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#live action remakes
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marzipanandminutiae · 4 months
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live-action remakes or animated movies don't suck because live action is Inherently Less Magical And Awe-Inspiring or whatever other nonsense people like to spew. Guillermo del Toro doesn't turn out an absolutely breathtaking live-action sci-fi/fantasy/horror/thriller movie with incredible practical effects every few years for this anti-live-action ingratitude
no, they suck because the ones that currently exist are 99% soulless Disney cash-grabs with very little love or heart to them, where the geuninely talented artists working on them were hamstrung by the company's corner-cutting
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artist-issues · 4 months
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It isn’t all the filmmaker’s fault that all we’re getting is second-rate remakes and sequels to franchises that should’ve been left alone a long time ago.
We don’t have a clear idea of why we like the things we like. So we don’t clearly communicate why we like the things we like. So it’s no wonder Hollywood keeps getting your favorite movies and their characters wrong. The fans don’t even know why they like what they like.
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When Genie is set free in the original Aladdin, that moment was impactful, and you remembered it all through childhood. When Luke tosses the lightsaber away and says “I am a Jedi, like my father before me,” it was impactful, and you remembered it.
But did you stop and analyze why? What made those moments, and those stories, impactful?
Did you say, “Genie wished to be free for the whole movie, and he was always trying to tell Aladdin about how freedom only comes from trusting, and he was learning to trust Al himself, and Aladdin finally DID trust Jasmine to still want him even if he wasn’t rich, so he set Genie free in the most satisfying way!”
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Did you say, “Luke spent all previous movies rushing into fights, and trying to control everything to save the ones he loves, but when he finally has his enemy at his mercy and is at the height of his power, he realizes that being a Jedi isn’t rushing and fighting and controlling; it’s having faith in the good and throwing your opportunity for control away.”
Did you think through and appreciate that stuff? The values? The point of the whole story, and how the characters act as pillars holding that point up? The good and the bad things that they embody?
No. Not out loud. Because we don’t think critically anymore. We just go “what’s this? Entertain me. Oooh, I felt something! Good! Next!”
The why behind what you like is the only value in liking anything.
But we don’t look objectively at the “why.” We don’t dwell on the “why.” If we dwell on anything, it’s to superimpose ourselves or whatever we like onto the characters.
You think Barbie was hyping feminism because you like feminism, and because you felt things during Barbie. You write fanfiction about Eddie Munson that has nothing to do with what Eddie Munson actually is as a character—because you like love stories, and you felt some compelling emotions when you saw Eddie Munson onscreen, so you’ve decided that those things should go together. You take something that made you feel emotions while you watched the canon material, then you don’t bother to process those emotions or what made the canon material compelling. You just slap whatever you already think you like onto something that made you feel, whether it had anything to do with what you like or not.
You eat the apple and benefit from it without knowing, at all, what nutrients are inside. Then when someone offers you crap and tells you it’s apple-flavored, you wonder why you’re not feeling the same way afterward.
Then you misdiagnose. You say “no, I don’t wonder why I’m not feeling the same—it’s because the CGI in live-action remakes suck!” Okay, great, so they’ll get better CGI. And it’ll still suck. Because that was never the problem, just like the reasons you liked the movie were never the reasons it actually impacted you in the first place.
Figure out. WHY. You like what you like. Figure out if it’s because the stories said what their creators objectively intended for them to say—or if you like the story in spite of that, not because of that.
Then open your mouth about it. It is worth it.
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bluebird167 · 2 years
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Forget the Disney Live Action Remakes. They should just record the Broadway Shows and make them available for purchase or on Disney Plus. Who’s with me?
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so-what-then · 1 month
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The reason live action adaptations of IPs are so terrible is because they are made for adults.
Not kids.
Not families.
Self-serious adults.
No child wants Latina Snow White. No family wishes ATLA was more hardcore like Game of Thrones. No one outside of online sjws care about assuaging Stockholm syndrome in BatB.
