Love it or Hate it? Live Action Remakes Review

December 20, 2024, saw the release of Mufasa, the prequel to the 2019 live-action adaptation of The Lion King. It earned 55% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics saying it is an β€œunnecessary prequel,” the way Scar was portrayed was β€œa waste of a perfect villain,” and the movie looked like a strange live-action movie. Supporters of the movie argued that it was creative, great for younger audiences, and the voices matched the animals well.          

In the past, we have seen many animated movies and TV shows remade into live-action adaptations, including The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Mulan, and more. Some people are upset with the concept of remaking cartoons and find them unoriginal while others think they are entertaining. Sequels tend to receive criticism due to the lack of nostalgia, and, as Lewis Pearce, author of the article, Why the Disney Live Action Remakes are (Mostly Terrible) put it, β€œYou can’t capture lightning in a bottle twice.”

Catherine Hernandez, a junior at Blake, would enjoy these remakes if the directors knew they were providing a sense of nostalgia and including similar details in the animation. She did not like Mulan because β€œthey had horrible casting, they didn’t bring back Mushu and the storyline was bad; it wasn’t the same.” When asked about people’s negative views towards live-action remakes she said, β€œThey change up everything and they don’t stick to the original story.”

This is not how everyone feels, however. Soniyah Bone, a sophomore at Blake, noted that Aladdin was well-made. β€œThey kept all the same songs and plot, but the live-action added more emotion,” she said. β€œAladdin is the best live-action movie ever.”

As for myself, I like these movies when the characters and plot are roughly the same and the quality is good. If they change the entire storyline and do not portray character traits and the original movie well, it defeats a remake’s purpose and creates a new, blurry image for the audience.