Like many of us, I was excited when Disney remade some of their most iconic animated films in the 2010s. I was there in the theater for “Cinderella” and “Beauty and the Beast,” and I enjoyed the fresh take on these classic movies. Showcasing CGI technology, these remakes offered a visually stunning experience for audiences. They provided a new visual perspective on movies made during less technologically advanced times, and were entertaining. Live action remakes brought audiences a good time and made Disney a lot of money.
Now, though, live-action remakes provide neither of those things. First of all, audiences are growing tired of these movies. It feels like every time Disney fans anxiously await the announcement of a new movie from the studio, it ends up being yet another live-action remake. While these announcements were once exciting, they are now disappointing. It’s been ten years since the “Cinderella” remake came out, and fans want something new. It feels as though more remakes are being made than originals, which gives off the impression that the writers at Disney are running out of ideas. I would rather watch new movies with new stories than a remake of a movie that I’ve already seen.
While some people might disagree, the box office and reviews for recent live-action remakes show that most fans share my opinion. Disney’s most recent live-action remake, “Snow White,” came out on March 21, 2025, with an extremely negative reception. The film bombed at the box office and was generally disliked, with a 40% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a whopping 1.6/10 on IMDB. While Disney’s earlier remakes were a fresh and exciting idea, “Snow White” and other more recent remakes have nothing to make them stand out. Their storylines have already been done before, and similar CGI technologies are so widely used that these movies offer nothing new to their dwindling audiences.
Another critique I have of the more recent live-action remakes is their diminishment of animation as an art form. All of the movies that Disney has remade so far are beautiful and enjoyable in their original animated form, so I don’t see a reason to remake them beyond generating nostalgia. Since one of my favorite hobbies is drawing cartoons, I have always been fascinated by animation, and I think it deserves more praise in today’s world. It takes a lot of work to make an animated movie, and artists put so much attention into every little detail, from background scenery to a character’s facial expressions. Meanwhile, there are details in animation that aren’t translated well into live action and CGI. One of the biggest is the facial expressions of non-human characters. I started having a more negative view of live-action remakes when “The Lion King” was released in 2019. The original movie does a great job of capturing the characters’ emotional journey through animation, but there is much less emotion visible in the live-action remake. Without human characters, this remake is entirely CGI, not even qualifying as a live-action movie by some metrics. Since the characters are modeled off of real animals rather than drawings, different characters who are members of the same species look very similar to one another. This along with the lack of animated facial expressions make it hard to see them as unique characters and feel connected to them.
With “Snow White” failing at the box office, it might finally be time for Disney to put their live-action remake experiment to rest. Whether live action or animated, audiences have made it known that they would much rather prefer new content, whether it be a sequel to a beloved classic or a brand new and original untold story. The remakes were cool at first, but after ten years, we’ve had enough. Instead of remaking old films, it’s time for writers and animators to sit down, get to work, and make the next classic.
Junior Carrie Teti is the Arts and Leisure editor. Her email is cteti@fandm.edu.