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Source: Variety
“Cinderella”; “The Jungle Book”; “Beauty and the Beast”; “Dumbo”; “Aladdin”; “The Lion King”; “Lady and the Tramp”; “Mulan”; “Pinocchio”; what do all of these films have in common? Not only are they all animated features made by Walt Disney Animation Studios, the primary animation division of the Walt Disney Company (which will be celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary later this year), but they have also all been remade into live-action (or in the case of “The Lion King”, computer-generated imagery designed to emulate live-action) features over the past few years. Since the release of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” in 2010 (a film that admittedly has very little connection to the 1951 animated film apart from anything that was already present in the original Lewis Carroll books), these live-action “re-imaginings” have proven to be major successes for Disney. While their critical reception may leave much to be desired, their box office performance, at least as far as Disney is concerned, is more than enough to justify their existence, with the “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King” remakes being among the select few films to cross the billion dollar mark at the global box office.
It should be noted, however, that all of the original animated films were at least twenty years old when they received their respective remakes. In fact, until very recently, “Lilo and Stitch”, which came out in 2002 (just over two decades before now) was the newest film that Disney had decided to remake (the live-action adaptation is currently in production and expected to come out within the next couple years). Why is this important? Because it creates the impression that Disney understands that these films need time to leave a cultural impact and become nostalgic enough for a live-action remake to become reasonable. This is something that has already been achieved by almost all of the films that have or are currently being remade by Disney, with the next remakes set to come out over the next few months, “Peter Pan & Wendy” and “The Little Mermaid”, being based on animated films released in 1953 and 1989 respectively. Looking over this trend, one would assume Disney would have the patience to wait until deciding to remake more recent animated successes like “Frozen” or “Encanto”. However, a recent announcement of yet another live-action remake suggests that patients may no longer be a virtue that Disney holds as high of a regard for. The film being remade: the 2016 animated musical “Moana”, a film that has not even turned seven years old as of yet.
On Monday, April 3rd, during a meeting with shareholders of the Walt Disney Company, actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who had played the character of Maui in the original animated “Moana”, announced that the studio had begun work on a live-action remake of the 2016 feature. Not only will Johnson return to the role of Maui, but he will also be one of its producers, working alongside Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia through their production company Seven Bucks Productions, as well as Beau Flynn of Flynn Picture Co. Among the film’s executive producers are Auli’i Cravalho, who had portrayed the titular character in the original animated film, and Scott Sheldon, who also represents Flynn Picture Co. Still, if there’s anyone whose involvement with this remake has so far been center stage in this announcement, it’s Johnson’s, as the actor turned to social media to express how eager he was to be working on this remake. “Humbled to say we’re bringing Moana’s beautiful story to the live-action big screen!” Maui wrote in a Twitter post. “Maui changed my life (miss you grandpa) and I’m honored to partner with Disney to tell our story through the realm of music and dance, which at the core is who we are as Polynesian people.”
In a separate statement, Johnson further elaborated on his love for the story of “Moana” and his excitement in getting to return to the role of Maui. “I’m deeply humbled and overcome with gratitude to bring the beautiful story of ‘Moana’ to the live-action big screen,” Johnson claimed in his statement. “This story is my culture, and this story is emblematic of our people’s grace and warrior strength. I wear this culture proudly on my skin and in my soul, and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reunite with Maui, inspired by the mana and spirit of my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, is one that runs very deep for me. I want to thank my partners at Disney for their strong commitment to this special endeavor, because there is no better world for us to honor the story of our people, our passion, and our purpose than through the realm of music and dance, which is at the core of who we are as Polynesian people.”
Johnson is undoubtedly happy with the existence of a live-action “Moana” remake and his involvement with the project, but others who aren’t attached to the making of this film have reacted with a sense of skepticism, and for a variety of different reasons. One of the most frequently raised points of concern is the timing; in contrast to all the other Disney films that had been at least twenty years old by the time Disney had announced production on their respective live-action remakes, “Moana”, first released in November of 2016, is not even seven years old at this point in time, so for many, it seems far too soon to turn the film into a work of live-action. Then there are the comparisons made to how other recent Disney films have had their franchises expanded; two films released prior to “Moana”, the 2013 film “Frozen” and 2016’s “Zootopia”, were recently announced to be getting animated sequels (or in the case of “Frozen”, another sequel following the 2019 release of “Frozen II”) at some point over the next few years, which makes sense given that most popular animated features nowadays tend to get immediate sequels. Considering “Moana” is newer than both of these films, one would expect Disney to take the sequel route with this film as well, especially since the original film grossed over $680 million at the worldwide box office and appeared to be profitable enough to warrant a sequel.
However, it seems like Disney has decided that a live-action remake would be a more preferable means of expanding upon the legacy of “Moana”, a decision that, given the generally divisive nature of Disney’s live-action remakes, may end up raising more eyebrows than cheers.
