Recently, a particular quote from an incredibly divisive entry in a massive franchise has been on my mind…
“Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love…”
A film released by Walt Disney Pictures no less, the same studio specializing in live-action/CG remakes of their animated features.
Those who know me well will know that I am very much not a fan of these films, or this whole strategy. Ever since the release of Maleficent in 2014, Disney has made and released remakes of Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, and have made similar films retreading old ground, like Christopher Robin. They have a million more on the horizon, from Dumbo to The Lion King to Mulan. Some of them may not be direct remakes, like Cinderella and Christopher Robin, but they are heavily based on the animated films made before them. Few of them, like Pete’s Dragon, went or are looking to go their own direction. For me, this entire slate is like an animation fan’s worst nightmare. A complete realization of former CEO Michael Eisner’s plans to convert the library of Disney animated classics to photorealistic CGI. Basically, Disney Animation but re-done for people who have no respect for classic animated features. Anything animated that’s not hyper-real CGI or special effects.
At this point, what can I do? I don’t even pay to see these movies, I still haven’t seen some of them, either. Last one I saw in its entirety was The Jungle Book, which was via someone else’s Blu-ray copy of the movie. Unless someone really wants me to go with them to see one, I have no interest. I don’t need live-action and cutting-edge CGI to make a story I already like or love “better,” or substantial. I don’t need to see improved versions of flawed Disney animated classics in live-action/CG. That only pushes the idea that live-action/CG corrected the flaws present in the animated version, not better writing.
Again, I can’t fight these. Disney is a smart corporation, they know that there’s an audience for these movies. The 2017 Beauty and the Beast made $500 million+ in North America, and over $1 billion worldwide, it got way more attendance than the 1991 animated film ever did in theaters. The all-CG The Lion King will likely obliterate all box office records next summer. Will these remakes be remembered fondly? Or will they be come-and-go, quick buck-making ventures that will only serve as companions to the films they are based on? (And I say films, because these remakes are remakes of the animated films, not unique new adaptations on the source materials most of them are adapted from.) I don’t know, I do not have a crystal ball. I am confident that animation, in the decidedly “unreal” form we know and love, will prevail in an era where hyper-realism and live-action are considered king. We’re slowly seeing the all computer-animated mainstream features break away from that prevalent Pixar look, for starters. I’ll take what I can get. A few Into The Spider-Verse type pictures in a sea of “real” movies? Sign me up!
Instead, my love for what I support in animation will only… As they say… Intensify. There are worse things going on in the world, horrible things happening to flesh-and-blood individuals. Don’t get me wrong, I hate seeing a beautiful art form get hurt and mishandled, but art lives on. We will find a way. What’s happening in the animation industry is certainly frustrating, as we all wish to see great art and entertainment come out of all the pores… But we can ignore the things we feel hurt animation or set animation back 50-or-so years, regardless of whether the general moviegoing public does or not. For the record, I don’t hear people talk about the 2017 Beauty and the Beast anymore with much reverence. Its director, Bill Condon, made it clear in interviews that retelling that Disney classic in live-action added levels of depth and psychology that weren’t there before, that animation is an inferior medium, yadda yadda… Give it 5-10 years, what Beauty and the Beast are we going to be talking about in the far future? If there’s enough people out there who GET that animation is a wonderful medium, I think we’ll be fine. Animation has been in worse trenches before…
I’m doing this because I feel I need to detox. This whole year has been about detoxing. Having graduated college, I need to unload a lot. I ceased posting on my old blogger blog Kyle’s Animated World, I’m trying to be a more positive person in the face of all that goes wrong, and I’m trying to avoid looking like the very people that nag about harmless things. Why is the harmless thing I’m nagging about any worse than what they’re griping about? On a day all studios and creators collectively end animation as we know it, then we can raise hell. We can still be upset about how certain forms of animation are treated by the industry. We can criticize certain trends and movements and happenings within the industry, but in a civil manner. At the same time, we need to think about how we preserve. To… Save what we love.
Let Disney blow their money on remakes. Let some of the directors of these remakes and Disney’s executives trash-talk animation. Eventually that bubble will burst. Maybe sooner than later. Are people stoked about the Dumbo remake? Or that Tinker Bell standalone movie for that matter? The Aladdin remake could be trip-up. We’ll always be there to talk up animation, to say loudly that it is a valid art form. Not by being angry or being vigilant, but by singing the praises. Preaching to the choir, per se. Let it be known, animation is a wonderful art form and that it continues to deserve better. Support what you love and make it known, talk about what you think isn’t working, but don’t be unpleasant about it.
It’s what I’m trying to do…