Cinderella’s
coming out soon! Yeah the movie! So I’ll
be taking the tykes to the pictures in the family Volkswagen Beetle and maybe
on the way home we’ll get some ice cream at the malt shop and sing along to the
juke. Oh wait…its 2015?
Yeah
Disney’s been in a bit of a strange place creatively lately. While their
animation studio has had a definite comeback after a few years in a rut, they
haven’t exactly known what to do with their live-action division. The Narnia and Pirates of the Caribbean series seem to have run their course (or
are desperately trying to add another exhausting mile to the course) and movies
like The Lone Ranger, Oz: The Great and Powerful, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No-Good, Stinkin’, Rootin-tootin, Awful as Hell, I Would Kill for a Vicodin,
Very Bad Day failed to make much of an impact. It’s clearly the animated
films that have stood the test of time and products relating to them have sold
the best. So at some point Disney decided it would be a great idea to simply
remake those. But only the most famous. No one’s going to remake The Black Cauldron (despite it being
perhaps most in need of a remake). It only makes sense especially considering
Disney’s most successful live-action films like The Muppets and Into the
Woods stick to the typical Disney animated formula.
This
idea seemed to be first realized with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland –that somewhat creepy and nonsensical re-imagining of one of Disney’s more mediocre films. It was a commercial success
and Disney’s been doing these colourful re-tellings ever since. And now we have Cinderella. I consider myself a fan of
the 1950 classic, one of the best executed Disney films of all time, so I have
mixed feelings. Yeah it looks visually interesting and promising, but that’s
exactly how Maleficent lured us in.
It stars great actors like Cate Blanchett and Hayley Atwell, but it’s gotten
rid of the lovable Jaq and Gus. So I’m not sure how I’ll react to it but I’m confident it
will be a hit as well (if for nothing else that Frozen short). Same goes for The
Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast,
The Little Mermaid, and whatever else
is on the remake slate.
But
I’m starting to think there’s a greater point to these films than simply to
make a lot of money. Certainly that plays a large factor but then why didn't they start doing this back when 101
Dalmatians was a big success in 1996? I think Disney started looking at
some of their other properties and subsidiaries of which Marvel Studios is
undoubtedly the most successful, making film after film that interweave
splendidly into a common continuity. Disney has also been paying attention to
how well their Princess-line products have been selling since forever and came
up with a common plan.
Yep. We’re building towards
a Disney Cinematic Universe! Think about it. Disney’s seen Marvel’s strategy
and much like DC, wants to mimic it. They couldn't go full Avengers-mode because of the hand-drawn to CGI animation ratio and
the awkwardness of combining them. Much like DC in order to achieve their
universe, they have to reboot. And it’s not a bad idea as you know someone
somewhere has complained at there being only one female Avenger, so a whole
team of Disney princesses interacting in an interconnected universe is bound to
both make them happy and increase interest in this reinterpretation of a world.
And is it just coincidence that Kenneth Branagh and Jon Favreau have both
directed an installment in each universe? They’ve been building on it for a few
years and in less than a decade we’ll have a team of Disney leading ladies uniting
against evil including at least Alice, Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle. Maybe
Jasmine or Mulan will also
appear and spin-off into their own films. But, I know what you’re thinking:
what about The Jungle Book? Disney’s
remaking that and it doesn't have a princess? You are of course right as
despite that haircut Mowgli is indeed a boy. But think about this, when Disneyvengers happens, they’re going to
need a good villain. And of all the Disney movies on the remake slate so far, which has the best villain? The Jungle
Book of course! Who better than the suave, smooth-talking, cunning Shere
Khan to face off against our heroines? I mean they cast Idris Elba in the role,
clearly he’s meant for bigger things! But don’t worry, The Jungle Book Part II will be a better showcase for Mowgli and Baloo as
they meet up with Tarzan and Jane, Pocahontas, and Bambi no doubt setting the stage
for Disney’s Civil War: Nature vs. MAN!
I for one am excited to see
this universe realized. It’s the only explanation for these Disney remakes, as obviously it can't just be that Disney's out of live-action ideas and are scraping the bottom of the barrel creatively; and
whether bad or good I’m looking forward to the results. Good luck to the DCU; at least its chances are no worse (maybe
better) than
the DCCU.
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