When you think about animated films that have live action remakes, the first that come to mind are probably ones made by Walt Disney Studios. This entertainment company has been creating live action remakes of older animated films for decades, from “The Jungle Book” to “Cinderella,” but it’s not just Disney. A lot of animes and cartoons have live action remakes as well, one of which being “Cowboy Bebop” which premiered on Netflix in November of 2021. There are countless more examples of this trend including “Scooby-Doo,” “Riverdale,” “Transformers” and more.
Usually, the announcement of live action remakes and decisions that follow, such as casting, causes strife amongst fans. Following the announcement of Halle Bailey as Ariel in the upcoming remake of “The Little Mermaid,” thousands took to Twitter to voice their disapproval of the decision. Additionally, many remakes don’t get high review ratings. If you check Rotten Tomatoes, you’ll find a plethora of scathingly low reviews for many of them. This begs the question, why are so many animated films and shows turned into live action ones, especially considering fans of the original films and series typically don’t ask for it?
There’s an easy answer to that question: the money. “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” one of Walt Disney Studios’ lowest-rated remakes on Rotten Tomatoes, raked in close to $300 million in worldwide box office revenues. “The Last Airbender,” which has a rating of 5% on Rotten Tomatoes, brought in just under $320 million in worldwide box office revenues. This leads me to believe that even if many don’t like the idea of remakes, there are still plenty of people who pay to see them.
Another reason we keep getting remakes is because they reintroduce older shows and movies to a new generation in a fresh light. I didn’t know “Transformers” was a cartoon long before it was a billion-dollar blockbuster film franchise. I never watched the original 1966 animated version of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” but the live action remake is a staple in my household year-round. This makes me think the remakes aren’t always for the original fans, they’re for the potential ones. I’m sure creators want to please original fans to some extent, but if they don’t, it’s not the end of the world if they can generate enough revenue from a new fan base.
Love them or hate them, live action remakes seem to be here to stay. If studios can make money from them, we’ll keep seeing new renditions of animations for decades to come.
