From 2015 to 2023, Disney produced a series of prominent live-action remakes of its iconic animated classics.

Major titles include Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Dumbo (2019), Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019), Mulan (2020), Pinocchio (2022), and The Little Mermaid (2023).

These films achieved substantial box office success worldwide, demonstrating Disney’s effective leveraging of nostalgia and its intellectual property portfolio.

For instance, The Little Mermaid (2023) surpassed $550 million globally, exceeding the original film’s earnings.

Similarly, the 2019 remakes of Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast grossed over $1 billion each worldwide.

The Jungle Book also performed strongly, earning approximately $966 million globally.

Mulan (2020), while facing challenges due to pandemic-related theatrical limitations and geopolitical controversies, still showcased Disney’s willingness to experiment with tone and narrative in this remake trend.

Conversely, Pinocchio (2022) struggled critically and commercially, receiving largely negative reviews and modest box office returns, highlighting the risks in this approach.

Disney’s motivation to produce live-action remakes is deeply rooted in nostalgia and corporate strategy intended to maximize the value of its legacy IP.

CEO Bob Iger has emphasized that storytelling based on beloved classics presents a relatively low-risk, high-reward investment, drawing on established fanbases and recognizable brands.

Disney integrates these remakes into a multi-platform content plan designed to generate revenue through theatrical releases, streaming services like Disney+, and merchandising.

This ensures that the nostalgic appeal of classic films is continuously renewed and monetized across markets globally, adapting to changing media consumption patterns.

The company’s intellectual property strategy relies on the emotional connection and goodwill toward its animated canon, allowing for strategic storytelling updates that aim to appeal to both longtime fans and new audiences.

The adaptations involved in the live-action remakes show careful, though sometimes contentious, attempts to contemporize the original narratives and characters.

The Little Mermaid (2023) was a landmark for diverse casting with Halle Bailey, a Black actress, playing Ariel.

This decision expanded representation but also sparked racial backlash online and in some segments of the audience, demonstrating the divisiveness of such changes.

The narrative expanded Ariel and Eric’s relationship into a deeper, more egalitarian romance than the 1989 original’s simpler courtship.

In Mulan (2020), the removal of the animated film’s comedic dragon Mushu marked a decisive tonal shift to a serious, action-oriented narrative focusing on honor, sacrifice, and cultural authenticity, reflecting Disney’s attempt to resonate with Asian markets and a global audience seeking more “realistic” depictions.

Beauty and the Beast (2017) reimagined Belle as an inventor, enhancing her agency and intellectual curiosity to align with modern feminist sensibilities, though critics pointed out that this new character trait felt underdeveloped.

Dumbo’s 2019 remake diverged notably by introducing a more complex human story centered on family dynamics, exploitation by circus owners, and emotional depth missing from the original, thereby blending fantasy with drama.

For Pinocchio (2022), critiques pointed to a failure to innovate beyond faithful replication of the original’s plot, resulting in a film perceived as emotionally hollow.

Across remakes, villains have sometimes been given more layered portrayals; for example, in Aladdin (2019), Jafar's character receives subtler motivations, though reception was mixed.

Overall, updates frequently include increased diversity, more nuanced gender roles, and attention to cultural accuracy to better reflect contemporary social realities, even as they sometimes invite accusations of over-politicization.

Statements from Disney executives and creative leaders illuminate the complex balance they seek between authenticity and modern relevance.

John Musker, co-director of the original The Little Mermaid and Aladdin animations, has expressed concern that recent remakes tend to emphasize political correctness unduly, potentially at the expense of storytelling and character vitality.

He advocates for entertainment quality and engaging narratives as the foremost goals.

Jennifer Lee, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, articulates a vision of melding technology with artistry and integrating new creative talent alongside veteran storytellers to preserve Disney’s storytelling legacy while innovating.

Disney’s production teams routinely work with cultural consultants and engage with fan communities to better navigate representation and authenticity.

For example, the casting of Halle Bailey was accompanied by deliberate discussions about representation and identity.

Filmmakers emphasize honoring original magic but also recognize that inclusivity and new perspectives are necessary for continued cultural relevance.

Public and critical responses to these films are characterized by a balance of enthusiasm and skepticism.

The Little Mermaid (2023) received critical acclaim for visual effects and diversity efforts while facing racist backlash in social media backlash and polarized opinions.

Mulan (2020) divided audiences; some praised its respectful approach to Chinese culture and mature tone, whereas others missed the original film’s humor and Mushu’s charm.

Beauty and the Beast’s remake was lauded for Emma Watson’s performance and lush production values but faced criticism over the depth of character revisions and a sense of commercial opportunism.

The Jungle Book (2016) was widely praised for its technical achievements and balancing darkness with charm.

Dumbo (2019) received mixed reviews due to its darker, human-centric additions, which some viewers found less magical.

Pinocchio’s 2022 remake was broadly panned as lacking warmth or originality and failed to connect with audiences.

Additionally, the Snow White remake (2024) sparked controversy over the portrayal of the seven dwarfs, leading to public debates even involving relatives of the original creators.

Critics frequently accuse the remakes of serving as cash grabs reliant on nostalgia rather than offering genuine creative innovation.

Yet fans continue to appreciate revisiting these familiar tales with updated visuals and contemporary messages, underscoring a persistent tension between commercial interests, creative reinvention, and audience expectations.

In conclusion, Disney’s live-action remakes represent a carefully calculated business strategy capitalizing on nostalgia and brand recognition to secure significant financial returns in an evolving media landscape.

These films contemporize classic stories by updating character dynamics, themes, and representation to better fit modern audiences’ social and cultural expectations.

Disney’s creative leadership actively manages the challenge of respecting original material while introducing relevant innovations, engaging both legacy fans and new viewers.

Public and critical reactions reveal a dynamic dialogue around nostalgia’s power and the risks of adaptation, illuminating how a major studio navigates artistic, cultural, and commercial pressures in reimagining beloved classics for the 21st century.

This evolution reflects broader industry trends and offers valuable insight into the decision-making processes behind Hollywood’s most high-profile content in recent years.

From 2015 to 2023, Disney produced a series of prominent live-action remakes of its iconic animated classics.

Title:

Content: Snow White director’s son calls Disney remake a “disgrace”

Disney

The original Snow White director’s son has slammed the upcoming Disney remake as “insulting” and a “disgrace.”

Disney has recently recreated several of its classic films into live-action adaptations. Past examples include The Little Mermaid, Dumbo, and Pinocchio. However, these recreations have generated backlash for various reasons.

For example, Halle Bailey’s role as Ariel wasn’t universally agreed upon. This is due to haters complaining that the princess should have been white like in the 1989 animated movie.

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Now, the upcoming remake of Disney’s Snow White starring Rachel Zegler has been under fire for its controversial portrayal of the seven dwarves among other reasons. Here’s what the son of the original Snow White director had to say about the film.

Son of Snow White director criticizes upcoming Disney remake

In an interview with The Telegraph, David Hand, who worked as a Disney designer in the 1990s, admitted his negative feelings toward the Snow White remake. Hand’s father, also named David, served as one of the directors of the 1937 film.

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“It’s a whole different concept and I just totally disagree with it, and I know my dad and Walt would also very much disagree with it,” 91-year-old Hand said. He continued by calling the movie a “disgrace” and discussed Disney’s “radical thoughts.”

“They’re making up new woke things and I’m just not into any of that. I find it quite frankly a bit insulting [what] they may have done with some of these classic films,” Hand remarked. “There’s no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did. … I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves.”

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The Snow White remake has finished filming and is scheduled to premiere on March 22, 2024. Other Disney live-action projects in the works include Lilo & Stitch, Moana, and Mufasa: The Lion King.

You can find out more about Zegler’s Snow White controversy here.

Related Topics

How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

Major titles include Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Dumbo (2019), Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019), Mulan (2020), Pinocchio (2022), and The Little Mermaid (2023).

Title:

Content: 'Pinocchio' movie review: A wooden adaptation

If you thought the recent Marvel content hasn’t quite hit storytelling finesse in the way that the studio did for many years, wait till you see its parent company, Disney’s latest film, Pinocchio.

Published: 18th September 2022 05:00 AM  |   Last Updated: 17th September 2022 01:26 PM   |  A+A-

Express News Service

If you thought the recent Marvel content hasn’t quite hit storytelling finesse in the way that the studio did for many years, wait till you see its parent company, Disney’s latest film, Pinocchio. The studio giant has taken one of its iconic properties and somehow sucked out all charm from it, despite roping in one of the best actors of this century.

The story of Robert Zemeckis’s latest iteration of this classic sticks to the old, familiar story with few changes—and that’s perhaps the biggest disappointment of all. Adaptations offer avenues for reinvention and reimagination, and yet, Zemeckis passes on the opportunity. Sadly, the makers are content with playing things safe in a bid to replicate the charms of the 1940 original animated musical fantasy of the same name.

Problems range from lackadaisical pacing to a lack of novelty. There are plenty of Disney references in this film, but unlike clever nods from former films, Pinocchio opts for the easy way by attributing each wooden cuckoo clock adorning the house of Geppetto (Tom Hanks), to a Disney film theme. So, you see references to Toy Story, Donald Duck, Dumbo, Lion King… you name it.

The film follows in the long list of Disney’s recent tryst with live-action adaptations of previous hit animated films, including Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019), Lady and the Tramp (2019) and Mulan (2020). None of them succeeded in working the old Disney magic, and yet, Pinocchio hits new lows by being as soulless and wooden as the toy at the heart of it all.

The only positive, perhaps, is the voice-acting by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the wisecracking anthropomorphic Jiminy Cricket. As the film’s narrator, Jiminy delivers some funny lines that keep you invested, including calling ‘hell’, “H, E, and double hockey sticks!” Also, the film, despite having a mix of real-life and animated characters, feels impressively realistic, thanks to some admirable VFX work, which comes as no surprise, given that the film is made by the director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Speaking of Zemeckis, rather curiously, his collaborations with Hanks have either been cult classics like Forrest Gump and Cast Away or middling films like Finch and The Polar Express. Pinocchio, unfortunately, is another addition to the latter.

Fans of this classic may have some hope though, given that Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion animated Pinocchio is set for release later this year. But as for Disney’s Pinocchio, we must declare it as deadwood or risk our noses growing.

Pinocchio
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Genre: Animation
Platform: Disney+ Hotstar
Language: English

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How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

These films achieved substantial box office success worldwide, demonstrating Disney’s effective leveraging of nostalgia and its intellectual property portfolio.

Title:

Content: What’s Disney’s legacy as it turns 100? It’s not just Mickey

The brand’s knack for innovation and reinvention has taken it far.

“100 Years of Wonder” is the theme for Disney’s year-long promotion of the company’s centenary. From special Disney on Ice events to a retrospective at the British Film Institute and limited edition Disney100 merchandise, Disney’s celebration is big business.

The wonder and magic of Disney are consistently promoted. And yet I would argue that Disney’s greatest legacy is not its animated stories or characters, but the more mundane history of its mergers, acquisitions and intellectual property rights.

The business acumen of those behind the scenes at Disney has been central to the peaks and troughs of the company’s enduring presence in the film industry and popular culture at large.

Early Disney

The Walt Disney Company was founded in Hollywood by brothers Walt and Roy Disney in 1923.

Before this, along with friend and animator Ub Iwerks, the brothers had founded Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri. They then moved west with their successful silent Alice Comedies series, which featured both animation and live action.

Animation is what the Disney studio became known for. First with its shorts, which included Mickey Mouse’s third outing in the studio’s first sound film, Steamboat Willie, and the Silly Symphony series. And then in its feature length films, beginning with Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs in 1937.

The first two decades of the studio established Disney’s desire for innovation and profit. This was illustrated through its early adoption of merchandising (Mickey Mouse merchandise was profitable in the mid-1930s) and various technologies, such as Technicolour and sound.

Sinking most of its profits back into its expensive animated ventures led Disney to find ways to cut costs. This included making live-action nature series, television shows and opening Disneyland, its first amusement park, in Los Angeles, California, in 1955.

While its animated products were no longer as groundbreaking as they once were, its adoption of television in the 1950s was lucrative and popular, especially The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) and Davy Crockett (1954).

Furthermore, television afforded the company the opportunity to promote its products and authenticate Disney’s position at the forefront of animation. However, live-action films – quicker to make and less expensive than animation – dominated its releases in the 1960s, with stars Haley Mills, Fred MacMurray and Dean Jones appearing in multiple Disney films.

In 1966, Walt died. Roy then passed in 1971 and Walt Disney World opened in Florida the same year. In many ways, the Disney Company was never the same after the loss of the founding brothers.

Disney without Walt

The template was established for how the company would function for the next 50 years. Disney animation innovated again in the late 1980s and early 1990s through computer animation. A renaissance took place with the releases of The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty And The Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994).

The company also expanded into cable television with The Disney Channel and founded a distribution label, Touchstone Pictures, that focused on films for adults.

There was unhappiness among animators at the studio towards the company’s bureaucracy and the perception that profits always went back into the films and not to improving working conditions or salaries (one major strike against Disney took place in 1941).

The list of former Disney animators that went on to work elsewhere or open their own animated studios is long and diverse.

Walt had learned the importance of owning rights early in his career, after he lost the intellectual property to his first successful animated character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The imperative to retain proprietorship and diversify the corporation can be witnessed in many of Disney’s deals and mergers.

In 1991, Disney agreed to make films with Pixar, which has gone on to be regarded as an innovative animated studio. It later acquired Pixar in 2006.

Disney Today

In 1995, Disney acquired the ABC television network, which also owned the cable sports network, ESPN. In April 2004, Disney purchased the Muppets franchise. In 2009, Marvel Entertainment was acquired and Lucasfilm was bought in 2012.

Through these purchases, Disney has become one of the most significant entertainment companies in the world and one of the few early Hollywood studios that still maintains name recognition (Disney bought out 20th Century Fox in 2019).

Whereas for earlier generations Disney stood for Mickey Mouse, animated fairy-tale features and family entertainment, for younger generations, Disney is a streaming service, amusement park brand and the creator of the Star Wars universe television programming.

