With the great success of the opening of the live-action Beauty and the Beast this weekend, not to mention the remakes of 101 Dalmatians, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Petes Dragon, The Jungle Book, Maleficent (a reworking of Sleeping Beauty), and the planned adaptations of Aladdin, Dumbo, and Mulan on the horizon, it seems as though Disney is really on to something from a box office, financial point of view. Every produced title mentioned has been enormously successful, with a whole new generation of kids falling in love with a different Disney than the one we grew up on. Does, however, this remake phenomenon come at the expense of the beloved, classic Disney films that inspired them?

Mark Robinson

Stage To Screen, Cinematters, Second Star to the Right

It was recently announced that Disney Studios will make a new Mary Poppins film musical, one that tells the further adventures of the Banks family with the titular nanny, some twenty-years after the original stories. Hairspray and Bombshell composing team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are on board to provide music and Rob Marshall, director of Disney’s film adaptation of Into the Woods is set to direct. In recent years it has been de riguer for the House of Mouse to make live action versions or adaptations of films they have already made: Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, and Maleficent come to mind, as do the forthcoming Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book. This is not to say that I am opposed to “new” Mary Poppins film musical, but isn’t it starting to feel that a lack on ingenuity and creativity is resulting in audience being served up a lot of reheated properties?

Mar 20 Disney Remakes: Are They Necessary?

Sep 15 Recycled Magic: Has Disney Run Out of Ideas?

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