It seems Disney’s latest “thing” (besides total and complete domination of all media…we ALL will bow down to the Mouse eventually) is to bring back their old animated films to the big screen and replace the lovingly hand-drawn characters, backgrounds, etc. with CGI creatures and backgrounds. Though it’s not ALL CGI! Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast was the REAL Emma Watson, not like that “fake” Peter Cushing in Star Wars: Rogue One! If they can bring Peter Cushing back from the dead and put him on the big screen – then why can’t they bring back Vincent Schiavelli and have him be in my Fast Times at Miskatonic High movie? This has become one of my most popular blogs on this site, if you haven’t read it yet, check it out here. I’m not kidding myself about anything – I think it’s probably one of my most popular blogs because it shows Phoebe Cates in her red bikini! I COULD show you that photo here, but instead, take a gander at Peter Cushing:

Is it live…or is it CGI Peter Cushing? Pssst…it’s CGI!

I haven’t even seen any of the live-action Disney “remakes,” though my husband did tell me quite a bit about Maleficent.  However, since I’ve kind of taken it upon myself to be the “movies” expert on my trivia team, I will do my best to explore this topic as fully as I can! Let’s take a look at these “live action” Disney movies, shall we? Domestic box office grosses will be listed with the titles.

The Jungle Book (1994) – $43.2M

Jason Scott Lee in The Jungle Book, which was based on the 1967 animated film, which in turn was based on a book by Rudyard Kipling. Confused yet? Jason Scott Lee is NOT to be confused with the snarky actor Jason Lee – whom has appeared in multiple Kevin Smith films. And in the TV series My Name is Earl. I would NEVER try to tame you, Mowgli! 🙂

101 Dalmatians (1996) – $136.1M

Glenn Close smiles with a dog butt in her face in the live action 101 Dalmatians. It is one of a few “live action” Disney movies (so far) to have spawned live-action sequels, its sequel was 102 Dalmatians (2000). The “original” movie was released in 1961.

102 Dalmatians (2000) – $66.9M

Alice In Wonderland (2010) – $334.1M

Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. I’m going to be honest – I have ZERO desire to see this one! The “original” movie was released in 1951. Its sequel was Alice through the Looking Glass. This movie has grossed $1.0B worldwide.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice  –  (2010) $63.1M

Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Hey, wasn’t the guy on the right in Tropic Thunder (which made much, much more money than this).  This was based on a short from Fantasia. Worth mentioning that Fantasia 2000 (1999) was a sequel to Fantasia (1940).  Oy, keeping all this movie trivia straight (my head hurts)!

Maleficent (2014) – $241.4M

I think we can ALL agree that we know what Angelina Jolie looked like in Maleficent! I really, really tried to find a photo where she didn’t look like she was overly made up…and vamping. No luck. So here’s Princess Aurora from Maleficent, which is basically Sleeping Beauty (1959) from the villain’s point of view.

Cinderella (2015) – $201.1M

Lily James as Cinderella, before she gets all “Princessy.” The original animated film was released in 1950.

The Jungle Book (2016) – $364.0M

Alice Through the Looking Glass – (2016) $77.0M

Beauty and the Beast (2017) – $504.4M

Beauty and the Beast has made more than $1B worldwide ($1.2B).  Its original animated film was released in 1991 and was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. Shown here is Emma Watson, whom you might know better as Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter film series.

Christopher Robin (2018)  –  $99.2M

Ewan MacGregor and Winnie the Pooh in Christopher Robin. This live-action remake has TWO source movies – The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), and Winnie the Pooh (2011).  This photo reminds me WAY too much of the movie Ted!

Dumbo (2019) – $113.8M (as of June 14, 2019)

Anyone ever go into a carnival and yell out loud, “Oh my God, this elephant ear is a REAL elephant ear!” I thought about doing that at a carnival not long ago, but didn’t! Anyhoo, here’s Dumbo from the Tim Burton-directed live action remake (how cute)!

Aladdin (2019) – $243.6M (as of June 14, 2019)

If Will Smith’s “wish” from a genie were for this live-action take on Aladdin to be a hit, he got his wish! And after the epic box office failure of After Earth ($60M), he wasn’t wasting his wish with this one! By the way, if a genie offered me three wishes, my wish would be to have never met that genie. There are just too many ways for genie wishes to get screwed up and backfire. Seriously – that is what I would do!

 

Live Action Remakes 2019 and Beyond

I’m going to list the upcoming Disney “live action” films below…

Jon Favreau in the 1994 film PCU. Which is kind of like Animal House for the Grunge generation (it’s one of my favorite 1990s films). Here he is very, very stoned while an older woman tries talking to him…Yes, I know he’s directed and appeared in some Iron Man films, and is directing the new Lion King movie…but he will ALWAYS be “Gutter” in PCU to me!

I have many, many questions about these upcoming live action Disney films…How sloppy will the spaghetti sequence be in Lady and the Tramp? And will the talking dogs make it seem like Homeward Bound? I’ll stop with my silly questions and just get to the list!

The Lion King (July, 2019)

Lady and the Tramp (2019, TBA)

Mulan

Maleficent 2

Lilo & Stitch

The Little Mermaid