These are the concerns of adults who are forcing the industry to make worse versions of things they grew up with because they take fandom way too seriously.
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dont-let-me-eat-pears · 6 months
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okay, the little mermaid is in at least my top 3 of the live-action remakes, but ariel and eric are my favorite couple.
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choppedcowboydinosaur · 5 months
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I’m glad the live action Lilo and Stitch movie got cancelled tbh. The original was a perfectly fine film that didn’t need to be sullied by a soulless remake.
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shadyb00ts · 10 months
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The Little Mermaid (2023) - Review
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As a longtime fan of Chloe x Halle, I knew from the moment that Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel that she was the perfect choice. Of course the racists were (and still are) whining and throwing tantrums about Ariel being black, because they never believe any person of color can truly earn a role with sheer talent, but for a long time I was sure that even if this movie ended up being an absolute dumpster fire, Halle would be the saving grace of that dumpster fire. She would be the best part, hands down.
Well, I wasn't surprised to see that I was right. About her being the best part, at least, but I don't think the movie itself is a dumpster fire at all. I actually really enjoyed it, and I've been very cynical of the Disney live action remakes for a long time like most people are. I had no confidence in this film but I had the utmost confidence in Halle to shine no matter what. However, there were things about this movie that pleasantly surprised me. Some disappointments though, I'll admit.
This is gonna be a long review, as my reviews always are. Spoilers ahead. I'd recommend you read this if you've seen the movie, but if you haven't and don't care about spoilers, read on.
So for starters, I was never really a Little Mermaid stan. Of course I loved the movie as a kid because I was obsessed with mermaids in general, and the songs were undisputed classics, but I wasn't exactly a fan of the movie as I grew older. I don't dislike it, it's just... fine. It's very of its time. So because of that, I knew they were going to update and expand certain things in the remake. For better or worse.
I've already stated how much I thought Halle nailed this film. Maybe you could say that I'm biased since I was already a fan of hers anyway, but hey, this is just my honest opinion. She captured Ariel's essence so beautifully; her innocence and naivete, her curiosity and inquisitiveness, her yearning and wonder. And while yes, the CGI during the underwater scenes could be a little janky some of the time, I was mostly mesmerized by the way she moved, the way her hair moved and the iridescence of her tail. She just looked so gorgeous and adorable and got Ariel down to a science.
As for when she gets legs and goes to the surface, that's where she shines even more, because she has to act without saying a word. It was all in her expressions and mannerisms and I thought she absolutely delivered. I haven't mentioned the new songs they added yet, but they did add a new Ariel song for when she goes to the surface called "For the First Time" and I have to say that it's my favorite new addition. It's soooo delightfully musical theater and I think it has the most Little Mermaid-esque vibe to it. It fit the movie perfectly.
Back to the actors, I also thought Melissa McCarthy was the biggest surprise. I had zero confidence that she would do the role justice, but I thought she actually did a great job. She was definitely channeling Pat Carroll and some of her lines elicited chuckles out of me. And I thought her rendition of Poor Unfortunate Souls was pretty good, even though it's unfortunately missing the iconic "body language" lyric. She's not a strong vocalist but I think she did the best she could, and she was one of the highlights. Also she did the Ursula Shoulder Shimmy which I appreciated.
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Jonah Hauer King as Prince Eric also did a good job I think. The remake added much-needed depth and character to Eric that was missing in the original. Another thing I appreciated was how they tried to show more parallels between Eric and Ariel. There's a scene in the movie where Ariel finds Eric's library/study, and it's shot in a way that makes it reminiscent to Ariel's grotto. They tried to give the two more things in common, and I think they succeeded in that. Plus the chemistry between Jonah and Halle was just off the charts. I rarely find straight couples adorable, but I thought they were so adorable any time they were sharing a scene.