Traces of Walt, Roy and the pioneering animation established in the early days of the studio can be seen in its animated releases, such as Encanto (2021), and company legacy through the “reimagining” of its animated films, such as the recently released live action The Little Mermaid.

The commercial landscape of the entertainment business is always in flux. While many companies are operating their own streaming services, the long-term success of these services is questionable. This is most evident in the recent writers’ and actors’ strike in Hollywood that was mainly focused on outdated royalty models that do not account for streaming media content.

Disney’s last few releases were not as successful as it had anticipated at the box office, and it has lost a significant amount of Disney+ subscribers in 2023. However, this is a trend taking place throughout Hollywood and, while Disney is struggling, it remains a significant brand in the global media market.

And there is no question that its theme parks continue to be popular with families who want to immerse themselves in all things Disney.

The magic of Disney’s animation and the memories created at its theme parks are part of its “100 Years of Wonder”. But so is its successful business model that has continually adapted to changes in the entertainment business and its persistent cultural relevance.

  • Julie Lobalzo Wright is assistant professor in Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick.
  • This article was first published in The Conversation.

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How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

How successful was the 2019 live-action version of The Lion King?

Worldwide revenues exceeded one billion dollars

What motivates Disney to keep producing live-action remakes despite mixed reviews?

For instance, The Little Mermaid (2023) surpassed $550 million globally, exceeding the original film’s earnings.

Title:

Content: Disney’s The Little Mermaid is looking to deliver one of the top Memorial Day weekend debuts ever, after grossing $38 million on Friday, including over $10 million from Thursday previews. The live-action remake of the classic animated film is expected to generate $104 million across the traditional three-day weekend, and around $125 million across the extended four-day holiday weekend, coming in ahead of expectations. This beats the $116.8 million that the House of Mouse’s live-action Aladdin remake grossed across the same frame in 2019.

If these estimates hold, The Little Mermaid’s Memorial Day bow will be among the top five of all time, behind Top Gun: Maverick ($160.5 million), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($153 million) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($152 million). Directed by Rob Marshall and starring newcomer Halle Bailey in the titular role, The Little Mermaid was produced on a reported budget of $250 million, and is currently tracking to gross around $80 million from overseas markets by Sunday, which should put its global debut above $200 million.

Aladdin legged it to over $1 billion globally, as did the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, and considering the top-tier source material, The Little Mermaid has certainly set itself up for a similarly excellent lifetime haul with this debut. The reviews have been mostly positive, with the film currently sitting at a “fresh” 67% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and earning an excellent A CinemaScore from opening day audiences. Collider’s own Ross Bonaime called it “one of the rare live-action remakes that manages to capture that Disney magic” in his review.

RELATED: Everything 2023's 'The Little Mermaid' Changes From the Original Disney Classic

Last week’s number one film, Fast X, is eyeing a hefty drop in its second weekend. The 10th installment in the long-running action franchise is continuing to display diminishing returns domestically, despite generating sustained interest in overseas markets. Fast X added $6.3 million on its second Friday, taking its running domestic total to $91 million. By Sunday, the film will pass the $100 million mark stateside, and by Monday, it is expected to hit around $113 million. Globally the film has made more than $500 million, but it still has a long way to go before it can compare with some of the franchise’s top-grossing movies, two of which — Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious — have made more than $1 billion worldwide.

A Handful of New Releases Opened Low

Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 slipped to the third spot after four weekends in the top two. The superhero threequel added $5.4 million this Friday, and is expected to make around $20 million across the weekend. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 had a relatively soft $116 million opening in the first week of May, but it managed to deliver one of the top holds in Marvel Cinematic Universe history in its second weekend. The movie quietly stayed afloat over the next couple of weeks, and will pass $300 million domestically and $700 million worldwide by Sunday. Anything around or above Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s lifetime haul of $863 million should be considered a win, considering that the movie was marketed as the emotional closing chapter for a beloved trilogy.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is expected to narrowly claim the fourth spot this weekend, despite being available on digital for a couple of weeks. The mega-hit animated movie added $1.6 million on Friday, and is expected to generate over $8 million across the four-day extended weekend. This should take its running domestic total to $560 million. The sole newcomer to debut in the top five this week is The Machine, starring Burt Kreischer and Mark Hamill. The action-comedy made $2.2 million on Friday, and is expected to gross around $7 million across the extended holiday weekend. Two other new releases — the Gerard Butler action vehicle Kandahar and the comedy film About My Father, starring Robert De Niro — are expected to debut outside the top five.

You can watch our interview with The Little Mermaid star Bailey here, and stay tuned to Collider for more box office updates over the weekend.

How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

What motivates Disney to keep producing live-action remakes despite mixed reviews?

Similarly, the 2019 remakes of Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast grossed over $1 billion each worldwide.

How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

What motivates Disney to keep producing live-action remakes despite mixed reviews?

The Jungle Book also performed strongly, earning approximately $966 million globally.

What motivates Disney to keep producing live-action remakes despite mixed reviews?

Mulan (2020), while facing challenges due to pandemic-related theatrical limitations and geopolitical controversies, still showcased Disney’s willingness to experiment with tone and narrative in this remake trend.

Conversely, Pinocchio (2022) struggled critically and commercially, receiving largely negative reviews and modest box office returns, highlighting the risks in this approach.

According to John Musker, why does Disney rely on live-action remakes rather than producing new stories?

As a risk-reduction strategy
As a safer option

What does Disney's reliance on sequels and spin-offs instead of new IP suggest about its creativity?

A stalling of the company's creative engine.

Disney’s motivation to produce live-action remakes is deeply rooted in nostalgia and corporate strategy intended to maximize the value of its legacy IP.

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Can't you watch it from your own family?
"Little Mermaid" director points to Disney's problems
Disney has been the first brand of American animation, bringing many beautiful memories to children around the world, including the early years of "Snow White", "101 loyal dogs", as well as described as the "Renaissance" period of "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" and so on.
However, the recent Disney animation or live-action film, there is a big problem: each time in the casting and plot direction of the controversy, many people complain that too much "political correctness", or to put some ideas into the story arrangement, character layout and other basic details are put aside, turned into an alternative "educational film".
With such a big change, audiences can ’ t fail to feel that last year ’ s five most expensive movies, Disney Group accounted for four, even celebrating the centenary of their own animation as “Star Wish ”, both at the box office and in word of mouth have lost.
Recently, the director of "Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "Hercules", "Treasure Island", "Ocean Strange" and other famous Disney animation director John Musk admitted at the seminar on animation and special effects, video games: "I think they should carry out a part of the course correction, put the concept of the secondary, the entertainment of the film, the story and whether the characters attract people should be more important." "
In John Musk ’ s eyes, the traditional Disney classic is not a concept that you want to put in, but rather an audience into the story and the characters and the world in the film, which he believes should still be the core of the current Disney film, “You don ’ t have to completely put aside the idea of putting in, but before that you have to create characters that the audience can empathize with and feel eye-catching. ”
"He said.
John ’ s past Disney animations also included “The Princess and the Frog, ” the first black princess to be the main character. Even so, he said the film was not built to promote an“ awakening culture, ” although he could understand the criticism.
As for the past few years, Disney has become more and more frequent remakes of old animations into live-action versions, he believes that the film companies are always looking at how to reduce the risk, and when they see that the audience likes something, they are thinking, is there a way to change the appearance and sell it to them again, or even do it better than the last time?
Just a few Disney classic animation remakes, audience word-of-mouth or film ratings are not as good as the original animation, based on their own history, John Musk did not take last year caused a lot of controversy of the live-action version of "Little Mermaid" to open: "They do not ink on the story of the father and daughter, that is the core of the whole movie, and that crab, you can see the real animal in the zoo, They all have a much richer expression than the ones in the movies, and so does the Lion King."
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How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

CEO Bob Iger has emphasized that storytelling based on beloved classics presents a relatively low-risk, high-reward investment, drawing on established fanbases and recognizable brands.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Walt Disney ’ s newly appointed chief executive, Bob Iger, said today that one of his top priorities is to monetize the company ’ s streaming platform business.
Iger pushed Disney to fully develop its streaming platform and launch Disney +, the company ’ s signature business.
But Iger admits that the measure of success has changed, and Wall Street investors are now focusing on profitability, not just subscriber growth.
Speaking at a conference at Disney ’ s headquarters in Burbank, California, Iger said, “Instead of pursuing [subscriber growth] through aggressive marketing and aggressive spending on content, we might as well start pursuing profitability. ”
“To achieve this, we have to look very, very seriously at the cost structure of all of our businesses. ”
Disney ’ s board of directors announced the appointment of Iger as CEO on November 20, following the firing of former CEO Bob Chapek.
Bao was previously the CEO of Iger ’ s choice before he left the job in 2020, but after two years at the helm of the company, he lost the support of senior executives.
Speaking on stage at Disney Studios, Iger said he returned with a sense of urgency to the Disney he had led for 15 years.
He said he had recently been listening to Lin-Manuel Miranda ’ s musical “Hamilton, ” and he was struck by the song“ What'd I Miss? ”
Iger said: “Things are not going back, things have changed a lot.
But the sun still shines brightly. "
In response to a question, Iger said it was an “unexpected surprise ” that he was asked to return to work at Disney for two years.
And first, he is most concerned with originality.
His predecessor, Bao Zhengbo, had a rough time at the helm of Disney, though it is believed that Bao had led the company through the worst of the epidemic.
Mr. Iger said he intends to maintain the hiring freeze imposed by Mr. Bao while evaluating Disney ’ s cost structure.
Iger did not disclose a timeline for the restructuring of its main business unit, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution.
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How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

Disney integrates these remakes into a multi-platform content plan designed to generate revenue through theatrical releases, streaming services like Disney+, and merchandising.

This ensures that the nostalgic appeal of classic films is continuously renewed and monetized across markets globally, adapting to changing media consumption patterns.

The company’s intellectual property strategy relies on the emotional connection and goodwill toward its animated canon, allowing for strategic storytelling updates that aim to appeal to both longtime fans and new audiences.

The adaptations involved in the live-action remakes show careful, though sometimes contentious, attempts to contemporize the original narratives and characters.

Title:

Content: It’s possible that being an only child was one reason I was not exposed to the phenomenon of Disney princess worship during my youth. On the other hand, the lack of a coordinated merchandising effort during the 1970s probably had much more to do with the fact that the company’s princess lineup wasn’t yet emerging as a cultural trend.

In that decade, Disney focused most of its marketing on the so-called “Sensational Six” core characters, including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck; along with product tie-ins to the 1977’s “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.”

Of course, Disney had only made three princess movies up to that time. Those included 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” 1950’s “Cinderella,” and 1959’s “Sleeping Beauty.” Following the introduction of Aurora in 1959, Disney would make moviegoers wait 30 years for the next princess to arrive in a film that would herald the start of the Disney Renaissance.

And that film was 1989’s “The Little Mermaid.”

Written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, the 28th Disney animated feature film was very loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. It boasted a string of memorable songs that brought imbued the production with Broadway panache. Alan Menken wrote the score, and collaborated with Howard Ashman on the songs. The film scored three Academy Award nominations, winning two for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Under the Sea.”

The animated film featured the voices of Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, and Buddy Hackett.

Buoyed by the success of “The Little Mermaid,” the Disney Renaissance ran from the late 1980s to the late 1990s and unleashed a series of critically and commercially successful animated films. Of the 10 films considered part of this period, five were Disney princess films. By 2000, the list of Disney princess included Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan. Andy Mooney, a former Nike executive who had been named president of Walt Disney Company's Disney Consumer Products division, saw an opportunity. He pitched the Disney Princess franchise line — and a generation of children became entranced consumers.

More than 20 years have gone by since the end of the Disney Renaissance and the official launch of Disney’s Princess Line. These days, Walt Disney Pictures is focused on making live-action adaptations of its animated films. The latest of these is “The Little Mermaid,” directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay written by David Magee. The film was released theatrically on May 26.

When evaluating a remake, adaptation, or reinterpretation of a classic film, one must consider not only the quality of the new film, but also how it compares to the original. It’s not enough to ask if the film entertaining and well executed. One must also determine what makes the remake valuable in its own right.

“The Little Mermaid” is set in the 1830s in the Caribbean. Ariel (Halle Bailey), youngest child of King Triton (Javier Bardem), lives in an underwater kingdom. Disney wisely mentions in its synopsis of the film that Ariel is 18 years old — not 16, as she was in the animated version.

Unlike her older sisters, Ariel is defiant and rebellious. She is captivated by a world beyond her reach, defying her father’s orders to study humans and collect their possessions from shipwrecks. She is often joined in this endeavor by her aquatic companions Flounder and Sebastian (voiced by Jacob Tremblay and Daveed Diggs, respectively); as well as by the birdbrained Scuttle (voiced by Awkwafina), a seabird whose understanding of human culture is amusingly erroneous.

When a sailing ship she has been watching is destroyed in a storm, she rescues Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King). When Triton learns Ariel interacted with the surface world, he goes on an overprotective father rampage, destroying her collection of bric-a-bracs, baubles, and curios while reiterating his mandate that she should not indulge her inclination to learn, explore, or meet new people. Ironically, Prince Eric’s adoptive mother, Queen Salina (Noma Dumezweni) places similar constraints upon him because she is fearful of the outside world and of losing her son.

Desperate to be reunited with Prince Eric — who she is in love with despite the fact that the two haven’t even actually met at this point — Ariel turns to Triton’s evil sister Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), a scheming sea witch who sees this as an opportunity to oust Triton and take power over all the world’s oceans. Ursula strikes a deal with Ariel, giving her legs in exchange for her voice. There’s a catch: If Ariel fails to receive true love’s kiss from Eric before the end of three days, she will become Ursula’s property. To make sure Ariel fails, Ursula also causes her to forget about needing to score that kiss.

