Disney Films That Need a Live Action Remake

Many will be lining up to see the new Beauty and the Beast live action remake this week, a film that’s just joined an every-increasing collection of new versions of Disney classics. With remakes of Mulan, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Aladdin in the pipeline and making up part of a group of 17 (!) rumoured future live action features, we’ve taken a look at some other Disney films that would make interesting live action movies…

Pocahontas

The original animated feature hasn’t aged well thanks to the huge liberties it took with the true story it was based upon, but in this (hopefully) more enlightened age we now live in, this might be the perfect opportunity for a live action remake of Pocahontas that is a lot more sensitive to the real facts and figures involved. It would be a challenge, but there’s no denying it could be an interesting prospect if done properly and respectively.

Ratatouille

Disney have recently stated they have no intention of remaking any of their animated films released after the year 2000, so this is a bit of a moot point unless we’re talking a live action remake YEARS in the future. But still, we think Ratatouille would be one of the most promising candidates for a remake if picking from Disney’s more recent output. Yes, the main character is an animal, but that didn’t stop the new Jungle Book film or the upcoming remake of The Lion King.

The Incredibles

Talking of recent Disney films, The Incredibles is another good candidate once enough time has passed. Everyone loves a superhero film, right? And even if we’ve reached comic book fatigue, this is a superhero story with a difference and the potential for possible sequels.

Tangled

We’ve already had a reworking of the original Sleeping Beauty with the release of Maleficent back in 2014, so what about a reworking of an already re-worked Rapunzel? Or is that a little bit meta? Tangled was Disney’s slightly modernised version of the classic fairy tale, and who’s to say that it might not need updating yet again at some point in the future.

Up

Now, you can’t improve upon perfection, but Up, which manages to be unique, funny and heart-breaking in equal measure, should surely be top of any remake list, even though it was only released in 2009. And there would be no one better than Robert de Niro top play the lead of grumpy Carl Fredricksen. Make it happen Disney.

There’s a fine line between sacred films that should never be remade (you just can’t do Toy Story a second time for example) and classic Disney fair that’s crying out for an update, but the success of Beauty and the Beast surely shows that anything could be ripe for a live action remake in the future.

By Anna Scott, 21st March 2017