‘Beauty and the Beast’: Avoid these unpopular Disney live-action movies
Disney live action movies are held to a higher standard than most other movies for a reason. They’re created with million-dollar budgets, talented actors, and directors who have a keen eye for detail. Unfortunately, not every single Disney live action movie can turn out as amazingly as 2017’s Beauty & the Beast starring Emma Watson. Beauty & the Beast earned 1.264 billion USD while some of these other movies didn’t do so well.
Dumbo
The animated version of Dumbo was released in 1941 and for generations, it stole the hearts of many. The shy, adorable, innocent little elephant with ears he hadn’t quite grown into yet was a protagonist worth rooting for.
In 2019, Tim Burton signed on as the director of the live action remake. Fans expected a similar feel that connected to the original animated movie, but they were sadly let down. The style of Tim Burton’s Dumbo was a bit more gloomy & sinister than necessary. The plot was a lot more complicated & messy as well.
Critics described the live action version as bizarre & unbalanced. The charm of the 1941 movie didn’t rub off on the 2019 remake. Tim Burton is known for brilliantly bringing epic stories to life, such as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Frankenweenie, Sweeney Todd, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and Edward Scissorhands. For some reason, Dumbo wasn’t one of his successes.
Mulan
The animated version of Mulan was released in 1998 and it was absolutely enchanting. The passion of a teenage girl risking her own life to save her father by switching gender identities and going off to war made for one unforgettable tale. What also added to the magic was the beautiful & catchy music and the super dynamic side characters like Mushu & Li Shang.
The Disney live action movie version of Mulan was stripped of all that magic. The songs that made the animated movie so fun to watch were not included at all. The character of Li Shang was axed due to the close minded fear that he would be considered an LGBTQ character. The hilarious character of Mushu, famously voiced by Eddie Murphy, was eradicated from the live action story completely.
To make matters worse, leading actress Liu Yifei made it known that she was supportive of Hong Kong police after instances of police brutality were taking place in Asia. Social media users banded together to “cancel” her and boycott the entire movie upon its release.
Lady & the Tramp
2019’s Lady & the Tramp is a Disney live action movie that had the potential to be great, but instead it totally floundered. The animated version was released in 1955 and since the main characters were all dogs, the fact that they were all talking to each other and living out human experiences didn’t seem too odd. The live action version featured an awkward blend of real dogs & CGI dogs which is where the moviemakers went wrong.
The voice acting done by Tessa Thompson & Justin Theroux was splendid but aside from that, the awkwardness of the computer animated pups mixed with real animals came across as weirdly confusing.
The Legend of Tarzan
Another Disney live action movie that didn’t do as well as it should have would have to be 2016’s The Legend of Tarzan. The first thing that needs to be addressed with this movie is it doesn’t touch upon the storyline from the animated 1999 movie whatsoever. The classic animated film introduced viewers to Tarzan, his jungle family, and Jane. Viewers watched him grow up and make a choice about his future in his adulthood.
The Legend of Tarzan tells a completely different story, has been labeled tone deaf, and uses a low level of CGI that doesn’t look visually pleasing in the slightest. Fans might have thought that seeing Margot Robbie cast as Jane would be the movie’s saving grace but unfortunately even she couldn’t save it either.