That’s just the setup. If it seems a bit drawn out, imagine how it feels watching it on the screen. With a runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes — 53 minutes longer than the 1989 animated version — it sometimes feels like we’re treading water. One wonders if, in a post-pandemic world filled with ADHD brains, kids can manage to maintain focus on this narrative that meanders its way from scene to scene without a sense of urgency. Sebastian and Flounder know that there is a looming deadline, but in this version of the story, Ariel has been robbed of that knowledge. In the animated version, she at least had a specific objective. She actively worked toward that goal. In this version, she is a starry-eyed young woman crushing on someone she barely knows, drifting dreamily between infatuation and limerence.

Because it is both a retelling of a classic fairy tale and a redesign of a beloved Disney property, the film suffers from a pronounced scarcity of creativity and originality. There are updates to the story, changes in individual characters, and a few additional songs. Some of these facelifts work, such as the addition of Queen Salina. Some of these addendum fall flat, such as Eric’s song “Wild Uncharted Waters,” written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda’s song “The Scuttlebutt,” performed by Awkwafina and Diggs, is a more palatable add-on, despite that fact that it is jarringly different tonally from other music in the film.

All the film’s flaws and miscalculations can be forgiven by its most impressive saving grace: Bailey’s performance is as remarkable as it is enchanting. Bailey stands out again and again in the murky, sketchy CGI undersea sequences, glowing with charisma and agency. She brings the magic that is noticeably lacking in elsewhere in the film, balancing the nostalgia of childhood memories with a contemporary attitude. She carries this film on her shoulders, filling it with a sense of wonder and awe that will inspire children to seek out unexplored horizons and work toward achieving their dreams.

Mind you: I’d prefer Ariel did not have to literally transform — for a man — to be deemed successful. This version somewhat mitigates that theme. Personal transformation is fine when prompted by a desire to become a better person, while self-change enacted strictly to please an individual or a group is unwise and unhealthy.

The film also features recurring examples — both subtle and palpable — that show gender equity, diversity, and inclusivity are beneficial to society. These are the very same principled concepts extremist legislators and ultraconservative judicial officials currently vilify as “woke,” as if being socially aware, compassionate, and empathetic has somehow become objectionable. If you ascribe to that mindset, you should probably skip this movie.

The bottom line is “The Little Mermaid” may not be as artistically inspired as the animated version, but a standout performance by Bailey keeps the film afloat. It frequently captures the kinetic energy of a Broadway stage production, delighting audiences both with signature songs and newly added sequences that enhance the story and the characters. It is consistently entertaining, with sporadic moments of dazzling brilliance.

If you don’t trust an old curmudgeon to properly evaluate a Disney Princess film, I’ll share a few points my 16-year-old daughter made.

According to B.C. Zumpe, the film’s CGI could have been better. She particularly enjoyed a scene in which Ariel and Eric are dancing in a village near his castle, while a Caribbean band plays.

“Some people want all the characters to look exactly like the originals,” she said. “It wouldn’t be fair if Disney excluded Halle just because of her skin color. They chose her for her voice and her spirit. Even if you’re only upset because she looks different from the Ariel you grew up with, you can’t expect them to keep everything the way you want it.”

My daughter also felt that Awkwafina did a good job in voicing Scuttle. She appreciated how the film promoted the idea that it is good to interact with other cultures and be open to new ideas.

She’s a good kid.

Photo courtesy of DISNEY

Halle Bailey stars as Ariel and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric in “The Little Mermaid.”

Photo courtesy of DISNEY

Melissa McCarthy stars as Ursula in “The Little Mermaid.”

How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

The Little Mermaid (2023) was a landmark for diverse casting with Halle Bailey, a Black actress, playing Ariel.

Title:

Content: 12 Anticipated Movies Coming In 2023 And Why You Can’t Miss Them

We are still in the middle of 2022, but we can already start thinking about what we will see next year in the cinema. In recent months, updates have been shared on some of the most anticipated films by the audience, such as Barbie or the prequel to The Hunger Games. What are the new productions of 2023 that the public is most interested in seeing? We share this list to know 12 of them.

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john wick 4

Keanu Reeves reprises his role as the iconic hit man in the third installment of the action franchise. The last we saw of the character was that, having been betrayed by Winston in order to recover the management of the Continental, he was almost sentenced to death. He is still alive and will continue on his way to take revenge as in the previous films. Premiere: March 23, 2023.

Renfield

The origin story of Robert Kirkman about the helper dracula, Renfield, will be portrayed in a fantasy horror comedy inspired by the original characters from the book. The Vampire Count, brought to the scene by Nicolas Cageand his enslaved henchman (Nicholas Hoult) spend their days in Transylvania, could it be that something will break the toxic bond that both maintain? Premiere: April 13, 2022.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The journey’s end of the superhero team led by James Gunn in the cinematic universe Marvel (UCM). Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan Y Pom Klementieff They return one last time as the beloved guardians in what claims to be the last installment in this saga based on the comics of the same name. Premiere: May 4, 2023.

The little Mermaid

Halle Bailey will be the first black actress to bring to life the little mermaid in this expected live action of Disney. Despite her enormous talent for her singing, the selection of the African-American artist received negative comments regarding the change of ethnicity of the character. Beyond the criticism, she has gone ahead in the reinvention of this princess of the sea and has shared scenes with Melissa McCarthywho will be the antagonist for the role of this new version of Úrsula. Premiere: May 25, 2023.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Five years later, Miles Morales will be summoned again on a mission from the multiverse by his old friend, Gwen Stacy. There are problems to solve and the Spider-people will have to take responsibility to fix this chaos. Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Brian Tyree Henry and more actors make up the original English voice cast. Premiere: June 1, 2023.

indiana jones 5

At 78 years old, Harrison Ford is ready for more adventures in the shoes of Indy. The fifth part of this story, directed by james mangold (Logan), will arrive more than a decade after the fourth film. Filming ended in February of this year and, after releasing a first official image, the announcement of a teaser or trailer is expected in the coming months of this year. Premiere: June 29, 2023.

Impossible Mission 7: Death Sentence – Part 1

After making this year his own with Top Gun: Maverickthe brilliant Tom Cruise is getting ready to reveal his new exploits to the world in the seventh installment of the film saga Mission Impossibledirected by his intimate collaborator Christopher McQuarrie. The title was one of the most affected by the pandemic, changing its release date on numerous occasions. They act too Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Simon Pegg, Indira Varmaamong others. Premiere: July 13, 2023.

Barbie

Greta Gerwig (Ladybird Y little women) directs the first tape live action based on the most famous doll in the world: Barbie. australian actress margot robbie will give life to the blonde protagonist and the first image was released this year along with another photograph that showed Ryan Gosling In the role of Ken. Through videos broadcast on social networks, we have seen part of the cast shoot some scenes under the direction of the Oscar-nominated filmmaker. Other stars that will make up the cast are Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Emma Mackey, America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Emerald Fennell, Ncuti Gatwaand many more. Premiere: July 20, 2023.

Oppenheimer

This is the next project from the acclaimed director Christopher Nolanwho was behind Interstellar and the most recent Tenet. Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) will be J. Robert Oppenheimerthe theoretical physicist considered the father of the atomic bomb for his work as part of the manhattan project. Being a story with a historical focus, the film has summoned different faces to interpret characters that existed in real life: Emily Blunt (Katherine Oppenheimer) Matt Damon (Leslie Groves) Robert Downey Jr. (Lewis Strauss), Florence Pugh (Jean Tatlock) and more Hollywood artists. Premiere: July 20, 2023.

Dunes: Part 2

Denis Villeneuve will continue with this adaptation with flesh and blood actors of the science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. Currently, the film is filming with the return of main characters such as Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson Y Zendayaas well as the introduction of Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and other transfers. Premiere: November 16, 2023.

The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Serpents

Tom Blyth will interpret the young version of Coriolanus Snow on his journey to make his way to power. Set years before the original events of The Hunger Gamesthis prequel follows Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) in her rise within the competition after being chosen as the tribute of District 12. At this time, the most important movements and events take place that would later lead to the fall of the Capitol of Panem, caused by the rebellion led by Katniss Everdeen . Premiere: November 16, 2023.

wonka

the prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will follow Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) in his youth and will be based on A fantasy worldof Roadl Dahl. Unlike the two films set in this same universe (the one from 1971 and the one from 2005), this one will have more fantastic elements and will be accompanied by a musical perspective. Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman Y Keegan-Michael Key They are also part of the cast. Premiere: December 14, 2023.

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This decision expanded representation but also sparked racial backlash online and in some segments of the audience, demonstrating the divisiveness of such changes.

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Content: Alert
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DailyView Network Thermometer finds the top 10 movies in 2023 through KEYPO Big Data Critical Engine. What are some of the best movies on the list!
image source: FB / Universal Video Fan Page
No. No.
10 "The Flash"
The Flash, based on the DC Comics superhero character of the same name, is the 13th installment of the DC Extended Universe.
The film is the fourth time that the character has appeared in a live-action film. It is also the first live-action independent film to feature the character of the Flash. The film is the beginning of DC 's official reboot of the multiverse, with many heavyweight heroes in addition to the return of two generations of Batman.
Ezra Miller 's superb acting skills have amazed everyone. The overall plot development of the film also paves the way for future DC hero films to become an important work to promote the DC multi-universe. "Ezra Miller' s acting skills in two corners are solid performance of two personality traits", "Michael Keaton returns to play Batman again, I don 't know how many old movie fans", "Flash It is about creating people. ”
image source: FB / Warner Bros. Taiwan
No. No.
9 "Suzuki 's Journey"
Shinkai Makoto ’ s new work “Suzuki ’ s Journey ” was released this year, and it became Shinkai Makoto ’ s most discussed animated film in the past three years.
It is based on the 311 earthquake in Japan, and your name.
"Sons of the Weather" (in Japanese).
This film represents the warmth of Japanese society after the disaster, giving strength and courage to many people.
With a 17-year-old girl named Suzuki as the main character, she meets Kusatai, the “door closing master ”, because an accident causes countless open“ doors ” across Japan, and the two embark on a “door closing journey ” in order to prevent disaster.
Behind each door, is an indescribable heavy memory, symbolized by the closing of the door, "Suzuki Journey" encourages people to walk out of the pain of the past, "music and art are as high as ever", "This is a very good shape for" powerlessness ", and there are several scenes that are very exciting."
image source: FB / Suzume
No. No.
8 "The Marvels"
Captain Marvel 2, which was released at the end of the year, brought out a lot of online discussion in more than a month, and ranked among the top 10 movie network voice rankings in 2023. It is a sequel to “Captain Marvel ” in 2019 and a sequel to the Disney + series“ Wonder Woman ” in 2022.
With Marvel ’ s most powerful heroine, “Captain Marvel ” Carol (Brie Larson) as the main character, she meets“ The Amazing Girl ” Kamala (Iman Vellani) in the film, and “Photon ” Monica (Teyonah Parris), the three form a team to fight against Dabon to defend the universe.
The film is also the 33rd work of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and also invited Han Xingpu Sujun to star, which caused the topic, "The first scene of the role switching lens is very fresh", "Park Sujun laughed when he came out".
Image source: FB / Marvel
No. No.
7 "Fast X" (Fast X)
Following on from the 2021 release of Fate 9, Fate X is the eleventh film in the series.
The protagonist, Don Boss (Von Diesel), revealed that the film is the first part of the final chapter and the penultimate game in the series.
Since the first release of the series in 2001, it has gone through more than 20 years, and the end of the series is the beginning of the end, so that fans are looking forward to taking a bit of it.
As the most classic racing action blockbuster in history, every movie in the series of "Deadpool" has caused a topic, and the major works over the years are coming to an end. Although it is a little sad, but the wonderful content of "Deadpool X" still makes fans feel super satisfied, "super good-looking, from the beginning to the end, there is no cold at all", "personally feel that the tenth episode he is a continuity. Strong drama."
image source: FB / Weixiu Film City Fan Group
No. No.
6 "The Man Who Works" Movie
Based on a collection of essays of the same name written by writer Lin Liqing based on his own experiences, “The Man Who Works ” launched a TV series in 2020, focusing on the story of the working class is a rare topic in Taiwanese film, and the profound portrayal of small people is straight to the heart.
The TV version shows the brotherly friendship of the construction partner A Qi (Li Ming-shun), A Chin (Ke Shu-yuan), Chang Ge (You An-shun) A Quan (Xue Shi-ling), and others. The film version is a prequel to the story when several people first met.
In the movie version, the audience can see the true and lovely friendship of "Phu-Long-Kong" (in Taiwanese, "hangers-on"), and also join the role of Ah Chi's son "Xiao Jie". In addition to the realistic portraits of the construction site, there are also touching feelings, facing their father as a "worker", and the young children have a lot of contentment. It ’ s a movie theater, “It ’ s beautiful, life on the job site is real. ”
Image source: FB / Workers
No. No.
5 Things About Me and the Ghost Becoming Family
To say that this year's most representative national film, "about me and the ghost become family thing" absolutely deserved.
Starring popular actors such as Xu Guanghan, Lin Bohong and Wang Jing, the film incorporates Taiwan ’ s “underworld marriage ” customs into the film and explores the issue of homosexuality. An unexpected opening of the relationship between ghosts and ghosts, across the boundaries of yin and yang, race and gender identity, opens a wonderful story.
The performance of Wu Ming-han (Hsu Kwang-han) and Mao Mao (Lin Po-hung) in the film is impressive, and the superb acting skills of the two men have both been shortlisted for this year's Golden Horse Award for Best Actor. Mao's "Can't believe it" has become a popular phrase of the year.
In addition to the fun interaction of the likes of the enemy, the process of mutual understanding between the two very different people is also very moving, for many people, it is also an opportunity for people outside the same temperament to see the appearance of different gender groups, "can win the first national film", "This is really worth the second brush", "Cai Yilin's song (" Dear Object ") is too worthy to go home to listen".
Image source: FB / About me and the ghost became family
No. No.
4 "Barbie" (Barbie)
Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, has attracted a lot of attention and discussion before its release.
The story tells the story of "typical Barbie" who finds herself mutated one day and visits the abandoned "strange Barbie", and decides to go to the real world with her boyfriend "typical Kenny" to find a solution to the problem.
In the process of finding answers, various experiences made the two people start to think about the problem of identity. The film guides people to listen to themselves and their inner voice through the Barbie doll, which is always molded into a perfect image, and leads people to see women who are bound by stereotypes, and at the same time allows everyone to find their uniqueness again, so that everyone can become themselves.
Many people are greatly moved by the drama, but also get the courage to do their own strength, "very like a wonderful speech, many places worth reflecting on", "the real presentation of the world's requirements for women, always so difficult and contradictory."
image source: FB / Warner Bros. Taiwan
No. No.
"The First Slam Dunk"
Japan's popular anime "Slam Dunk Master" exists in the youth memories of many people. When the comic book version ended in 1996, the animation version also aired the last episode, the progress only stopped before the "National Series", and the follow-up drama was not made into animation, which became a permanent regret for many fans.
“THE FIRST SLAM DUNK ” continues the story of the previous animated version, adding the follow-up that was not completed in the same year. After 26 years, the animated version of“ THE FIRST SLAM DUNK ” ended up on the big screen in a film-like manner, fulfilling the wishes of readers over the years.
The FIRST SLAM DUNK takes Ryota, the diminutive point guard of the Xiangbei basketball team, as the protagonist, and takes a different perspective from the previous perspective of Sakuragi Flower Road.
This long-awaited masterpiece, released in Taiwan in just 3 days, accumulated more than 70 million box office, and also ranked second in the Japanese box office of Taiwanese film history, "The return of the five people in Xiangbei made me cry with tears", "How to watch a game to see tears."
image source: FB / Taipei Shuangxi Film
No. No.
2 "Oppenheimer"
The live-action biographical film Oppenheimer, directed by talented director Christopher Nolan, has been a topic of discussion around the world since its release.
Hollywood star Cillian Murphy as the father of the atomic bomb Oppenheimer, the film delicately explores the consequences and effects of each of Oppenheimer ’ s actions, and the three-hour drama is the longest film Nolan has ever made.
The film ’ s detailed acting skills, coupled with a large number of live shots without special effects, and in-depth portrayals and discussions on various issues such as history, war, science, and human nature, have made the film known as an epic work. This chain reaction, like nuclear disintegration, has not stopped, and I think everyone in the world may be the neutron in this reaction. "
image source: FB / Universal Video Fan Page
No. No.
The Little Mermaid (The Little Mermaid)
The movie that generated the highest online discussion in 2023 was The Little Mermaid.
The film was controversial at the beginning of the casting announcement. Ariel (Ariel) hired black singer Halle Bailey to play the role, which attracted many fans loyal to the original animation, believing that the actor's appearance and the original image gap is too large.
The live-action version of Little Mermaid became the most popular movie online in 2023 due to the casting controversy, and there has been much discussion in the community from the announcement of the casting to the release of the film.
Some people think that the story of "Little Mermaid" originally did not have a fixed role image, and Halle Bailey to play it is not improper, and pointed out that the outside world's questioning is a kind of discrimination; others think that the image of the Little Mermaid in Disney's animation has been deeply rooted in the hearts of people, and it is a disrespect for the original work.
However, many people have heard of Halle Bailey and said they can understand why she chose to play the little mermaid. "She sang the Ariel in my heart."
Image source: FB / Disney Pictures
【 Please do not reprint or rewrite the results of the Internet thermometer without authorization 】
Analysis Description:
This research data is provided by KEYPO Big Data Key Engine public sentiment analysis system, and the analysis time range is from 01 January 2023 to 19 December 2023.
"KEYPO Big Data Key Engine" public sentiment analysis system has a large amount of data, using artificial intelligence as a semantic analysis tool data collection scope: the Internet community big data database that processes more than 100 billion Chinese data every month, its content covers Facebook, YouTube, news media, discussion forums, blogs and other websites. And...
The results of the survey in this article do not refer to polling, polls, online questionnaires, etc. The ranking only represents the volume of online discussion, and does not represent positive or negative reviews of netizens.
This analysis report uses "KEYPO big data key engine" public sentiment analysis system
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What aspect of Disney's strategy has been questioned due to the mixed reception of The Little Mermaid?