My one minor gripe with his casting is that he's not exactly the strongest vocalist. One of the new musical numbers is an Eric song called Wild Uncharted Waters, and.... I didn't really like it. His voice kind of sounded like the lead singer of an angsty rock band from the 2000s. As soon as it started it gave me war flashbacks to Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast, where they had to use very noticeable autotune on her voice. Granted that was much, MUCH worse, but still. I don't wanna be reminded of that travesty. The song itself is okay I think, but it could be much better if they had a stronger vocalist or a Broadway darling to play the role, to really do the song justice. But like I said, this is just a minor gripe because Eric really only gets one song, and Jonah overall did a good job.
A change that I really appreciated was, instead of Ariel getting invited to dinner at the castle, she and Eric go to a market instead. The kingdom in the remake is inspired by the Caribbean and I loved the tropical, colorful vibe of the locale. The market visit allowed Ariel to wander around and marvel at everything she doesn't understand, and it's a much cuter, more laid back way for her and Eric to spend time together. Some people were upset about the crazy chef who tries to kill Sebastian being removed, but honestly, I never thought that sequence added anything to the original. I loved what they did here.
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Daveed Diggs as Sebastian... Sigh. Look, I love Daveed but I feel like he was so miscast for this. Anytime he spoke or sang, you could tell the Jamaican accent was very put on. Sure, the original actor who voiced Sebastian--Samuel E. Wright, RIP--also was putting on a Jamaican accent, but somehow it just felt more natural when he did it. His voice work as Sebastian was so iconic, and Daveed just missed the mark on this role. It just wasn't the right role for him. His version of Under the Sea was also quite underwhelming, and he did a lot of talk-singing during it. I liked the Under the Sea sequence visually, but not quite sonically.
As for Kiss the Girl, people were making such an uproar about the lyric changes but the changes were so minor. They literally only changed like, a couple of lines, and the song is still the same thematically. It's still just the animal sidekicks trying to influence Eric to kiss the girl in kiiind of a date-r*pey-ish way. They wanted to make it seem more consensual, but nothing's really changed. But yeah, I do think the original version of the song is still better regardless. Similar issue I felt about Under the Sea, it just... doesn't quite hit the mark.
Awkwafina as Scuttle was... alright. She had some funny moments, but I mean, she's just doing her regular voice. It's literally just Awkwafina as a bird. But what I really hated was.. Scuttlebutt.
Oh god, Scuttlebutt. I honestly have no idea what Lin Manuel Miranda was thinking when he wrote this? I don't know if he was smoking something really strong, cause like... Mama, this is garbage. Like, I can't even explain to you how painful to hear this song was. It's absolutely the worst and most unnecessary addition to the soundtrack. Nobody wants to hear Awkwafina, the queen of putting on blaccents, rapping. That's the last thing any of us wanna hear. It was just. So. Horrible. I've seen the movie twice in theaters now and each time I was just begging for that song to be over.
Anyway, that's the most negative thing I can say about this movie, was that damn song. Lin deserved jailtime for that one.
For the more minor characters, Javier Bardem as Triton was okay. Some people think he was horrible but I don't think he was that bad, it was fine. I still would've preferred Idris Elba as Triton but that's just my personal fancast.
Flounder was... Flounder. Yeah, I don't like his hyper-realistic design, but he was still pretty cute and 12-year-old Jacob Tremblay was just trying his best to emulate the original actor and I think he did a fine job.
Ariel's sisters were barely in it, like in the original. They did give them each unique, cute designs, but we all know that it's just to sell dolls. They appear in the beginning of the movie in a pretty awkward scene that's supposed to replace the concert from the original film. Apparently Triton and his daughters meet every time there's something called the Coral Moon? It seems to just be a family meeting of some sort. They left it so vague, they didn't even bother to explain what the Coral Moon was. I wish they had just kept the concert.
