Two Clarion Staff reporters put in their 2 cents about live-action Disney movies.

POINT: Live action movies are Pointless!

With the new release of trailers for the live action Aladdin and Lion King, people seem to be divided. With Will Smith cast as the genie and Simba’s hyper-realistic design, there seem to be many debates about live-action Disney films in general. Personally, while they are equally stunning, they are boring rehashes of films that are already impressive in their own way. Whatever happened to Disney’s classic 2D animated films? John Lasseter, the controversial former Chief Creative Officer of Disney stated “Unfortunately, 2D became the excuse for poor storytelling. The general consensus was that the audience did not want to watch hand-drawn animated films, which is of course completely ridiculous.”

Although I’m not a fan of Lasseter, he has a point. 2D animation is dying, and while the 3d animation looks absolutely gorgeous, it’s also kind of an eyesore in my opinion. My sister and I saw the live action Jungle Book out of curiosity when it came out, and eek! It looked horrible. While the individual models of the characters look great, they are contrasted by scenes that use a dreary grey color palette and are awkwardly smooshed together. The original Jungle Book’s backgrounds were relatively colorful, and the characters fit in with their surroundings.

The live-action Disney titles also have nothing going on story-wise, they just reuse the same plot and add only a little to the original plot. Remakes, to me at least, seem like easy money. People are bound to see these movies or see it with their children. Making money isn’t a horrible thing, but a lot of people are eventually going to catch onto the fact that Disney’s just making live-action remakes for the money,

Counterpoint: Live Action Disney Movies are amazing!

Disney live action films are an essential part of the movie world today. Some may think that there is no point in recreating a film that has already been made, but there is so much more to these movies than that.

First. many children watch the original Disney movies, but they don’t get to experience them live in the theaters. With the live action versions of movies like the Lion King and Aladdin being made, kids will be able to witness these movies live in the theater. It may not seem like the biggest deal to some, but it is a big deal to all the kids that get to enjoy the excitement of waiting for the newest live action Disney film to come to theaters.

These live action films aren’t just for kids to enjoy though. People of all ages can enjoy what was one part of their childhood in a whole new way. They can rewatch movies that made their childhood great, with a whole new twist thrown into them.

Another great part about these live action films is the amazing CGI used to make them. With a corporation as big as Disney, it is to be expected that their graphics will be the best of the best, but the live action films always seem to exceed expectations and go above and beyond to create a realistic setting for some of the best Disney classics.

There is usually a twist thrown into the live action remakes that make the movie a whole new experience to enjoy. While not straying completely off the story of these movies, Disney is able to make these live action remakes feel like a whole new movie despite having watched the animated versions already.

Overall, Disney live action remakes are one of the best ideas the corporation has ever had. They bring life to some amazing Disney classics, and they make the movies seem like whole new experiences with the same premise. Many childhoods will be brought back to life with the new remakes that are scheduled for 2019.