The narrative expanded Ariel and Eric’s relationship into a deeper, more egalitarian romance than the 1989 original’s simpler courtship.

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Content: Filed under:

The Little Mermaid live-action remake actually fixed the right character

The biggest story changes aren’t for Halle Bailey as Ariel

Whenever a new Disney live-action remake of an animated classic comes out, there’s always a hullabaloo about what, if anything, changed from the source material. Specifically, fans question whether the latest remake updates anything to take modern standards into account, or a creator boasts that it does — whether it’s giving LeFou an “exclusively gay moment” in 2017’s Beauty and the Beast or canning the Siamese cat song in 2019’s Lady and the Tramp.

For whatever reason, though, most of the filmmakers behind these projects seem determined to also “fix” the stories’ main heroines — usually losing what made them so appealing in the first place. The most nefarious case in point is Beauty and the Beast’s Belle, a character beloved by young bookworms everywhere. Making her a book-lover wasn’t enough for the 2017 remake, which also turned her into an inventor for some reason — and then did absolutely nothing with that plot point.

But in the case of the new Little Mermaid, director Rob Marshall and screenwriter David Magee actually picked the right character to update.

That isn’t Ariel, who for the most part keeps pretty much the same personality she had in the original, though she certainly gets more moments to flesh it out. Ariel is a beloved heroine, and Marshall and Magee understand what made her so appealing in the original animated Disney film. She’s curious, passionate, and idealistic, and the 1989 movie takes great care to highlight those things, while also embracing her faults, like her absent-mindedness and stubbornness. Halle Bailey’s stellar performance as Ariel in the live-action version bolsters all of those points. Even with some added moments, her Ariel is pretty much recognizable. She isn’t the one who needed to undergo a modern makeover, after all.

The character who really needed a change was Eric.

The original animated Eric is a hero of his era. He meets the minimum requirements to be a Disney Prince, in that he’s handsome and brave, and not much else. In the 1989 film, Ariel sees him on a ship, playing with his dog, and immediately falls in love with him. That’s pretty true to the original Hans Christian Andersen story — not to mention the Disney fairy-tale movies that came before — but in 2023, we need more evidence that this is a man worthy of Ariel’s time, and worthy of her giving up everything to try and be with him.

The 2023 live-action version of Eric, played by Jonah Hauer-King, isn’t just a hunk. He feels restless in his palace, and he wants to explore the world beyond his island nation, but he feels trapped by his mother’s rules. That’s a direct parallel to Ariel’s story, so it makes sense that she would relate to him. Her bargain with Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) is more about her desire to escape her father’s controlling rules about her being in love. (Ariel’s “Daddy, I love him!” line doesn’t make the cut in this version.) There’s a sense of comfort in knowing that there is at least one person on land who would understand her choice to leave the ocean. In Eric, she sees more of a kindred spirit than a soulmate.

The new Little Mermaid also gives Ariel and Eric more time to get to know each other. Instead of the dinner scene where Ariel bungles basic social interaction, now Ariel and Eric bond over Eric’s vast collection of trinkets he found on his adventures. As it turns out, they’re both total nerds when it comes to their interests, and they’re both just squirming to talk about what they love with someone. Ariel still can’t talk because of Ursula, but she’s still an active participant in the interaction, showing Eric a thing or two about his treasures from the sea, and eagerly poring over his maps. All their interactions are fueled by an awkward yet adorable attraction that just makes their romance all the more believable, and worth rooting for.

There are some superfluous changes to the live-action movie that don’t really add anything meaningful. For instance, Ariel’s sisters are rulers of their own seas, not Triton’s decorative choral singers, but they still don’t contribute much to the plot. Ursula has added motives, but that doesn’t come up beyond her introduction. Scuttle the seagull (voiced by Awkwafina) raps for a bit, because sure, why not? If you think too hard about some of the more consequential world-building changes in 2023’s The Little Mermaid, the movie begins to unravel.

But what makes The Little Mermaid isn’t whether the fish look good, or what exactly fuels Triton and Ursula’s feud. It all comes back to Ariel and her journey, which is fueled by the central romance between her and Eric. Just because Ariel falls in love doesn’t mean she’s not a strong and beloved protagonist, and just because Eric is a handsome and dashing prince doesn’t mean he lacks the substance behind that charming smile. By updating their romance, the 2023 Little Mermaid makes the love story more satisfying — and resonant for a new generation.

The Little Mermaid swims into theaters on May 26.

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In Mulan (2020), the removal of the animated film’s comedic dragon Mushu marked a decisive tonal shift to a serious, action-oriented narrative focusing on honor, sacrifice, and cultural authenticity, reflecting Disney’s attempt to resonate with Asian markets and a global audience seeking more “realistic” depictions.

Beauty and the Beast (2017) reimagined Belle as an inventor, enhancing her agency and intellectual curiosity to align with modern feminist sensibilities, though critics pointed out that this new character trait felt underdeveloped.

Dumbo’s 2019 remake diverged notably by introducing a more complex human story centered on family dynamics, exploitation by circus owners, and emotional depth missing from the original, thereby blending fantasy with drama.

For Pinocchio (2022), critiques pointed to a failure to innovate beyond faithful replication of the original’s plot, resulting in a film perceived as emotionally hollow.

What does Disney's reliance on sequels and spin-offs instead of new IP suggest about its creativity?

A stalling of the company's creative engine.

Across remakes, villains have sometimes been given more layered portrayals; for example, in Aladdin (2019), Jafar's character receives subtler motivations, though reception was mixed.

Title:

Content: "Greene's Fairy Tales Variations" play the role of the strange adaptation of the original story goosebumps
Literature / Girls' Studies
"Greene Fairy Tales Variations", a Japanese animated monologue, is based on the story of the Brothers Grimm. Many familiar fairy tales have been greatly modified while retaining key elements. It has moved from the original 19th century European continent to modern Japan or the distant future of the universe. In the one-piece drama, which depicts the darkness of human nature, the writer once again laments the ingenuity of the screenwriter, and is filled with goose bumps because of the chilling plot.
Animation production company WIT STUDIO has been praised by fans for "Attack on the Giant Season 2", "King Ranking" and "SPY × FAMILY Spy House Wine".
"Greene Fairy Tales Variations" brings together a luxurious vocal lineup, including Rihui Nemiya, Ayako Sakura, Ayano Takeda, etc., which can be regarded as the mainstay of today's Japanese voice actors, injecting soul into the design of the creepy characters in the animation.
▲ The plot of "Green Fairy Tales Variation" is adapted from the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, and gathers a luxurious vocal lineup.
(Image / Netflix, same below)
Adapted from 19th century European folklore, modern adaptations show a deeper dark side
The original version of the collection of European folk stories compiled by the Brothers Grimm in the 19th century contains elements of violence and darkness, such as the ending of the story of Cinderella, and Cinderella ’ s stepsisters cut off their heels and toes in order to wear glass shoes, and are full of eye-for-eye responses.
The Green Fairy Variations are based on the classic fairy tales of Sendragon, Little Red Riding Hood, Sugar House, Elves and Shoemaker, Bremen Band and Hamel ’ s Piper. The modern adaptation shows the deeper meaning and darker side of the fairy tale.
The introduction of Green fairy tales is closely related to the background of the times, through the story to unite the national consciousness of the time, and through the deep moral moral implication of the story, to establish the values of the children in line with the social expectations. A dark adaptation of the story, and the preservation of appropriate space for the story, allows fans to interpret different perspectives through their hearts, and thus gain different insights, which is one of the reasons why this work is attractive.
Play the role of the position of the balance, reduce the length to bring no pressure to the feeling of chasing.
In the first story, Kiyoko, the archetype of "Cinderella", is born famous, and she asks her father to marry again, hoping to have a new family to accompany her.
In order to please the stepsisters, Kiyoko does not hesitate to change into old clothes and engage in the work of servants, the two strong-character stepsisters feel all kinds of doubts, but can not find evidence of Kiyoko harm.
At any time, the meek Kiyoko is loved by others, and the two stepsisters have become the vulgar characters that highlight Kiyoko; Kiyoko succeeds in gaining favor at the Viscount ’ s Ball, and after the event poisons his stepmother and drives her stepsister out of the house, treating everyone like she has abandoned a doll, just for fun.
Major change Cinderella as a victim of the plot, delete the original revenge of the bloody scene, but instead because of the protagonist's sinister heart, feel a different fear.
The contrast between the victim and the perpetrator and the villain may not be only the evil side, such as the piper is a leader in the pursuit of freedom, or Little Red Riding Hood is a hunter disguised as a prey, perhaps novel, perhaps absurd, are a special attempt.
Greene ’ s Variations of Fairy Tales, a 40-minute series of short stories, is now available on Netflix.
Extended reading
27 years later! Miyazaki ’ s classic animated film “Magical Princess ” explores the depth of the conflict between civilization and nature.
6 heroines of Miyazaki 's writing, the courage and determination to protect love
* This article is authorized by the Women ’ s Institute and is prohibited from reproducing without consent.
Tags: Girl Learning Greene Fairy Tale Variations Japanese Anime Netflix
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Overall, updates frequently include increased diversity, more nuanced gender roles, and attention to cultural accuracy to better reflect contemporary social realities, even as they sometimes invite accusations of over-politicization.

Title:

Content: The Mouse Missteps: Lessons From Disney’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Debacle

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Keeping quiet as a mouse isn’t the safe option anymore.

Just ask The Walt Disney Co., which failed to use its voice and the full weight of its influence to stymie Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education law and instead riled up employees and got into essentially a food fight with the state’s conservative firebrand governor Ron DeSantis.

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Disney’s experience is a lesson to fashion brands and retailers, which wear their inclusiveness on their sleeves and wave their Pride flags especially hard each June, but in many cases have been quiet on what could be seen as a core issue for the industry.

Florida’s law, signed into law in March, “prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels.” Dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, the law is at the leading edge of a wave of copycat and similar measures in state houses across the nation, representing a vital front in the culture war over LGBTQ rights.

For fashion, which draws so much inspiration from, has such deep roots in and markets so extensively to the LGBTQ community, it’s almost the definition of a must-win topic for the industry.

But the outcry so far has been more of a whisper — in fashion and beyond.