But yeah, the sisters are all named and apparently I heard each of them are supposed to have special powers? Well those powers weren't showcased in the movie at all, so we know it was just a marketing tactic. I'm sure there'll be tons of fanfics of all the sisters having adventures and whatnot. They might even make an animated series. It'd be called Ariel and Her Sisters, or Daughters of Triton.
I do think the dolls are very slay though. I'd buy the whole 7 pack.
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Oh my god, I forgot to talk about Vanessa. Girl... Jessica Alexander bodied this role. Even though she was only in it for a handful of minutes, she ate up every bit of those minutes. I also really liked Vanessa's Trick from the soundtrack and thought it sounded beautiful. Do I wish it still had lyrics instead of "la-di-da's"? Sure I guess, but I honestly don't mind all that much. It's very haunting and Halle's voice is ethereal on it.
I think that's all I have to say on the movie. It's a fun time and it's bolstered by some stellar performances (particularly from Halle) and welcome changes/additions. But it's also kinda bogged down by not-always-great CGI, some clunky musical choices, and certain things cut from the original film that I thought shouldn't have been cut.
Still, I very much enjoyed this movie more than any of the other Disney remakes so far. I do agree with people's sentiments of it being the best of the bunch, but well... the bar isn't exactly high in that regard. Maybe because the previous remakes were so bad, this one just is the best because it's the only one that doesn't suck.
Whatever the case, I had enough of a great time that I went and saw it twice. I recommend you see it too before it leaves theaters.
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inquisitorpsyduck · 21 days
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No more live action remakes of animated properties unless the cast is at least 85% muppet.
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dizzydispatch · 6 months
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Remaking cartoons from decades ago with soullessly hyperrealistic anthropomorphism and auto-tune should be considered a sin of the highest artistic degree.
“Nobody can come up with new ideas anymore” well yeah, what did you expect? Late-stage capitalism rewards productivity above all else, and so the culture we’ve developed around our economic system has grown to a point where creation for the sake of creation is not only not actively encouraged, but sometimes straight up discouraged.
Art and music and writing are sacrificed on the pedagogical altar for the benefit of things deemed more important. Since colleges bring in money from athletic events, they offer money for athletes to perform them. In order to meet that need, schools cut funding to the arts in favor of cultivating more athletes. And with college being so expensive and yet necessary for any halfway decent job, the only ones who can go to school to study anything they’re passionate about are the ones who are lucky enough to have profitable passions, and the ones with family money. That, in turn, greatly limits the pool of qualified talent that studios and publishers have to draw from.
Artists and writers have two options: (1) take the risk of trying to turn it into a career, and hope you’re good enough and can get the right exposure so that you can make a living from it, or (2) work a “productive” day job and hope that you have enough energy at the end of it that you can create in your free time. Which, given the way that most people need multiple jobs just to survive, is extremely difficult to manage.
It’s a vicious cycle that robs humanity of the thing that makes it worthwhile to be a human: expression. And we are all going to suffer from it.
TL;DR i blame late stage capitalism for the fact that the crab from the live action little mermaid remake gives me the creeps
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todoroki-tina · 2 years
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The backlash against the Little Mermaid is both funny and very sad. They only released a teaser trailer and the Antisjw yotube crowd already have 10min vids about a 2 min trailer. I seen people try to argue on how it's "unrealistic" for a mermaid to have darkskin, while ignoring the fact there's a FUCKING TALKING CRAB!!! with a Jamaican accent in the same movie.
The sadder part its mostly from grown ass men who didn't even care about the little mermaid are throwing tantrums because it's "Woke". This is driven purely by racists that their fantasy worlds are now being more inclusive.
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hpanimatedseries · 8 days
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When people say “the new ATLA is different. It’s not better or worse. Stop comparing it so much!” Like guys. If you want to enjoy a new story just… watch something else?? I’m going to complain when someone takes my favorite story and screws it up while still claiming it’s the same thing? Or when they try to sell it to me as something better??
Like part of my complaint is that they could have used the budget and talents to make a new good story for me to enjoy but instead they wasted it on ruining something that is already nearly perfect.
