Disney Live-Action Remake Update Is Good For The $9.6Bn Franchise After 13 Rotten Tomatoes Disappointments

Summary

• Director Sarah Polley leaving Disney’s Bambi remake could give the studio a chance to focus on quality over quantity.
• Disney’s recent live-action remakes, while profitable, have not been critical hits, signaling a need to reevaluate their strategy.
• The departure of the director may prompt Disney to reconsider the necessity of live-action remakes for classic titles like Bambi.

The news that the director of Disney’s live-action remake of Bambi left the project is secretly promising for the studio. Disney has been making live-action remakes of its hit animated movies since the ‘90s when Glenn Close reinvented Cruella de Vil in 1996’s 101 Dalmatians. However, the company’s recent obsession with live-action reimaginings of its large back catalog began in earnest when director Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland earned over a billion dollars at the box office in 2010. Soon, good and bad Disney’s live-action remakes were everywhere, although this was not a universally positive development for the studio.

In the last five years alone, Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan, Cruella, Pinocchio, Peter Pan & Wendy, and The Little Mermaid have all attempted to reinvent famous Disney movies for a new generation. There are many more upcoming Disney live-action remakes planned, with Mufasa: The Lion King, Snow White, Lilo and Stitch, Hercules, and Cruella 2 all in the works, among others. With all of these irons in the fire, it would seem like a director leaving one of these remakes is bad news. However, this development could prove great for Disney.

Disney’s Live-Action Bambi Remake May Not Happen After Director Exit

Bambi’s Director Sarah Polley Exited The Project

Women Talking director Sarah Polley is no longer attached to a live-action Bambi remake, with the acclaimed filmmaker leaving the project amicably in March 2024. Polley was originally attached to the project in June 2023, with screenwriters Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer penning the script. Ordinarily, the news that the remake lost its director would be a cause for concern. However, Disney’s live-action remake slate is so packed and their recent offerings have been so mixed that this could prove to be a chance for the studio to slow down their output and focus on quality over quantity.

Although The Little Mermaid’s live-action remake was relatively well received, its reviews were hardly superb. Meanwhile, 2022’s Pinocchio was a critical disaster, as were 2019’s Dumbo and Lady and the Tramp. The same year’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil earned a mixed reception and, especially after 2016’s equally dull Alice Through The Looking Glass, it was tough not to see the movie as an unnecessary cash-in after the success of its predecessor. 2020’s Mulan was also not an unequivocal hit with critics, proving that Disney could and should slow down when it comes to updating its earlier hits.

Disney Could Slow Down On Live-Action Remakes (& Needs To)

Disney’s Recent Live-Action Reboots Weren’t Critical Hits

While some of Disney’s recent live-action remakes have fared relatively well with critics, there is no denying the fact that the law of diminishing returns is in effect. Disney’s live-action remake strategy began strong, with 2015’s Cinderella impressing audiences and critics alike. 2016’s The Jungle Book was similarly successful, although it is worth noting that a lengthy 49 years passed between the original animated Rudyard Kipling adaptation and its live-action remake. Similarly, Cinderella’s 65-year wait between the original animated movie and the live-action remake didn’t hurt. This made 2017’s Beauty and the Beast a trickier proposition.

Beauty and the Beast earned 71% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, a significantly lower score than The Jungle Book and Cinderella. Although the remake did phenomenal business at the box office, its critical slip was a worrying sign of things to come. 2019’s Aladdin remake earned only 57% from critics, while the same year’s reimagining of Dumbo earned a similarly subpar 46%. Even the starry voice cast of 2019’s The Lion King couldn’t save the live-action remake from a 52% rating. Still, the box office success of The Lion King and Aladdin was enough to greenlight a slew of further remakes.

Which Disney Live-Action Remakes Are Still Happening

Disney’s Remakes Remain Profitable Despite Mixed Reviews

Disney’s live-action remakes are still happening despite their mixed reception because they remain profitable, although the movies aren’t as successful as their predecessors. 2023’s The Little Mermaid earned only $570 million on an astronomical budget of around $250 million, proving that the live-action remake strategy isn’t bulletproof at the box office. Many of Disney’s upcoming live-action remakes had been teased, confirmed, or entered production before this underperformance, and they were likely greenlit due to the box office success of Aladdin, The Lion King, The Jungle Book, and Beauty and the Beast.

This is why Polley’s departure from Bambi’s live-action remake is so well-timed for the studio. The news of Bambi’s live-action remake was worrying in itself, since the movie’s largely animal cast would mean a lot of expensive CGI and a major criticism of The Lion King’s 2019 remake pointed to its dead-eyed heroes as the movie’s fatal flaw. Now, Disney can reconsider whether classics like Bambi need live-action reimaginings and, in the process, the studio can slow down on its attempts to indiscriminately revamp every title in its extensive back catalog.