 Of all the wonderful Disney goodness 2019 has brought so far, I am most looking forward to the magic set to grace the big screen. Starting in March, Walt Disney Studios will be releasing original live action versions of some of our favorite hit movies month after month for a total of three this calendar year (for comparison, the most they have ever released in a single year is only one!). While this will be the first of many years with multiple movie remake releases, Disney fans have been waiting for this sort of a lineup since Emma Watson and Beauty and the Beast made us all squeal with delight in 2017. In my most recent post I mentioned the excitement I had for all of the Disney big screen releases this year (totally stoked for Toy Story, Avengers End Game, and Frozen 2), but I wanted to dive further into the background of the new three live action films we are all looking forward to. So grab some popcorn and enjoy the post!  Dumbo - March 29th Who to watch out for: Tim Burton has created some Disney successes from The Nightmare Before Christmas to Alice in Wonderland, so it’s no wonder the studio brought in one of the aces. And speaking of Halloweentown, Burton’s partner in crime Danny Elfman is composing the movie’s score. I have yet to find a film I didn’t like when this dynamic duo gets together. Elfman has composed original songs for the film, but movie-goers will also notice instrumental versions of some of their favorite songs including: Casey Jr, When I See an Elephant Fly, and Pink Elephants on Parade. Baby Mine also makes an appearance, so expect to shed a tear or two. The entire soundtrack will be released digitally on March 29th (don’t let me down, Spotify!) Biggest differences from original: For those of you looking for a direct adaptation of the storyline, you won’t be getting it with this remake. One of the film’s stars, Colin Farrel, was quoted as saying the central themes that hold true in both this film and the original was the message of “believing in yourself and finding something inside that allows you to become the best version of what you thought you could be”. Unlike the animated version, this movie will focus more on the human characters and not as much as the animals themselves (yep, no talking crows this time unfortunately). Interesting film fact: The part of Dumbo the elephant will be played by… Edd Osmond! Well, not exactly. Osmond put on a large green suit and acted as a stand-in for the beloved elephant as filming went on. This provided both a size and location reference for animators who would later create the animated version of Dumbo and it also gave the actors a chance to fully act and react to a physical presence instead of just imagining. If you're like me and curious what the deal is with the green suits, its all for editing purposes. Filmmakers use the color green because it doesn't match any natural skin tone, which means the actor will not be edited out using the chroma key tool in post editing. Fun fact: the color blue needed to be used for filming the Green Goblin. Another random casting fact… Will Smith, Casey Affleck, and Chris Pine all passed on the role of the children’s father which Colin Farrel ultimately accepted. No loss for Smith though, as he went on to play a major character in the next Disney animated release of 2019…. View the full trailer here.  Aladdin - May 24th Who to watch out for: The trend of Disney live action remakes so far has been to cast some pretty A-list celebs. Glenn Close in 101 Dalmations, Johnny Depp for Alice in Wonderland, Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast, to name a few. But what I am really excited for in this remake is checking out a couple new actors who are playing two of the film’s biggest roles. Aladdin is played by Egypt born and Canadian raised actor Mena Massoud (most well known for his television roles in Open Heart and Jack Ryan) and Jasmine by British actress Naomi Scott (most known for playing the Pink Power Ranger in the 2017 feature film). The film still has its big hitter in Will Smith, but it’s always exciting to see some new stars break into the Disney family - especially in a classic such as this. Originally, the role of the genie only had two serious considerations: Gabriel Iglesias and Will Smith. However, finding suitable actors who could also sing and dance to play the two main roles ended up proving quite difficult for the studio. Once Jasmine was officially cast, the studio still hadn't decided on the actor for Aladdin since it was important to the team to find someone of Middle-Eastern or Indian descent. Finally, the studio made their decision to ride with the Egypt born actor, Massoud. No actors from the 1992 movie were asked to reprise their original roles, except for Frank Welker who will once again voice both the Cave of Wonders and everyone favorite fur-ball, Abu. One more original member who will be back is Alan Menken, who composed most of the songs for the animated film. Menken, along with the song writers from La La Land will be composing new numbers and reprising many of our favorite songs, too. Biggest differences from original: Similar to Dumbo, it seems that this remake will take on a new spin. Director Guy Ritchie was quoted in saying that the film's story would be told in "an ambitious and non-traditional" way and would be told in a nonlinear format. If you're like me and thinking that you might need to look up the definition of nonlinear as it relates to film, don't worry I already did that for you. Nonlinear, as its used mostly in filming, refers