For many decades, animated fairy tale films have become household classics to scores of movie fanatics worldwide. As these films are approaching their milestone anniversaries, producers have decided to pay tribute to these beloved stories by completely remaking them into live action films. On March 13, Disney’s latest rendition of Cinderella premiered in theaters with Frozen Fever and joins films like Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and Snow White and the Huntsman in a quickly burgeoning live-action remake movement. Such remakes of these classic storybook fables could not have been made possible without the tremendous advancements in technology and filmmaking.
Cinderella updates the famous rags to riches tale by giving it a modern twist that both old and new fans alike would appreciate and successfully revives the love of the original film that first premiered about sixty-five years ago. Since the original film’s premiere in 1950, many spin offs and remakes attempted to capture the allure and magic of the movie with little success. When the news that 2015’s version of Cinderella was set to be released, the film received much anticipation and apprehension whether or not the film will follow the Cinderella box office flop trend. Despite the initial criticism, Cinderella was a box office success earning $67.9 million during its opening weekend. With its star-studded cast consisting of Lily James from BBC’s Downton Abbey as Cinderella, Cate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine the evil stepmother, Helena Bonham Carter as the fairy godmother, and Richard Madden as Prince Charming, Cinderella gives a valiant effort to do these beloved roles justice. In terms of the film’s adherence to the original plot, Cinderella does include several newly improvised versions of some scenes but the film still maintains true to the original story line.
While simultaneously managing Cinderella’s premiere, Disney announced that a live action remake of Beauty and the Beast is set to be released on March 17, 2017. Again, Disney provides its film with a well-known and talented cast consisting of Harry Potter’s Emma Watson as Belle, Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens as the Beast, The Hobbit’s Luke Evans as Gaston, and Frozen’s Josh Gad as LeFou. Shortly following the announcement of Beauty and the Beast, Disney hits the ground running again with its reveal of an upcoming Mulan live action rendition. Although Beauty and the Beast is currently in pre-production and Mulan is in the very early stages of development, Disney holds excited fans over with the upcoming releases of The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass both set for April 16, 2016 and May 27, 2016, respectively.
As the race to earn production rights of additional animated classic films continues, several different production companies have been vying for the rights of other coveted classics. Despite that Disney has produced the majority of these original films, it has been squaring off with other film franchises. Universal Studios has decided to recreate Hans Christian Anderson’s version of The Little Mermaid and the film is currently under works. Universal is also planning to release a Snow White and the Huntsman prequel titled The Huntsman on April 22, 2016. Moreover, Warner Bros. is set to release Pan based on the story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook on July 24, 2015.
While an onslaught of these fairy tale remakes will not add to the diversity and originality in the film industry over the next few years, this movie trend will enable these classics to retain a younger fanbase with their newly modernized and updated versions.
