Ranking Every Live-Action Disney Remake (Yes, Even the Bad Ones)

Disney movies were a huge part of our childhoods. From rewatching classics such as Cinderella or rushing to theatres to see new movies such as Frozen, we were all Disney fans. Then, in 2014, a new era started: live-action remakes.

Once again, we all rushed to the theatres to watch our favourite movies come to life. Some remakes were great, but others fell flat. As a proud Disney kid, I can tell you that these movies have been a huge topic of discussion for my friends and me. Here is my ranking of all of the Disney live-action remakes.

1. Beauty and the Beast

I absolutely love this movie. It is a perfect live-action remake of the animated version—it stuck to the original plot. Also, the costumes were flawless. Belle's yellow dress was even better than it was in the animated movie.

The casting in this movie was so great. Every single character was engaging and fun, such as during "Be My Guest" or just the Mrs Potts character in general. Two flawless performances were Emma Watson's Belle and Luke Evans' Gaston. Both embodied the animated versions' character while still bringing nuance to their roles.

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2. Maleficent

I loved how the Sleeping Beauty remake was done. While it did not follow the original plot, retelling the story from the villain Maleficent's point of view was so interesting. I also really enjoyed how we got to see Maleficent's backstory, which gave the movie more action.

One example of this action is the battle between Maleficent and King Stefan. Overall, this movie kept you more engaged than the original Sleeping Beauty did.

The sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, was another solid movie. While it was not as good as the first, it was a solid sequel; it used entertaining plotlines and relationships from the first movie.

Image Credit: Johnny Bhalla from Unsplash

3. Aladdin

Aladdin is an additional example of a great remake. Not only was it executed to perfection, but it also allowed for the characters to have much more development. The original plotlines for Jasmine, Aladdin, and the genie were built upon, making this movie better than the animated version.

Throughout the movie, Jasmine struggles to be free from a forced marriage. Jasmine's song "Speechless" represented her character's storyline very well, highlighting her determination to be a good leader. It also gave us a chance to get to know her more, which was exactly what this movie needed.

4. Cinderella

Cinderella was a good remake. It followed the same storyline and featured well-performed songs, such as "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo." Both Lily James (Cinderella) and Helena Bonham Carter (Fairy Godmother) had strong performances as their characters.

Also, the blue Cinderella dress is absolutely iconic—it is the first image that comes to mind when you think of Disney Princess dresses. It was solid overall, but this movie just did not stick out enough to make the top three.

Image Credit: Evan Lee from Unsplash

5. Cruella

Cruella is another movie that is told from the villain's point of view. It sets up the plot of 101 Dalmatians—at the end, Cruella gifts the dogs from 101 Dalmatians to their family. It was also full of action and plot twists, such as the family history with the Baroness and Cruella sneaking into her ball.

Now, I might be biased because I love fashion, but I thought that the designer storyline was so interesting. It gave Cruella the character depth that we did not know we needed.

6. The Lion King

Another example of a solid remake is The Lion King. The original plot was almost exactly followed, and the main characters were the same. Also, the animals in this movie were adorable, especially baby Simba.

While it was a good movie, the remake lost some of the original comedy by making Timon and Pumbaa less funny—the iconic hula dance was missing. This made it less entertaining.

Image Credit: Iván Díaz from Unsplash

7. Mulan

Mulan was a typical remake. New elements were added, and, sadly, original characters were removed. It showed Mulan's character well, building on her strength with the introduction of "Chi." All of the classic musical numbers were removed, which is abnormal for a Disney Princess movie, but the music would not have added much. However, Mulan is low on this list because Mushu was replaced.

8. The Little Mermaid

This movie was fine. Ariel's character remained mostly intact, along with most of the others. The plot was mostly unchanged, keeping the big final battle between Ariel, Eric, and Ursula.

There were two main parts of the plot that were changed: Eric is sceptical of Ursula, and Ariel kills Ursula herself. Ariel defeating Ursula was a good change; it gave the movie the closure that it needed. On the contrary, making Eric more sceptical of Ursula while she was on land did not add anything to the plot. Instead, it took away from the original movie's tension.

Image Credit: Z Graphica from Unsplash

9. Alice in Wonderland/Alice Through the Looking Glass

Alice in Wonderland is a bad remake. While it is technically a reimagining of the story, there was so much potential in following the original story. It completely lost the whimsical and fun nature of the first movie because the plot was changed so heavily.

In the remake, Alice has to finish her quest to defeat the Jabberwocky, and furthermore, the Red Queen, compared to the original, where she was simply exploring. This negatively impacted the plot because instead of getting the feeling of exploring Wonderland with Alice, it was turned into another action movie.

Alice Through the Looking Glass was not by any means a bad sequel. It was an action-based movie, which makes sense because Alice now has a connection to Wonderland. It would have been better if this had followed a remake with the original plotline, because it would have been Alice's first action-packed Wonderland visit.

10. Snow White

I am sure we all expected Snow White to be in last place. This movie was hated on social media, and sadly, for good reason. There were high expectations for this movie, but it just did not live up to many of them. The costumes were poorly executed, one example being Snow White's famous yellow dress.

Also, the plotline was entirely changed, becoming more modernised. One example of this was with Snow White returning to save the bandit Johnathan from the Evil Queen. Do not get me wrong, I am all for female empowerment.

I think that we should be independent and stand up for ourselves. However, this plot strayed way too far from the original, removing the feeling of a Disney Princess movie.

Conclusion

Disney has no shortage of live-action remake movies. Whether it is a fantastic remake or a sub-optimal one, many of our favourite original characters have been brought to life on the live-action screen. This list will be expanded soon, starting in July next year with the live-action Moana.

A Tangled remake is also in development. Since these two movies are fan favourites, let's hope that they measure up to the original films.