to events not happening in chronological order but instead out of order and sometimes from different narrative points of view. For this reason, I am definitely intrigued but what will be done to the story we 90's babies are so familiar with. Interesting film fact: Controversy came to the film for two reasons. First, the studio added a brand new character called Prince Anders, who is blond haired and blue eyed. Even though his character is an addition to the original, many criticized the studio for trying to "whitewash" the film. Additionally, the studio came under even more criticism in early 2018 when it leaked that some extras were having their lighter skin tones darkened so as to blend into the crowd. Naturally, critics and fans accused the studio of not hiring more actors of middle-eastern descent. Disney released a quote in response to the controversy saying, "Diversity of our cast and background performers was a requirement and only in a handful of instances when it was a matter of specialty skills, safety and control (special effects rigs, stunt performers and handling of animals) were crew made up to blend in." View the full trailer here.  The Lion King - July 19th Who to watch out for: There's no doubt in my mind who the heavy hitter of this film is, director Jon Favreau. Favreau signed up to do the remake soon after the success of The Jungle Book in 2016. The remake of the 1967 original took audiences by surprise with its stunning graphics and unknown child star. It paid just enough homage to the original with reprised songs and all our favorite characters, while adding in new scenes pulled from the novel that the film was initially based on (mainly, Christopher Walken's Gigantopithecus scene - how crazy was that?). The Jungle Book went on to be critically and commercial acclaimed and ended up finishing as the 5th highest grossing movie of 2016 (in case you forget, 2016 also brought us box office smashes such as Deadpool, Captain America, Fantastic Beasts, Star Wars Rogue One, and that's only naming a few). Favreau certainly has set the bar high for himself and his crew but I have complete faith in his track record and ability to deliver another Disney sensation. Biggest differences from original: 90's babies and fans of the first film will have no need to fear about the remake foregoing their favorite scenes. It was very important to Favreau and Sean Bailey, Disney's President of Production, that the most important scenes be kept in, describing the original movie as "revered and loved" by its fans - who they definitely didn't want to disappoint. The most exciting part for me will be hearing some of my favorite characters from childhood with new voices. James Earl Jones will be the only one to reprise his original role as Mufasa, while a new slew of actors will be taking over. Most notable shoutouts: Donald Glover will be Simba, Beyonce as Nala, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, and English actor Chitwetel Umeadi Ejiofor as Scar. Another large difference in this remake is that all the actors will be doing their own singing (hence, Beyonce). In the animated classic, even the young Simba and Nala had singing stand-ins, but it appears all voice actors will be gearing up to sing as well. And speaking of music, fans can also expect to hear many of the favorite songs such as Hakuna Matata and Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Hans Zimmer, the original scorer of the film, collaborated with Elton John to rework some of the compositions from the 1994 movie. Additionally, new songs will also be added! Fun fact: Even though this post is all about Live Action Disney remakes, I have a confession to make: this film is technically not live action at all. It's referred to as "photorealistic computer generated automation". This ground-breaking technology is very similar to the one used in Favreau's The Jungle Book. Bailey describes the film tech as the following, "It is a new form of filmmaking. Historical definitions don't work. It uses some techniques that would traditionally be called animation, and other techniques that would traditionally be called live-action. It is an evolution of the technology Jon [Favreau] used in Jungle Book." Just to put a cherry on top of things, The Lion King will be released on the 25th anniversary of its original film - July 19th, 1994. How about that for a good luck charm? View the teaser trailer here. How well do you know your Disney live action movies? A little bonus for fun! Try testing your knowledge on the history of Walt Disney Studios live action remakes by checking out these extra credit questions... Questions: 1. What was the first ever Disney live action remake? 2. What original animated Disney movie has had more than one live action remake so far? 3. What will be the oldest Disney animated film to get a live action remake? Answers: 1. Jon Favreau was not the first to give The Jungle Book a go. The first remake came out in 1994 and did pretty well at the box office, even considering the animals don't speak in this version. 2. There are multiple correct answers for this. 101 Dalmatians had two (101 and 102 Dalmatians), Alice in Wonderland has had two, and Sleeping Beauty has had two spinoffs about the backstory of the evil Queen, Maleficent, (the second one coming out later this year). 3. Pinocchio (1940) has been announced to have a remake sometime in future. There is no set date of release but it apparently already has writers and producers signed on to create it.
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