Disney’s release of the trailer for the new live-action Moana made plenty of waves online. Whether it be excitement for the film, the shock of seeing Dwayne Johnson with a full head of hair, or exasperation at yet another reboot, the trailer drop was a hot topic. Amidst the buzz, I can’t help but feel a bit of deja vu. Disney seems to have a bit of an addiction when it comes to rebooting their own beloved animated films.
In some, very rare cases, the transformation from animation to live actors is pulled off flawlessly. Some of my personal favorites were “Cinderella” and “Maleficent.” What made these films stand out to me was their ability to add depth to an already amazing story. These reboots made sense because they didn’t just give audiences a change in media; they also appealed to a larger audience. “Cinderella” included deeper themes of grief and kindness that kept my attention as a 13-year-old, just as the original had at the ripe age of 5-years-old. “Maleficent” went even further, giving a well-known villain more of a backstory and even a redemption arc. These two films added just the right amount of new elements to the existing story without sacrificing the magic that made them so popular to begin with.
The majority of these reboots, however, are not successful in my eyes. “Mulan” stuck with me just because of how much it was changed from the original movie. While new themes were explored in an attempt to add more depth to the film in the “real world,” I couldn’t get past the changes that were made to one of my favorite childhood movies. Mushu, the comedic animal sidekick that can always be found at the side of a Disney princess, was nowhere to be found. This little creature provided a sense of magic, and the loss of that spark was too much for an already floundering film.
The most ridiculous of these endeavours was “The Lion King.” The concept of rebooting an animated movie as live-action, only to use CGI for the entire movie, is just comical. It’s a prime example of Disney losing sight of what makes their movies work in search of what will make more money. At that point, just release the movie into theaters again. Something like that would have spared audiences the unfortunate flop that took up two hours of their lives.
When the movie isn’t done well, the purpose behind the reboot becomes all too clear. Executives’ thought processes are simple when it comes to making movies: if it made money the first time, then it can make money again. Why come up with a new idea when you can use a preexisting blueprint and dress it up nice enough that your audiences will pay to see the same movie again? In the case of older animated classics, this trend made more sense. Rebooting a movie that was made decades ago with updated technology and world views is a great idea. It becomes a nuisance when recent movies are being rebooted 10 years later. Among many, my biggest issue with the upcoming “Moana” movie is how quickly the “reboot” was made. There comes a point with newer films when Disney needs to decide between animation and live-action and stop pushing the same exact movies on their audience.
