The folks at Walt Disney Studios seem to be burning the midnight oil these days as the media is being bombarded with news and leaks of various tent pole characters from the classic hand drawn animation era of Walt Disney being brought back in live-action form.
This leads one to ask, is Disney lost for stories? The studio which has given some memorable live action features in the past like Treasure Island (1950); 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954); The Parent Trap (1961); Popeye (1980); Tron (1982); Honey, I shrunk the kids (1989); Cool Runnings (1993); Flubber (1997) along with the Mighty Ducks series, Pirates of the Caribbean series and many more memorable outings.
It’s a fact that Walt Disney Animation Studios has enjoyed the luxury of being honoured with two back to back Academy Awards in the last two years for Frozen (2013) and Big Hero 6 (2014); but the live action studio gained momentum only after it brought back one of the classics from the past onto the live action space with Tim Burton’s fantasy remake Alice in Wonderland in 2010, which went onto gross over US$ 1 billion in gross collections.
Since then the studio hasn’t been very lucky with its live action outings, even the big ticket – heavy on visual effects – movies like Tron: Legacy, John Carter and The Lone Ranger didn’t manage to ruffle any feathers of other competing movies at the box-office. All this changed with the beautiful re-telling of Sleeping Beauty in 2014’s dark fantasy film – Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie as the eponymous Disney villainess character.
After the magnanimous response to the Angelina Jolie epic – which went onto gross nearly over US$ 750 million at the global box-office; Disney has stuck to the formula of bringing its classic tales from the animation war-chest to the live action front. This trend was reflected in its last two theatrical releases in 2014’s Oscar nominated Into the Woods starring the evergreen actress Meryl Streep reprising the role of the most fearsome witch from all Disney tales of the past, along with Anna Kendrick as Cinderella and Johnny Depp as the Wolf, among many others. This was followed by the recently released romantic fantasy film Cinderella directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring the gorgeous Cate Blanchett as the fair princess that has gone onto collect well over US$ 400 million globally.
After witnessing the success of these old Disney animation classics, the studio has now decided to bring back some of its more beautiful hand drawn classics to the large canvas. The first to grace the large screens will be The Jungle Book in 2016 helmed by Iron Man franchise expert Jon Favreau. The film stars Neel Sethi (Mowgli), Bill Murray (Baloo), Ben Kingsley (Bagheers), Idris Elba (Shere Khan), Scarlett Johansson (Kaa), Lupita Nyong’o (Raksha), Giancarlo Esposito (Akela) and Christopher Walken (King Louie). This will be followed by the sequel to Alice in Wonderland later that year.
The most recent announcement coming from the studio reveals plans of retelling the story of the wooden puppet boy – Pinocchio to its ever-expanding roster of live action fantasy fairytale remakes.
Carlo Collodi’s famous marionette with the big dreams and a nose that lengthens whenever he tells a lie joins Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh on the studio’s upcoming slate of films based on its animated back catalogue. Peter Hedges’ script for the new film will reportedly cleave close to the original novel, titled The Adventures of Pinocchio. With the book in the public domain, Disney might face competition from a previously announced dark take on the dissembling marionette from Guillermo del Toro. The Pan’s Labyrinth film-maker has had a stop-motion version of the story in development since at least 2008, though there have been hints that a green light remains some way off.
As if the separate success of its original animated features and original live action films weren’t enough already, Disney is now combining the two to tap into another major source of growth – live action remakes of its previous animated features as a ‘mantra’ for its success.
So why is Disney really doing it…
One of the biggest assets Disney possess is the rights and story lines for these films, as they can produce them with a faster turn-around from start to finish, and at lower costs; considering that a Cinderella cost the company around US$100 million to produce as against a mighty sum of around US$260 million to make the animated original Tangled.
The other important point which any profit making company will consider is the return on investment (ROI) and Disney has managed to keep a tab on that with its recent releases in the form of an Alice in Wonderland and a Maleficent each made with a budget of around US$ 150 million but grossing nearly US$ 1 million
These live action movies seem to be a hit with a wide range of audiences, especially among adults nostalgic for the original films of yester-year but with an appreciation for the more adult remakes. But don’t think that Disney is using these remakes because it is out of original ideas. The company’s upcoming original animated and live action films, like Inside out (June), and Tomorrowland (May) will prove it has more new concepts in the tank.
Disney has been able to constantly reinvent and add to its revenue streams, which now consist of so much more than just original animated films. The company’s media networks segment and theme park segment are also doing incredibly well, each driving their own large return. Furthermore, Disney’s merchandising arm is thriving, due in part to the success of these remade films.
Altogether, the trend toward more live action remakes complementing Disney’s already well-performing movie vertical is just one more reason to shower more love on this company for the long term.
