crossed!
I don’t know what I’ll do when my youngest is all grown up and I don’t have an excuse to go see all these movies. I love them. And who knew Snow White had a sister?? Thanks for the update, really looking forward to a lot of these!
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Who needs an excuse?! 🙂 Enjoy them without shame!
I have been so incredibly impressed with Disney’s live Action interpretations so far, and I didn’t realize so many were in the works!!!
Earlier this week I watched Pinocchio with my daughters for the first time, and I had forgotten how dark and mature its concept was. Though, like me, my daughter blissfully loved it anyway. 😉
Right?! Lots of Disney movies have dark themes. Have you been to Disneyland? On Mr. Toad’s wild ride you actually go to hell after a car crash (drunk driving?)…complete with flames and demons. Talk about dark! It cracks us up every time that this is a kids ride!
All of these as such entertaining movies! I would like to see Aladdin and Dumbo again, thank you for listing them here, now I know what to watch with the kids during Christmas break.
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None of these live action films are out yet, But you can watch the original animated ones with them, though!
I feel like I may be in the minority here, given a lot of peoples’ general disdain for the current culture of cinema being mainly based on remakes, but I am also a huge Disney fan and I’m really excited about a lot of these. Some of them I hadn’t been aware of yet, though, so thanks for sharing!
You know, Katie, I actually largely agree with you. I’m excited to see some of these, being a Disney fan. But my initial reaction to the live action Beauty and the Beast was, “They’re going to ruin it.” But–I was so pleased with Cinderella, in that it’s so different, that I didn’t find myself comparing it to the animated too much. I’m hoping they’re able to pull that off with Beauty.
I enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, but I am still not sure that Emma Watson was the right choice. I think of all of the other movies I would be most excited to see Mulan.
I agree with you on Beauty and the Beast. Funny, the animated version just came on TV last weekend and I realized that I like that better than the live action version.