Business hasn’t been silent on the rise of state legislation, which according to The Human Rights Campaign and Freedom for All Americans amounted to 26 anti-LGBTQ bills enacted into law across 10 states last year with more than 160 proposed measures still pending.

A business statement coordinated by the two advocacy groups drew more than 150 companies, including Amazon, Gap Inc., H&M, Macy’s Inc., Nike Inc., Patagonia, REI Co-op, Signet Jewelers, Target, Warby Parker and, belatedly, Disney.

The statement says: “Laws that would affect access to medical care for transgender people, parental rights, social and family services, student sports, or access to public facilities such as restrooms, unnecessarily and uncharitably single out already marginalized groups for additional disadvantage. They seek to put the authority of state government behind discrimination and promote mistreatment of a targeted LBGTQ population.”

Even so, that is just a fraction of the fashion world and observers sense a general hesitancy in the C-suite to weigh in on the issue.

Part of that could come from Disney’s experience.

The back and forth with DeSantis culminated in the dissolution — for now — of a 55-year-old special tax district covering Disney World, although the high-profile move is controversial in itself as it would transfer certain debts back to county governments.

But chief executive officers might also be feeling the weight of the world, trying to retreat back into a position that has them focusing on business. Addressing or even articulating the need to fix society’s ills — from LGBTQ and reproductive rights to systemic racism and climate change — is a big job.

But according to the 2022 reading of the Edelman Trust Barometer, it’s a task that CEOs are uniquely positioned to take on right now.

Sixty-one percent of those surveyed found business to be the “most trusted institution,” leading non-governmental organizations (59 percent), government (52 percent) and the media (50 percent).

“While business outscores government by 53 points on competency and 26 points on ethics, respondents believe business is not doing enough to address societal problems, including climate change (52 percent), economic inequality (49 percent), workforce reskilling (46 percent) and trustworthy information (42 percent),” Edelman said.

The bond between employee and company is especially strong, with Edelman finding that 77 percent of respondents trust their employer.

As Disney appeared to soft pedal around the Parental Rights/Don’t Say Gay debate when it was in a particular position to influence the lawmaking process given its presence in Florida, employees started making some noise — enough noise to generate an extraordinary mea culpa from chief executive officer Bob Chapek.

“Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was,” Chapek wrote in a memo to employees, which was published by Variety. “It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights. You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry.

“Our employees see the power of this great company as an opportunity to do good. I agree. Yes, we need to use our influence to promote that good by telling inclusive stories, but also by standing up for the rights of all.”

Disney did not respond to a WWD query for comment. But Chapek’s resolve and public statements on the matter ultimately came too late to stop the Parental Rights bill in Florida.

An open letter from a group of Disney employees, or cast members, showed how the rank and file — or a big enough portion of it to matter — clearly wanted more and took the company’s leaders to task, noting their statements “have utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation.”

“Cast Members’ identities are not ‘political issues,’ our safety and well-being is crucial to the success of this company, no cast member or their families should be forced to live in fear, and it is unacceptable to use the profits of our labor to take our human rights away,” the letter said.

“[The Walt Disney Co.] claims to integrate [diversity, equality and inclusion] in its core values but the employees have yet to see fruitful integration of this program that is properly uplifting marginalized voices, moreover in an intersectional way,” the letter said. “By supporting the politicians who brought this legislation and not taking a public stand against it, Chapek and TWDC leadership have made it clear they are more than willing to sacrifice their employees’ health and wellness in service of the bottom line. We will not stand for this anymore.”

And that is the refrain across the corporate world, especially with younger, reform-minded employees coming on board and making sure their voices are heard.

“Employees are not an insignificant stakeholder group,” said Mark Lipton, board adviser and professor emeritus at the Parsons School of Design and The New School. “My gut tells me that if the employees did not mobilize, that if they themselves did not create an internal movement for this to happen, we probably wouldn’t have heard a peep.”

C-suite leaders need to not just be in tune with their employees on key issues, they have be ready to speak up themselves and know when and how to lend their voice to various issues.

Right now, the corporate voice is uneven.

“The CEO needs to be perfectly clear — in what areas am I willing to take a bullet on this because my belief is so strong and I have a very important pulpit from which to speak?” Lipton said.

Companies of all shapes and sizes have been quick to not only speak out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, going as far as halting operations in Russia and preparing to sell off whole divisions at a discount, as offpricer The TJX Cos. has done.

But fewer corporate heavies have waded into the parental rights/Don’t Say Gay laws or the revelation that the Supreme Court is preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade.

On one hand, CEOs are as busy as ever navigating a complicated business landscape with the stock market in retreat, inflation at 40-year highs, consumer spending uncertain after last year’s buying boom, the continued digitization of style and the rest of it.

But CEOs are also being seen more than ever as something more than a corporate manager and being asked — or forced — to take on a broader role that requires business savvy and more than a little moxie.

“The climate is dark now,” Lipton said. “It takes a bolder CEO to step out there and really convey, ‘We’ve got a lot of problems right now, but this is a horrific situation and we’re taking a stand on this not for the company, but for the greater good.’”

There is certainly some boldness in the C-suite. Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh took a stand on gun control asking patrons to stay away even if they’re legally able to carry a gun and received death threats, proving just how hard such stands are. It wasn’t a surprise to see Levi’s, which has long lead on cultural issues, sign on to the business statement over LGBTQ rights.

But many other CEOs are not taking advantage of their newly found cultural megaphone.

“Here you’ve got this extra asset of the CEO with a tailwind of a populous who now feels that they’re credible,” Lipton said. “At the same time, the CEOs are putting their hands up and saying, ‘I’m not there.’”

A survey of Fortune 500 CEOs by Fortune found that the impulse in the corner office is to become quieter. Asked if CEOs should take positions on social and political issues, 72 percent responded, “No, CEOs have become too involved, and need to pull back.” The other 28 percent chose, “Yes, CEOs have a responsibility to speak out.”

But more and more, CEOs might find they have to get there or risk getting in the situation Disney fell into.

Executive coach and equality and justice adviser Charlene Wheeless said CEOs used to be able to lie low and not stick their necks out for a social issue that is burning-hot one moment, but might go away.

“One of the lessons that is very clear from what’s happened is that time and silence are no longer on your side,” Wheeless said. “Companies have to act quickly and be as decisive as they can on what they’re going to do.”

And they need to be doing it out in the open.

“Transparency trumps all,” she said. “It’s not unusual for a company today to say, OK, let’s use our power behind the scenes to try to impact it. Today, if you don’t tell people what you’re doing, you’re doing nothing.”

And doing nothing is no longer an option in a world where profit is just part of the definition of success.

“For the fashion industry, there’s never been a more important time to lean into your values because many of the people who make up the fashion industry are under attack,” Wheeless said, referring to LGBTQ issues. “Over the years, particularly when it comes to race, we have seen some high-value brands make mistakes and then try to course correct.

“This is an opportunity to start it right at the beginning,” she said. “Lean on your values and show people that they matter because that’s what’s running your business. The world and society has changed and it changed very quickly where there is an expectation to make people matter. You lead first with humanity, empathy and compassion and companies that don’t do that find themselves in a firestorm.”

It’s a job that everyone has a hand in, but one that requires leadership from the top.

“We are in the era of the courageous CEO,” Wheeless said. “And if the CEOs do nothing, nothing happens.”

Figuring out just how to be truly courageous might not be something that CEOs picked up in business school or on their way up the corporate ladder.

And there’s also the matter of becoming a voice not just for the issue of the moment, but the next issue as well and representing — truly and honestly — the ideals and dreams of an often far-flung and diverse employee base.

It’s a change and not necessarily an easy one.

“Companies are increasingly acting as if they are people because they’re made up of humans that have opinions and needs, so companies are pushed to become more like people,” said Greg Portell, lead partner in Kearney’s global consumer practice. “It’s hard to stay on the sidelines on any particular issue.”

But big companies have a lot of employees and different levels of comfort on different topics, Portell said.

“One could argue that fashion brands have stayed on the sidelines for some of these societal issues more than they should,” Portell said. “When we’re advising executive teams, it goes back to a sense of authenticity and purpose. That sounds trite, but part of the lesson is, ‘Don’t weigh in on issues that you’re not prepared to help solve.’”

And that’s one of the key areas where companies and nonprofit advocacy groups diverge.

“Where progressive companies struggle is that their constituencies have this ambition for them to be involved, in the front, leaders,” Portell said. “An advocacy group can pick and does pick one issue, whether it’s women’s equality, gay rights, gun violence, they have the luxury of picking one issue. A corporation doesn’t and so, in a world that’s increasingly single-issue decided, companies are always going to get pinched.”

And that seems likely to only increase as the society splits along new fault lines and people and institutions reset.

Consultant Jonathan Low, a partner at Predictiv who specializes in gauging the financial impact of intangibles like brand and strategy execution, said the scene is set for government and business to continue to clash.

“There are many conservative politicians around the country who are simply looking for an opportunity to make an example of someone,” Low said. “It could have been gun rights, gay rights, Black Lives Matter. It could have been anything. If you stand up, they’re going to try to knock you down.

“The lesson for CEOs is pretty basic,” Low said. “Understand your audience, understand where your reputation and your revenues and your profits come from and defend that and everything else will take care of itself.

“Disney is unique compared to other major corporations in that they control a significant swath of both the second and third most populous and economically important states in the U.S. — California and Florida,” Low continued. “They fell prey to the mind-set that they’re just going to handle this behind the scenes. There is no behind the scenes. The lesson Disney has learned is, ‘Where are our customers?’ That’s the only thing that should be driving our decisions.”

Having some sort of gut-level guiding principle is all the more important when the landscape is shifting so dramatically.

Fashion, for instance, has long dipped a toe into politics. But while in years past it was typically the designers championing liberal social causes and Democrats and the CEOs backing the business-minded Republicans, the dynamic is changing.

The Republican party has changed dramatically under the influence of former President Donald Trump and is now bringing in more of the blue-collar workers while the CEOs are being pushed to become almost standard bearers — for the globalization their businesses helped build and the social causes their shoppers care about.

And that could keep big business in the political sphere, where mudslinging is a professional sport, as Disney and Florida’s Ron DeSantis demonstrated.

“It’s driven by the news cycle,” said Low. “I think DeSantis is saying, ‘OK, we can attack Disney this week and we’ll be trending on Twitter…We don’t even need to follow through.

“I think DeSantis has also learned a little bit of a lesson, which is: This isn’t a trick you want to pull frequently,” Low said. “Disney’s pretty big, too, and if they really want to be your enemy…they have the resources to make sure you feel it.”

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Statements from Disney executives and creative leaders illuminate the complex balance they seek between authenticity and modern relevance.

John Musker, co-director of the original The Little Mermaid and Aladdin animations, has expressed concern that recent remakes tend to emphasize political correctness unduly, potentially at the expense of storytelling and character vitality.

According to John Musker, what should Disney prioritize in its remakes?

Engaging characters.
Entertainment value
Strong stories

What approach makes Disney's classics successful according to John Musker?

Immersing audiences in story-driven worlds rather than pushing preconceived ideas.

He advocates for entertainment quality and engaging narratives as the foremost goals.

Title:

Content: The original "Little Mermaid" director can 't stand it! The real version of the irony: the zoo crab expression is even richer
Reporters Lau Wan-yan / Comprehensive Report
Disney has created countless moving animated films, accompanied by many people to grow up, such as "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", "Beauty and the Beast" and other classic films, in recent years, these classic animations have been remade as live-action versions, but Disney has been criticized for pursuing excessive "political correctness", while trying to convey specific ideas, ignoring the story itself. And the depth of the role, deeply criticized by the outside world.
The real version of "Little Mermaid" was criticized.
(Courtesy of Disney)
According to foreign media reports, the director of the "Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" animation, John Musk, publicly pointed out that Disney should revise the line, focusing on the "entertainment" and "story attraction" of the work, "the concept" should be placed on the secondary, bluntly, "they should revise the line", and added that "it is not necessary to completely put the concept into, but until then, the most important thing is to create the audience. It's a role that captures the eyes of the audience."
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The director of the animated version of "Little Mermaid" believes that the live-action version should be more about the relationship between father and daughter.
(Courtesy of Disney)
John Musk emphasized that Disney ’ s classics were never born out of preconceived ideas, but rather immersed the audience in the world built by the story and the characters.
He believes that while it is not necessary to completely abandon the concept, before that, you should first create characters that the audience can feel and feel attracted to.
As for Disney ’ s frequent remakes of old animations into live-action versions, he believes that this is to make the audience like things, and then sell them again, and he obviously does not agree with this practice.
Disney ’ s remake of the classic animation, apart from Aladdin, has a mostly bad reputation. John Musk pointed to the 2023 live-action version of “The Little Mermaid ” and bluntly said:“ They don ’ t put much ink on the story of their father and daughter, that ’ s the core of the whole movie. ” The lions in the Lion King are much richer.
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According to John Musker, what should Disney prioritize in its remakes?

What approach makes Disney's classics successful according to John Musker?

Immersing audiences in story-driven worlds rather than pushing preconceived ideas.

Jennifer Lee, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, articulates a vision of melding technology with artistry and integrating new creative talent alongside veteran storytellers to preserve Disney’s storytelling legacy while innovating.

Title:

Content: Walt Disney Animation Head Jennifer Lee On Setting Up The Next Generation Of Artists [Exclusive Interview]

We're technically in the middle of Disney's centennial celebration, but for the iconic animation studio, the party is just getting started. After news came out earlier this month that nearly 30 restored animated shorts from the Walt Disney Animation Studios vault will be released on Disney+, the studio had a triumphant presentation at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to reminisce on the past while also looking at the future.

First, the studio presented their latest animated short, "Once Upon a Studio," directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, possibly the most magical thing they've done in years and a short that pays homage to the studio's 100-year-old history, the characters, and the animators that made the studio what it is. Then, audiences were treated to about 20 minutes of "Wish," the upcoming Disney animated musical feature which brings back the Disney villain, and does some cool things with its visuals. That film is directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn (in her feature directorial debut), and written by Allison Moore and Jennifer Lee, the latter of whom also wrote and co-directed "Frozen" and serves as chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

/Film caught up with Lee shortly after the footage presentation of "Wish," where she talked about the future of Walt Disney Animation Studios, bringing back an actual villain for "Wish," and why animation is so special.

Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

'Technology and the artistry are merging'

The short film "Once Upon a Studio" includes a lot of different animation styles, while "Wish" looks different than many Disney films. What sort of experimentation is in store for the studio going into its second century?

Well, what I think particularly with the short and "Wish" is, and I think it's happening across animation, we're finally arriving at that place where technology and the artistry are merging in a way that I think is everyone's dream. I think of the incredible production designer, Lisa Keen, and the painting she did for "Frozen," but then they'd be translated into CG and they'd sort of be degrees away. But now, those paintings, that look, can make it onto the screen. And we've all been working on this for a long time. It's mattered. And with us, we were able to build it on a short scale, but to build it for a feature, we started, I think, when we met with the design team, the dream they said would be to be able to honor those watercolors from "Sleeping Beauty." "Sleeping Beauty" was such an inspiration for "Frozen" in terms of framing, but to get to do it, and we said, "Well, it's our hundredth, we have to have that goal, and they've been working on the technology for years."

I was saying just a couple months ago, we bumped into an issue where we didn't have it lined up to do water. So we had to brainstorm and work together and they figured it out because the scene was too important and they wanted to earn it, and there's nothing like a challenge for a technologist. That's what they want. "What's the next challenge?" So now we're hitting this place, we're going, "Okay, the look can go in many directions. That is so exciting," and it's really going to come down to the identity of the artists themselves coming through more. I think that is the best case scenario.

Building foundations

You talked during the studio presentation about the pairing of fresh talent with veterans, and you yourself were mentored by a veteran of the studio. Why is that important not just at an animator level, but on a key role like a director?

Well, I mean, all of these films are hard. Every one of them is hard to make. One of the things that our veteran filmmakers have is, they've been through it. They've been through a lot. They've had to redo things a lot. They felt the pain of failure, they felt the joy of success, and they have the layers of life. The new generation has talent. I mean, more and more talent out there. And they come in, and to go through your first film, I always say it's going to break your heart a little bit, over and over again, because it's not enough to dream. We all have dreams that we think, "Oh, if we could only make that." You look back at Walt and what it took for him to make "Snow White," and how it almost failed and it was a fight for every frame. There's never a shortcut in every movie.

So with our veteran filmmakers — and obviously you have someone like Eric [Goldberg, veteran Disney animator] who is everything, he is the talent and the years and the fight in him, and we've got an apprentice program that we've formed for the new generation of hand-drawn. And he's not just bringing skill this way, he's bringing those layers of life. To me, none of this is for the faint of heart. I think being creative, you are always vulnerable. So what we can do is build a good foundation and it's just important. For me, that's the big focus of where I want to go from here, is getting those voices that I'm finding so fresh and exciting, but how do you help them succeed? Because that takes more than just talent. [laughs] We all know, it's a fight. So I think that's what I'm most excited about.

'We've wanted to really celebrate a delicious villain for a while'

One thing that was really exciting about the footage was the villain. Why was that important to have in the film, and from your perspective, what makes a great Disney villain?

Yeah. We've wanted to really celebrate a delicious villain for a while. And we've had fun really straying where, I think in life, for a period of time we were exploring how the villain is not always so clear. Sometimes it's ourselves or thematic. But that idea of those villains, and the song, and we love that deliciousness of their evil. [laughs] So the daunting task of creating one, I think what really worked for us with this is we listened to our story artists, we listened to our audience, and people are saying, "I want him not just to be arch, though, I want to know" what we didn't always do, which was tell you why or how did they make those choices? You sort of meet them fully formed and they could be wonderful, but what makes Magnifico different? So we said, "Okay, from the first frame of the film, you're going to feel the journey of this person from the relatable part of ourselves." You get to see, as you saw in a scene when the villain and the protagonists are completely aligned and then you see as their philosophies diverge, you get to watch ... because we never want to say, "Anyone like this will make this choice." It's that this man makes this choice, this woman makes that choice, and it's so fun to watch. And Chris Pine was big on that and it's part of why we wanted to work with him. He's so smart, he holds the character accountable. So it was just so fun to build Magnifico with him, because you couldn't just take anything for granted. So for me, what's been great is getting ... you only saw the first couple of scenes, but getting to that place with him that we think is delicious, but watching him get there has been such a thrill ride for us.

'That did a lot for us in terms of trust'

From a production standpoint, we're three years into the pandemic. How has that impacted the way the studio looks at new projects? Has anything changed in your approach to either the stories you want to tell or the animation pipeline?

I think, in a good way, what we learned about ourselves during Covid was, we built "Raya" and "Encanto" completely [separately]. No one was together and the whole productions were done from home. So I felt like we showed that we understood each other enough and we could carry the same vision from multiple homes. And that did a lot for us in terms of trust. So what we have now is this place where, as people are coming back and this collaboration that it's kind of like we've been through a lot together, so there's no formality, and that makes, for me, I think that makes for a much more wonderful creative space. But I think the big thing is, it's not even about Covid, it's about, as I say, that new generation. I'm more aware than ever of their power and what they can do, but I'm also more aware of that responsibility.

So where I look at is what excites people about storytelling evolves and it's hard when you're getting old to look to yourself. I have certain things I can bring, but it's my job to make sure that I'm spotting that talent and giving them that platform and support and then letting them take it. And I think that's how Eric is helping new generations. That's what we've done that keeps us Disney, is continuing to let that new generation help us evolve, but setting them up for success. So I feel like that has less to do with Covid and just more to do with, here we are. I mean, I've been in this role five years. I've been in the studio 12 years. I came in under 40 and now I'm over 50. So it's time. I think of that. And you hear them banging on the door and they challenge the storytelling, and it's great.

'They're artists. They're not Disney artists. They do work for Disney, but they bring their soul and their tastes come with them'

Serving as both a writer and a producer on "Wish," what was the key element that made this right for the hundredth year celebration?

Well, what I love though is we all started talking as a group, all the directors would get together and we'd meet with story artists and just leave it open and talk about all these fantastical fun ideas. But what kept coming back were certain things — yes, the villain, but this idea of the wishing on stars. That little clip we showed [a montage of Disney characters throughout the years looking at the stars], that was put together before we had the film. Someone just put it together who was inspired to say, "This is something that's a part of us." And you felt it come. Then Chris, he didn't set out to direct it originally, but it spoke to him so clearly. And Fawn, she was such a powerhouse right away.

Then what happened with us is as we were developing the character, Star changed quite a bit. Star originally could talk and took different forms, sometimes human form. And it was really saying, "But that's not what Star is. Star is hope, possibility, wonder — those things don't have the power, they have the power to inspire you." And then I started watching panda bears and how ridiculously funny they were and felt that curious innocence and we said, "What if Star is just that?" And then they said, "You can see this. I think you need to write a draft." And luckily Allison Moore was there in the room every day, but I could come in. But it didn't happen where it was no moment of an order. It was more of, as people were drawn to it and they got it, they just formed the team. And I felt very lucky that, when they asked me to write it and I had no time, but how could I not? It was such an honor.

Disney has always been a studio strong in its traditions, and its recognizability. I'm curious, with something like "Wish," where do you look for pushing boundaries while also keeping those traditions?

All our artists are looking all the time. They're artists. They're not Disney artists. They do work for Disney, but they bring their soul and their tastes come with them, and what they see in the world inspires them. That's great about this industry. Every day there's always buzzes of what's going on. But I think if I look at "Tangled" as a good example of understanding the fairytale, our first sort of CG princess and this nod to the past, but this embracing of this technology, which was a little scary, I'm sure. I wasn't there, so I can only guess. But to say, the approach they took, it kind of showed us where we could go and be more playful. If there hadn't been "Tangled," there would not have been "Frozen." So I'm very grateful that we took some bold steps.

'It's the greatest form of flattery, I guess'

There's been a lot of live-action remakes of Disney movies, both classics and newer ones. From an animation standpoint, does that push you to make visuals more distinct or even just "easier" to adapt? Does it at all affect the mentality going into a new project?

No, I mean, very, very politely, we completely build these independently. We don't think ahead of the live-action. We're honored if it happens. It's the greatest form of flattery, I guess. But I do think, one of the things I love — to me, what defines animation is it is truly transportive in a way that it speaks to your imagination, not to your reality. And so I think in terms of, personally, the looks that I'm inspired by, of where I do feel I'm in a believable world and it feels alive, but it is wholly nothing of our world. It's a place that I can truly escape to. I think that means a lot to a lot of us. So to me, the easy part of it is, if the goal is reality, the technology can go that way. But animation is not about that. What I love about animation is, it starts with a dream and everything is built and the more we can be transported to something we've never seen, the more excited I get.

Lastly, when it comes to "Wish" or any future projects as you are working through development, especially just that first brainstorming phase, what is the balance or even just your personal feelings in terms of wanting to look back at the history of Disney versus looking at what is possible now with new technology and new ideas?

Yeah, yeah. For me, there's not an overall philosophy about it. I do think it's director and artist by artist. And so what we'll do on one film, we won't do on another, and we'll try a whole different ... "Zootopia" and "Wreck-It-Ralph" are nothing like "Frozen." And I think that we'll do that for everything where we take it one film at a time. I think what I always have to trust is what inspires those artists. But I do think when we think about the legacy, to me, there are certain things that I think are wholly Disney, which are films that give hope. Films where you can escape, where you feel like you belong, that you feel that it can become yours. And there's always an element, hopefully, of joy. But we're not afraid to go into deep, dark places. All fairytales do.

But I think that's what we do say is a part of who we are. And I think for so many of us there, it's this thing we share, which is for so much of our lives, starting from our first memories to now, Disney was a place for us to go no matter what was happening in the world, and we could feel this escape. And it was an escape that left you feeling things are possible. I do think that's part of who we are, foundationally, that we all think about. How we get there should be very different each time. And obviously the musicals, the musicals, the musicals, because we love them.

"Wish" arrives in theaters on November 22, 2023.

Disney’s production teams routinely work with cultural consultants and engage with fan communities to better navigate representation and authenticity.

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Content: Interview

Kabam’s Mark Raham on the creation of Disney Mirrorverse

Our MGA Award's People’s Choice award winner is Kabam’s latest big IP hit. But how did they tackle such a big project from such a big name?

The developers at Kabam are no strangers to tackling big name IPs and putting them in the hands of players all around the world, but the success of Disney Mirrorverse is truly testament to the skills of the team and the level of trust they’ve earned.

So what does it take to work with one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world and earn the rights to handle characters that are true cultural icons? We spoke with franchise executive producer, Mark Raham on all things Disney Mirrorverse - the winner of this year's people's choice at our Mobile Games Awards.

Pocketgamer.biz: Tell us a bit about what it is that you do at Kabam

Mark Raham: Title wise, they call me the Franchise Executive Producer. My job is to build a team of people who can be passionate about creating something amazing together. We want to build an incredible world of experiences for our players. So I try to get folks aligned, to get the right people on the team and then get out of the way and let them do what they're great at.

Sometimes I still pinch myself that we're actually doing this.
Mark Raham

You’ve worked with lots of awesome IPs over the years, but Disney… That's quite a big deal. How does something like that come about?

Sometimes I still pinch myself that we're actually doing this. We started this journey in 2018, so it's been in the works for a long time. And when you handle such a beloved set of IPs, you want to do the right thing. You want to meet people's expectations. In our case, we wanted to do something a little new and different with it.

And that involves working closely with Disney?

Yes, lots of great partnerships with our friends at Disney, who have been awesome to work with. I don't know that this would have been possible with any other IP. Disney understands their brand so well. They understand why people love their characters so much. And they’re a story company at their heart, right? And so working with them wasn’t just “What does Mickey look like, in a different hat if you had an enchanted sword?” but to come up with a franchise universe with its own backstory and history. Because we wanted to know what would X be like in a world with a different set of stakes, in different circumstances in a world of higher conflict where universes collide? That to us, was something that was pretty interesting to imagine.

It's new ground for all of us. So we take our time, we tried to do it right and it's super gratifying to see the response. People are really intrigued.

Congratulations on winning the People's Choice Award at the Mobile Gaming Awards. That's the one voted for by the players so that's extra gratifying?

Oh, yeah. First and foremost, it's a tremendous honour to be named People's Choice Award winner. I just want to thank all the players who voted for Disney Mirrorverse. The response we've had from our community and our players has been incredible since launch. And we're really happy to see how the game is building such a passionate community and dedicated set of players that are really integral to how we build this, how we build this world out in these stories going forward.

And it's especially meaningful for the people here who have worked on this game for so long. It's been such a labour of love. We did it because we wanted to build something special and invite people into a world that they could stay in and explore for a long time. So to be named People's Choice it's super meaningful to the team.

Mirrorverse is quite a ‘dark’ game for a Disney game. But then Disney movies are actually quite dark too…

Yeah, there is that element in every great Disney film. Even in the very early days of the films - you can't have light without contrast, right? Think of the beginning of Bambi or Jungle Book or you know any of those films. We wanted to carry on that tradition in a way that made sense with our audience, who are people who, by and large, grew up with that sort of 90s renaissance era of Disney films and try to reflect a Disney universe that makes sense to them.

But we wanted more blending of worlds, where these characters can interact and you have an action based set of stakes. You can start to imagine really cool things, like what if Maleficent and Belle could discuss secret knowledge from books? And what if Belle starts to wrestle with the idea of if it’s okay to use dark powers? That's a pretty interesting conversation that's never been done in a Disney universe before and working with Disney, we were able to talk to all the franchise partners, talk to our creative team here, and then come up with stories that circle around really cool ideas. If you put these characters together and change the stakes you have the opportunity to tell these really compelling stories.

The multiverse concept is a great tool for bringing together disparate characters. Is this your creation? Or did Disney say, “Here’s the concept, we'll let you run with it.”

