A rise in popularity for live-action film remakes can be seen under companies like Disney and Warner Brothers. Recent remakes have evoked conflicting love-hate feelings from fans about new adaptations across all platforms.
Live-action remakes have been widely criticized for ruining the artistic style, expressive animation, and magical aesthetics of the original film. Remakes—like Snow White, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and more—don’t capture the originality of the films and erase the nostalgic vibes that make them so special.
Most people argue that live-actions are more profit-driven than imaginative in a way that ensures good quality, since companies like Disney are often making live-action movies of their original animated films. For example, the trailer for Disney’s upcoming live-action, Moana, starring Dwayne Rock Johnson as Maui and Catherine Laga’aia as Moana, is essentially a replica of the same film, but with real-life actors.
Moana has received divided opinions from students.
“It looks like an off-brand movie, but it’s nice that the main character is a new actress, and they’re giving new people a chance,” said freshman Elizabeth Madrid, referring to how Laga’aia was cast to represent the Pacific roots of the character.
However, despite the details on casting and the storyline, the films will only come to life with the help of editing and CGI.
“I hope that the CGI is good because there’s a lot of special effects involving water,” said freshman Yovella Daniel, emphasizing the challenges in trying to make an ocean come to life like it did in the animated movie.
This leads to one of the most controversial problems in live-actions: special effects. Things such as animals and magical objects need the help of CGI to come to life, and it’s difficult to accurately replicate how they are in animated films. Rushed production timelines, poor lighting, and a highly fantastical world could contribute to poor quality CGI, which sparks dislike from the fans and ruins the enjoyment of the film.
“It’s a lot harder to translate it from animation to a live-action…because of how different the two things actually are,” said sophomore Adrian Liang. “For example, in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Appa looks weird no matter how you do it in live-action.”
However, there are also many successful live-actions. For instance, Cruella, starring Emma Stone, is a stand-alone that discusses the villain’s in-depth origin story derived from 101 Dalmatians. Fans express their love for the movie because of its stylish, punk rock aesthetic that provides them with something new and fresh.
“I think live-action films don’t essentially ruin the original one… but if it’s done right, it’s perfectly fine,” said Liang.
Overall, fans don’t always hate live-action films. They want something that accurately depicts the original story in a creative way. Meaning that most people just want to see the art and aesthetics they fell in love with be respectfully reflected in real life, or else, it could ruin the magic.