So anyway yeah I’m gonna be complaining.
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artist-issues · 2 months
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It's so evident that Disney is trying to girl-bossify their princesses, which is why the remakes's focus has shifted from the beautiful and timeless values and themes of love, selflessness, sacrifice, faith, kindness, trust, etc. to how they have actually been badass this whole time and how much stuff they can get done on their own and that actually don't need ANY man because that will automatically make them weak, stupid and useless (and they call people who don't think like them misogynistic lol), but that was never the point of their movies. I partly blame the ignorant fools that lambasted the original movies and characters for not being "progressive" enough or whatever nonsensical argument they came up with and accusing them of being bad role models when they clearly aren't. What Disney is doing is some sort of "damage control" and "apology" for not depicting how kickass a young woman can be or whatever. It saddens me that this is where Disney is at. They discard timeless and beautiful storytelling and themes for modern, performative ideologies.
Correct. I’ve said this somewhere else, too, I think, but they should never have tried to “improve” or change who their characters are. They should have simply doubled down.
That’s what they did with Cinderella 2015. Everyone criticizes Cinderella for not standing up to the evil stepfamily and rescuing herself; proving that they never understood that Cinderella’s superpower was her kindness. So in 2015, Disney said, “no, look, we’ll tell the story again, and this time pay attention to the kindness.”
They didn’t give her a rapier wit to put her stepmother in her place.
They didn’t add in a legal contract that forces Cinderella to stay so everyone knows she’d “leave if she could.”
They didn’t even make Cinderella fight her way out of her situation, in any way. Or convince the Prince to find her.
They just doubled down on the kindness and showed off, even more carefully, who Cinderella is and always was, regardless of whether or not her critics saw it.
But the other Princesses? They re-wrote. Belle’s no longer self-sacrificial: she “will escape!” her oath to take her father’s place. Jasmine’s no longer trusting and longing to be free: she wants to be Sultan. Ariel’s no longer doing everything out of love and faith: she’s doing it all for herself, so she can be independent.
You’re right, it’s all Disney holding up their hands and saying, “sorry sorry, we got it wrong the first time, what was it you wanted again?” And in 5 years, when the values of our culture shift again (like they always do, because they’re never rooted in a timeless moral standard, just whatever we want in the moment) the remakes will be considered inadequate. Their Princesses will be criticized, and round and round we go.
People are still criticizing Cinderella 2015 for the same core reasons they never liked any version of Cinderella (except for “Ever After” 🙄). Disney needs to remember: that just doesn’t matter. Let them be wrong. Truth will always stand the test of time. Pandering never does.
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I was thinking that since this Princess and The Frog movie is going to be remake, maybe they could use a little imagination and make it even more fantasy by removing the race thing?
Set it in a fictional city that’s inspired by New Orleans, in a fictional country, in an alternate 1920s where racism never existed? And tell a good story with characters that simply happen to be Black, like they did in The Little Mermaid (2023)? That way, they could make Charlotte Black or create a new Black character based on / inspired by her and everybody in the main and supporting cast could be Black. 🤔
We need more stories with Black characters that aren’t about Black struggles! 😭 We need escapism!
this is really good Nonny!!! I would love to see an adaptation like this!!! and you're totally right tlm (2023) totally paved the way for this!
mod ali
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cjbolan · 11 months
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On one hand, I’m happy Disney’s Little Mermaid remake is adding a bunch of new plot points and songs, so at least it won’t be a boring copy like The Lion King (2019).
On the other hand, I’m scared it might lose focus on the main point with pointless filler like in Cinderella (2015) or Beauty and the Beast (2017). Or worse, it’ll have a completely opposite message and morals with completely rewritten characters like Mulan (2020).
Best case scenario it’s like Aladdin (2019): mostly faithful to the original plot, with some new songs/characters/plot points that help emphasize the original’s themes and ideas instead of changing them.
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