We were able to get the confidence and the willingness of all the people who own these amazing IPs to try something new and different.
Mark Raham

I had an old boss who spoke a lot of “cowboy wisdom”, one of the things he said was, success has many fathers. So I think many people were circling around the idea of how you could pull this off. I mean, even the idea of Kingdom Hearts has been out there for 20 years now. But getting the characters to connect, interact, and act together hasn't been done before. So you know, whether it was because we were extra adventurous or the timing was right, or whether it was because of the time we took and invested with Disney, we were able to get the confidence and the willingness of all the people who own these amazing IPs to try something new and different.

How did ideas generate around which weapons some of these iconic characters would wield? Captain Hooks is going to have a sword, but what about a character like Snow White? What’s she going to carry and did those ideas need a lot of approval from Disney?

Sure, how are you going to turn Snow White into a warrior? So it begins with a love of the material and it isn’t just me sitting in a room thinking these things up. We have a really invested and passionate design team for the world and the characters. No matter where they end up, it has to be authentic, so you have to start at the beginning. Watch the films, explore the source material and see which threads you can pull on.

Then we can ask, how could these characters respond to the high stakes that work within an action game? We were very conscious about staying true to the essence of those characters and finding a way to make them resonate in this context. We work with our partners over at Disney and each of these franchises has an owner on the Disney or Pixar side who is super passionate and they are experts on who each of these characters could be for Mirrorverse.

In the game's development, what was it like pitching ideas to franchise holders, do you pitch a bunch of ideas and perhaps hear a lot of no’s before hearing a yes?

It’s about starting with the broad strokes, like, do we agree that these are the emotional drivers for this character? Do we agree that these are the seminal moments in their original backstory? Right? You get sort of alignment on those kinds of things. So rather than spitballing a bunch of completed concepts, you start with the root of who they are and something we call the ‘what if’ document, which explores what changes in the Mirrorverse. That nicely leads us into an authentic but surprising evolution of each character.

So does the team have a daily or weekly meeting? How does that work?

Yeah, there are weekly creative sessions where we talk about character evolutions. There are more than weekly art sessions too, where we review how those evolutions come to life and we have a wider meeting with all the creative and design folks. That’s the same on the Disney side, we can review how it’s all coming together, so yeah, it’s a tight partnership.

How does the team work with this great IP and allocate things like special moves? How do you determine who will be stronger or who gets what moves?

That’s a really challenging part of game design. We don’t want anyone to have the best special move. We want each character to have something unique to them. So rather than imagining that these are all Swiss army knives that can do everything, we remind players that this is a team game and how you combine these guardians with their different abilities is what’s going to enable you to progress.

What’s the balancing process like for this kind of action RPG fighting game? Do you need to keep playing and testing to make adjustments?

Yeah, there is a high-level vision statement of what we expect each character to be like and what we want them to do best, who works well together and who each person might be weak against. It sounds boring, but there’s a lot of spreadsheet work that goes into their abilities and attributes.

But where it comes to life is in the playtest, which are a couple of my favourite hours of the week where I get to put aside the rest of the world and sit with the team on Tuesdays and Thursdays and just play the latest of what’s in the game. We then get all the feedback and talk about how things are coming together and we do that until things are honed and feeling really good.

We have had just over 40 unlockable guardians in the game and we’re now at 60 plus, with more to come.
Mark Raham

Just to be clear and put the message out, this game is still very much in development. Things are still ongoing…

I mean, the game’s not even a year old. So you know it’s still relatively new and when we launched, we have had just over 40 unlockable guardians in the game and we’re now at 60 plus, with more to come. The question that we keep asking ourselves is, how do we broaden and deepen the experience for the players? So yeah, there’s a full team effort to continue to develop the experience.

Do you have any upcoming milestones for when the next update will hit?

We’re still doing monthly updates, which works for our players and we’re continuing to release new guardians, story content and events. To me, that’s really what's amazing about creating a web service game, it’s not just one and you’re done. It’s an evolving story and your audience has the chance to interact and give you feedback. I really love the community that’s gathered around this game.

You can add new content and updates when you want, so in theory, could we get other IPs like Star Wars in the Mirrorverse?

Right now, we’re focusing on Disney Animation and Disney live-action Pixar. There’s enough there for us to work with for a really long time. When you think about it, it’s not just the blockbuster films, there’s the 90s afternoon TV series stuff, so there’s a ton of interesting and amazing stories to dig into.

Does the creativity flow the other way? Could you see this game as its own series on Disney Plus?

There’s so much story material that there can be all kinds of expressions of the Mirrorverse. We’ve already seen Dinsey and their partner McFarlane Toys put out a number of lines of collectables. So, I think the way it’s resonating, there’s a lot of opportunity for further cross-collaboration for sure.

What can you tell us about the future of Disney Mirrorverse? What’s next in development?

For me, the most important thing is continuing to build relationships with players and understanding the community. There are a number of very cool characters that are coming in the future.

Edited by Paige Cook

Features Editor

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Debate over both Ariel's casting and racial representation.

Filmmakers emphasize honoring original magic but also recognize that inclusivity and new perspectives are necessary for continued cultural relevance.

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How Disney's The Little Mermaid Live-Action Remake Is Changing the Narrative

Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has made a significant impact by surpassing the original's box office earnings, offering representation to young girls of color, and standing firm against racist backlash.

BNN Correspondents
New Update

In a world where representation matters more than ever, Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has set a new benchmark. The film, which grossed over $550 million in global ticket sales, has surpassed the original's box office earnings, making a significant financial and cultural impact. Beyond merely being entertaining, the film has become a beacon of hope for young girls of color, seeing themselves represented in a fantasy world for the first time.

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Reimagining Inclusion in Fantasy

The casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel sparked controversy even before filming began. Detractors used AI to alter her features to resemble a white woman, reflecting a narrow view of what a mermaid, or a princess, should look like. Despite the racist backlash, Disney stood firm, challenging the status quo and reimagining inclusion in fantasy. The film's success underscores the necessity of diversity in storytelling, proving that audiences are hungry for fresh perspectives and narratives that resonate with their own experiences.

Standing Firm Against Racism

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The release of the first teaser at D23 Expo was met with enthusiasm and anticipation. The beautiful shots of Halle Bailey's Ariel in the ocean, accompanied by the iconic Part of Your World, were a powerful assertion of Disney's commitment to diversity. The film, directed by Rob Marshall and released in May 2023, also features Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, and Noma Dumezweni in an undisclosed role. Each casting choice was a testament to the company's determination to stand against racist attacks and uphold the importance of representation.

Attending to Details for Authentic Representation

With its Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, Disney is leading the way in promoting diversity and inclusion across its productions. By paying meticulous attention to details, the company ensures authentic and inclusive representation both on-screen and off-screen. The success of The Little Mermaid underlines the significance of these efforts, and the film serves as a potent reminder that stories have the power to inspire change.

In conclusion, the journey of The Little Mermaid offers valuable lessons for leadership and the power of storytelling. It highlights the importance of standing firm against critics, especially in the face of racism. It also emphasizes the necessity to reimagine inclusion in fantasy and the significance of paying attention to details for authentic representation. These lessons are not just applicable to film-making, but are relevant in all fields where leaders have the opportunity to challenge hate and inspire change through their work.

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What controversy arose from Disney's casting and updates in The Adventures of Pinocchio?

Public and critical responses to these films are characterized by a balance of enthusiasm and skepticism.

The Little Mermaid (2023) received critical acclaim for visual effects and diversity efforts while facing racist backlash in social media backlash and polarized opinions.

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The four Disney executives who could succeed Bob Iger as CEO in two years

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Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger has prevailed in the company’s shareholder fight against billionaire dissident Nelson Peltz. But the celebrated executive’s most challenging task still looms: selecting someone to fill his big shoes.

The 73-year-old chief is set to retire in 2026 — assuming he steps down as planned.

For decades, succession planning has been among the Burbank giant’s most vexing issues. During Iger’s first, highly successful 15-year run, he delayed his planned retirement multiple times, and potential successors, including former Chief Operating Officer Tom Staggs, left the company in frustration.

Peltz and others pointed to the bungled hand-off to parks head Bob Chapek as proof that Disney’s board of directors, who oversee the succession process, weren’t up to the job. Chapek’s tumultuous tenure lasted less than three years; Iger returned in late 2022 to replace him.

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Peltz’s failed bid to join the board gives Iger and the board some breathing room as they assess candidates to eventually take over the storied company. But shareholders, during the contentious proxy campaign, made it clear that Disney can’t whiff again.

Disney shareholders reject billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, who wanted changes, for a board seat. The hard-fought battle exposed Disney’s challenges.

April 3, 2024

Succession is “the board’s No. 1 priority,” Iger said Thursday during an appearance on CNBC. Leading the process is Disney Chair Mark Parker. The company’s succession committee also includes General Motors Co. CEO Mary T. Barra, Morgan Stanley Executive Chair James P. Gorman and Calvin R. McDonald, chief of Lululemon Athetica Inc. The group met seven times last year to address succession, Iger said, and they “intend to meet even more this year.”

“They are confident they will choose the right person at the right time. And they have some time to do that,” Iger said. “But again, they’re treating it with a sense of urgency because it is so important.”

Disney historically promotes from within, but board members currently are looking at potential external candidates as well as four top executives: Disney Entertainment co-Chair Dana Walden, who oversees television; fellow entertainment co-Chair Alan Bergman, who runs the film studios (Walden and Bergman share oversight of streaming); parks, products and experiences czar Josh D’Amaro; and ESPN boss James Pitaro.

Corporate bake-offs can be fraught. Passed-over executives often depart, and Disney cannot afford to have an exodus of its top talent at such a crucial moment as it tries to transition its television business to streaming. More than a decade ago, Time Warner lost two key executives when it chose from among a trio of Warner Bros. executives to lead that Burbank studio.

Disney’s leading contenders have their own areas of expertise, as well as blind spots. None has the experience of running a $220-billion, multifaceted media and entertainment empire such as Disney. But then again, neither did Iger before he ascended to the throne in 2005.

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Disney executives declined to comment for this story.

Dana Walden, boss of all TV

One of the savviest executives in Hollywood, Dana Walden oversees a vast portfolio of properties and programming crucial to Disney’s legacy TV business and its streaming future. She’s in charge of Disney’s television studios, the ABC network, ABC News, children’s and young adult programming, Freeform, National Geographic, FX, Hulu and Hulu Originals.

Walden arrived at Disney five years ago when the company bought much of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. One of Iger’s motivations for the deal was to boost Disney’s TV executive talent by bringing over successful Fox personnel, including Walden, FX’s John Landgraf and former TV head Peter Rice. The pricey Fox acquisition, while lambasted by Peltz and others, gave Disney a programming arsenal to support its streaming ambitions.

Among the four CEO candidates, Walden may be the most similar to Iger in terms of career trajectory and soft touch with talent. He climbed the rungs of the ABC broadcast network before ascending to Disney’s No. 2 job in 2000. Like Iger, Walden is a skilled manager and polished communicator who instinctively understands creative executives. She has deep relationships with, and the respect of, Hollywood’s producers, writers and other talent. She grew up in Studio City and got her start in television as a publicist (including a stint promoting Arsenio Hall).

Disney’s $71-billion purchase of Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment assets, including ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Avatar’ and Hulu, has also been a financial burden for the studio, which recently said it would eliminate 7,000 jobs to reduce costs.

Feb. 18, 2023

Walden’s long collaboration with Ryan Murphy (“Glee,” “American Crime Story” and the “Feud” franchise) has proved beneficial as he now is working more closely with Disney following a stint at Netflix. Walden also was instrumental in bringing the Kardashians to Hulu from their cable home on the E! Channel.

She has presided over a revitalization of Disney’s youth programming after a fallow stretch, with the popular “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” and “Goosebumps” — shows that are core to Disney’s family entertainment brand.

The 59-year-old executive could become Disney’s first female CEO. Perhaps the biggest knock on Walden is that she didn’t come up through Disney’s ranks, leading some in the rank and file to question whether enough Mickey Mouse DNA is present in her cells. She’d also have to overcome the perception that she’s “just” a TV exec. That’s not the case, given her streaming purview.

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Alan Bergman, the non-flashy studio chief

At Disney’s core, it all comes back to movies, and it’s been that way since Walt and Roy Disney founded their studio in 1923. To this day, theatrical film drives most other parts of the business, including theme park attractions and toy sales.

As such, entertainment co-Chair Alan Bergman, 58, sits atop an extraordinarily important part of the company, shepherding storied brands including Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm and Searchlight Pictures (known for recent four-time Oscar winner “Poor Things”).

Bergman is a true Disney veteran with a deep and detailed understanding of business and finance, having joined the company in 1996. He was promoted to president of Walt Disney Studios in 2005 and fully took over the division in 2020, succeeding Alan Horn after a period of unprecedented box office success, including hits such as “Avengers: Endgame” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

He’s not flashy. A UCLA graduate in business economics, Bergman has avoided the spotlight, preferring to let his deputies, such as Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Disney Animation’s Jennifer Lee, take their due credit. Yet he commands the respect of those high-powered creatives and has worked for years with the likes of Peter Jackson, James Cameron and Ryan Coogler.

‘The Marvels’ fell out of the top 10 at the box office after three weekends. The studio has been struggling with quality control, according to some.

Dec. 5, 2023

Bergman, like his counterparts, has his hands full. Lately, the studios have suffered from a number of high-profile flops, including “The Marvels” and “Haunted Mansion.” Even last year’s “The Little Mermaid,” which was hammered by racist online attacks, struggled to achieve the heights of past remakes from the Disney vault. The studios — particularly Marvel — were stretched painfully thin by a mandate to crank out material for Disney+, and that showed in the waning quality of the superhero franchise.

Efforts are underway to get Disney’s all-important theatrical film business back on track. Iger has allowed his division heads, including Bergman, to slow their output and focus on quality over quantity. This year’s Disney slate includes big franchise extensions: “Inside Out 2,” a “Moana” sequel and “Mufasa: The Lion King.”

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Josh D’Amaro, keeper of the Magic Kingdom

To legions of superfans, the charismatic Josh D’Amaro is Mr. Disney. Since joining the company in 1998 in a position at the Disneyland Resort, D’Amaro has steadily climbed the corporate ladder. Under his leadership, the parks have embarked on major capital projects, including new lands such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and the Avengers Campus.

Today, D’Amaro, 53, serves as chair of Disney Experiences, giving him an expansive portfolio that includes oversight of the company’s theme parks, its famed Imagineering division, Disney’s cruise line and its consumer products (think Baby Yoda dolls and Elsa dresses).

In all, D’Amaro is in charge of 180,000 employees, many of whom are unionized or part time, meaning he’s used to leading large teams and wildly capital-intensive initiatives. The parks are Disney’s biggest profit center, showing he can navigate a massive budget. The “experiences” segment accounted for 60% of Disney’s operating income during the most recent fiscal year. He’s in charge of a roughly $60-billion effort to expand Disney’s parks, a huge bet on live, in-person entertainment.

It’s a challenging, multi-pronged job that comes with hazards. D’Amaro recently had to navigate the fallout over Disney’s nasty feud with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District settle a lawsuit over the powers of the special body that controls the land Walt Disney World sits on.

March 27, 2024

But he’s popular with Disney’s enthusiastic and demanding fans, which helps. Disney guests will often stop him in the parks and ask for selfies, or query him about park design decisions. His presentations at Disney fan convention D23 are always well-attended.

One knock against him is his lack of direct experience with film and TV, as his entire career has been in the experiences sector, particularly the parks. There is recent precedent for a CEO coming out of the parks division, though it didn’t work out so well. After all, D’Amaro ascended to his current position after Chapek was named Disney CEO. But D’Amaro has the kind of Disney spark that Chapek never did.

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Jimmy Pitaro, sports supreme

When ESPN Chair Jimmy Pitaro took the reins of the sports cable giant in 2018, he inherited a division beset by shrinking TV ratings while cord-cutting was eroding its ability to reach viewers. ESPN’s hosts were under fire over the political discourse on its talk shows in the wake of President Trump’s 2016 victory.

Pitaro, 54, who previously led Disney’s consumer products and interactive media division, is credited with calming the waters and preparing the network for the future by increasing its digital prowess and growing its social media presence to keep it relevant with younger viewers.

To further that aim, he’s overseeing the launch of ESPN’s long-awaited direct-to-consumer product, which by the fall of 2025 will give consumers access to its full suite of channels, including the flagship ESPN. Ratings at the ESPN cable channel have improved, despite dramatic declines in pay-TV subscriptions.

Pitaro is also credited with repairing ESPN’s relationship with the NFL (whose games are America’s most-watched TV programming), helping to pave the way for a new 11-year media rights deal with the league that gives the company two Super Bowls that will air on Disney’s ABC broadcast network. ESPN has also secured the media rights to its major live events for the rest of the decade, with only the NBA contract — up in 2025 — remaining as its next major test.

There are actually things to talk about in Hollywood other than the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes — such as the Disney-Charter deal to end the blackout.

Sept. 12, 2023

That said, sports is a smaller segment within Disney than either entertainment or parks in terms of revenue. It wasn’t long ago that analysts wondered if ESPN would even be part of Disney’s empire for the long term. When Iger seemed to muse aloud about spinning off ESPN, though, Pitaro was said to be a good soldier and didn’t complain.

The idea of cleaving ESPN from Disney no longer appears to be under serious consideration. Iger has begun touting the unit’s strong financial performance again. Though Pitaro is well-liked within the company, he’d be a novice in the Hollywood side of the business. But he’s comfortable with show business types. His wife, Jean Louisa Kelly, is a veteran film actress.

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What controversy did Disney's The Little Mermaid spark globally?

Debate over both Ariel's casting and racial representation.

Mulan (2020) divided audiences; some praised its respectful approach to Chinese culture and mature tone, whereas others missed the original film’s humor and Mushu’s charm.

Beauty and the Beast’s remake was lauded for Emma Watson’s performance and lush production values but faced criticism over the depth of character revisions and a sense of commercial opportunism.

How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

The Jungle Book (2016) was widely praised for its technical achievements and balancing darkness with charm.

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Content: DIS

2 Stocks to Hold for the Next 20 Years

You want to build your long-term investment portfolio. Holding on to a successful stock for 20 years or more could be the key to making serious money. Master investors like Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch built their fortunes through the magic of compound returns over many years -- and you can follow their example.

But don't just go buying any old stock, dear investor. You should look for certain key factors in a company to ensure you're making a wise choice.

First and foremost, you want to find companies with a strong competitive advantage. It could be their killer brand, some innovative technology, or even operating in a market that's tough to break into. Next, you want to see the company operating in a large and growing market with plenty of room for expansion. The bigger, the better! Also, strong financials are an absolute must-have. I'm talking about solid balance sheets, healthy revenue growth, a manageable debt load, and reliable cash profits.

Last but not least, keep your eyes peeled for innovation and adaptable business plans. These qualities allow the company to stay ahead of competitors and keep up with changes in the market. Without them, the business may struggle to survive in the long term.

So if you want to be a successful long-term investor, do your research and look for companies that check all the boxes of a durable winner. Let me show you two household names that fit the bill.

You can't beat the real thing

When it comes to a killer brand, Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) has got it covered. It has one of the most recognizable and valuable brands in the world, with a long history of successful marketing campaigns.

The soft drink industry is massive and Coca-Cola has a dominant share of it. Coke controls nearly half of the domestic carbonated soft drink market. Runners-up PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper split the remaining half almost evenly, leaving just crumbs for other competitors to fight over. While this market may not be growing as fast as it used to, there is still plenty of room for expansion, particularly in developing countries.

Moreover, Coca-Cola has a hand in many adjacent target markets. For example, the company manages Glaceau Smart Water and Dasani -- two of the four best-selling bottled water brands in the U.S. Coke sold its energy drink brands to Monster Beverage in 2014, but stayed invested in that market by owning 19% of Monster's stock and managing its partner's distribution. Then there are coffee-based drinks, fruit juices, non-dairy milk alternatives, and more. Name a type of non-alcoholic drink, and Coca-Cola probably owns at least one of the most popular brands in that category.

As for financials, Coca-Cola is a solid company with healthy revenue growth and consistently positive free cash flows:

KO Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts

The balance sheet carries $36 billion of long-term debt, offset by $11.6 billion in cash equivalents and liquid short-term investments. Management is comfortable with this level of financial leverage, and Coca-Cola's credit rating sits in the upper echelons of investment-grade bonds.

Overall, Coca-Cola fits the criteria I set up earlier, with a strong competitive advantage, a large and growing target market, solid financials, and a proven history of innovation and adaptability. Check, check, checkity-check.

I'll admit that the stock isn't cheap, trading just 11% below its yearly highs at 27 times trailing earnings. However, I don't mind paying a premium for a durable market leader like Coke.

The House of Mouse is no Mickey Mouse business

Let's move on to Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) -- another household name that should add value to your stock portfolio for the next two decades and beyond.

Disney has a strong competitive advantage, thanks to its incredible brand recognition with beloved franchises like Mickey Mouse, Marvel, and Star Wars. This rich portfolio of premium story material gives it a leg up on competitors and makes it stand out in the crowded entertainment industry. Not to throw Disney's rivals under the bus, but when was the last time you got excited about the latest Columbia or Universal movie? Disney runs several studio brands that actually get fans excited about new material, sight unseen.

Next, the market for entertainment is huge and growing, with endless expansion opportunities. Disney has done a great job of capitalizing on this, with acquisitions like Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and 21st Century Fox expanding its reach and allowing it to create even more content for fans. Together with the core Disney Studios operation, these buyouts have built an entertainment colossus for the ages.

When it comes to financials, Disney also looks strong. In the recently reported first quarter of 2023, sales rose 8% year over year to $23.5 billion. Operating profits increased by 11%, right alongside the unadjusted bottom-line earnings. Trailing sales are setting all-time highs again after the dramatic dip during the theme park closings and shuttered movie theaters of the early COVID-19 crisis.

Finally, Disney is definitely innovative and adaptable. It is constantly finding new ways to reach audiences and create memorable experiences, from its theme parks and resorts to its streaming services led by Disney+ and Hulu. It has also shown the ability to pivot when necessary, as evidenced by their successful shift to a direct-to-consumer model during the pandemic.

And don't forget that legendary leader Bob Iger is back in the driver's seat after a couple of rough years under ex-CEO Bob Chapek. Iger has already reversed some of Chapek's most problematic policies. Under Iger's steady hand, I'm convinced that the media empire is back on track for a long and successful future, where the original stories behind its theme parks, cruise ships, pajamas, and lunch boxes start life in the digital streaming realm.

Disney also checks off all the boxes for a savvy long-term investment. I would gladly buy either Coke or Disney today and hold them for several decades.

10 stocks we like better than Walt Disney
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Anders Bylund has positions in Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Monster Beverage and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast and recommends the following options: long January 2024 $145 calls on Walt Disney, long January 2024 $47.50 calls on Coca-Cola, and short January 2024 $155 calls on Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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Dumbo (2019) received mixed reviews due to its darker, human-centric additions, which some viewers found less magical.

Pinocchio’s 2022 remake was broadly panned as lacking warmth or originality and failed to connect with audiences.

What has been the general critical response to most Disney's live-action remakes?

Additionally, the Snow White remake (2024) sparked controversy over the portrayal of the seven dwarfs, leading to public debates even involving relatives of the original creators.

Critics frequently accuse the remakes of serving as cash grabs reliant on nostalgia rather than offering genuine creative innovation.

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Content: Home Movies

Thought the brand of hatred Brie Larson suffered for ‘Captain Marvel’ is over? Well, version 2.0 is here

'The Brie Larson Treatment' comes for another performer with the gall to have opinions.

Image via Marvel Studios

Social media, am I right? What started out as a means for the world to communicate instantly, bringing people together from across the planet, has since metamorphosed into that slime from Ghostbusters 2 that feeds on anger.

And now we’re stuck, knee-deep in a bog of the loudest opinions, all being digitally shouted by everyone that never figured out their internet inside voices. We’ve been here for a while. We all know what it looks like. Arguably, it all boiled over around the time that Captain Marvel came out.

That’s when Brie Larson became angry-boy-Twitter’s favorite place to drag their knuckles, thanks to the way she voiced outlandish opinions like “I don’t have to smile when strangers tell me to” and “I should get treated the same as my male co-stars” and, if we’re being honest, mostly because she was a pretty lady on the internet who wasn’t going out of her way to make strange dudes feel like she’d love to meet them for coffee sometime and really get to know them. The rage was ubiquitous. You couldn’t swing a dead flerken on Twitter without hitting six burner accounts telling Larson how to be an actress.

But that was what, four years ago? We’ve probably moved on as a species, right? If nothing else, I’m sure Twitter has become a more thoughtful public square since Elon Musk took over – I can’t do it, sorry. I’m kidding. Everything is still the exact same kind of bad, only this time the boys are mad about princesses, actress Rachel Zegler playing Snow White in the upcoming live-action to be precise.

The ghost of Brie Larson’s past is making the rounds on Twitter again

The latest target for social media’s putridity is Rachel Zegler, star of Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Snow White. In a recent interview with Variety, Zegler discussed some of the changes that the new film would make to its story – specifically, the lead character is driven by a desire to lead now, she is “not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.”

The merits of Disney remakes aside, they’re changes that make sense. As Zegler puts it, storytelling has changed since 1937. People don’t pay to see feature-length movies about women eating fruit, taking naps, and being awoken by non-consensual kisses anymore. But not everyone agrees.

What happened next will shock you, especially if you just now got your America Online disk and you’re logging onto the internet for the first time: People got mad. Tikitok and Twitter sprayed their musk all over the story, calling Zegler’s takes “pseudo-feminism” and accusing her of “single-handedly destroying this movie.” The rhetoric was hyperbolic. It was acidic. It was, you know, Tuesday. Eagle-eyed viewers noticed a pattern.

There’s a lot that stings about the story. It’s rough, knowing that film Twitter might never stop being a free box of megaphones for everyone with a one-way brain filter and a “No Girls Allowed” sign on their bedroom door. It’s also a little bit gutting to know that conversations about live-action Disney adaptations are always going to swing back around to accusations of surreptitious political agendas and the formation of parasocial disgust targeted at opinionated female performers.
Like, these remakes (mostly lacking originality) are often pretty bad on their own merits, guys. Maybe focus on arguments that actually hold water.

About the author

Tom Meisfjord

Tom is an entertainment writer with five years of experience in the industry, and thirty more years of experience outside of it. His fields of expertise include superheroes, classic horror, and most franchises with the word "Star" in the title. An occasionally award-winning comedian, he resides in the Pacific Northwest with his dog, a small mutt with impulse control issues.

What does Disney's reliance on sequels and spin-offs instead of new IP suggest about its creativity?

A stalling of the company's creative engine.

Yet fans continue to appreciate revisiting these familiar tales with updated visuals and contemporary messages, underscoring a persistent tension between commercial interests, creative reinvention, and audience expectations.

In conclusion, Disney’s live-action remakes represent a carefully calculated business strategy capitalizing on nostalgia and brand recognition to secure significant financial returns in an evolving media landscape.

According to John Musker, why does Disney rely on live-action remakes rather than producing new stories?

How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

How successful was the 2019 live-action version of The Lion King?

Worldwide revenues exceeded one billion dollars

What motivates Disney to keep producing live-action remakes despite mixed reviews?

These films contemporize classic stories by updating character dynamics, themes, and representation to better fit modern audiences’ social and cultural expectations.

How does Peter Pan and Wendy enhance inclusivity?

Disney’s creative leadership actively manages the challenge of respecting original material while introducing relevant innovations, engaging both legacy fans and new viewers.

How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

Public and critical reactions reveal a dynamic dialogue around nostalgia’s power and the risks of adaptation, illuminating how a major studio navigates artistic, cultural, and commercial pressures in reimagining beloved classics for the 21st century.

How has Disney leveraged nostalgia in recent years?

By turning classic animations into live-action films with major stars

This evolution reflects broader industry trends and offers valuable insight into the decision-making processes behind Hollywood’s most high-profile content in recent years.