Jed Wagman on whether Disney is losing its magic…
If you took a survey asking people to name one word associated with Disney, the chances are that the word that crops up the most will be ‘magic’. Everything about The Walt Disney Company just feels magical. From the classic animated films all the way to the theme parks, magic just encapsulates the entire company. But has this been the case lately?
Some of their recent films have been lacking a little in the magic department and have been rather lifeless. You only have to look at films like Pinocchio (2022) and The Lion King (2019) to see that the Disney magic isn’t all there anymore. The original animated Pinocchio (1940) and 1994’s The Lion King were both full of so much wonder and amazement. The original Pinocchio is probably one of Disney’s most magical films with the original wishing upon a star and the way these films bring all these incredible characters to life is remarkable. And yet, the new live action versions lack anything remotely magical.
Despite being the eighth highest grossing film of all time, the live action remake of The Lion King is utterly lifeless. The animals show no expressions on their photorealistic faces and it’s pretty much anything but magical. There’s nothing magical about two photorealistic lions with expression-less faces singing “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” in broad daylight. Disney’s live action remakes and re-imaginings might not possess that classic Disney magic but that doesn’t mean it’s completely disappeared from the company.
Disney Animation seems to be on pretty good form lately however. Encanto came out in November 2021 and almost a year later, people still seem to be obsessed with it and just can’t stop talking, or even singing, about Bruno. Encanto was the second-highest animated grossing film of 2021 behind Sing 2, but it was only really when the film arrived on Disney+ on Christmas Eve that it properly made a splash.
Encanto currently sits at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and it received 3 Oscar nominations (winning Best Animated Film). The soundtrack went on to receive numerous accolades and the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” ended up becoming on the second Disney film ever to top the US charts and the first Disney number one in the UK.
In the animation department, Disney are thriving and it certainly looks like they haven’t lost any of their magic. And with magic, and more importantly losing magic being such a crucial element to the plot and the storyline of Encanto, it seems fitting that this film serves as a reminder that Disney haven’t lost their magic entirely. At least not with animation.
Through Pixar, Disney have had a number of other animated successes recently including Lightyear, Turning Red and Luca which have all been quite popular showing that the animated films still retain that classic Disney magic.
Their upcoming animated adventure Strange World which releases in cinemas on November 23rd will hopefully continue the trend of animated magic. The film centres around the legendary Clades who are a family of explorers whose differences threaten their latest and most crucial mission. They’re forced to put away their differences and rely on each other whilst in uncharted territory to find a special creature that awaits them.
Filled with a great voice cast including Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid and Lucy Liu, Strange World looks set to be a big hit. It appears to be a classic old-school Disney family adventure full of fun and magic, something that’s been lacking in a lot of their live action offerings.
So why can’t Disney get it right with live action? Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this is set to change any time soon either. We’ve seen less than a minute and a half of footage from the upcoming live action remake of The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey and there has already been a lot of backlash against the film online from supposed Disney ‘fans’.
In 2024, Disney have plans for yet another live action remake, this time it’s Snow White and stars Rachel Zegler as the eponymous princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. But why should we have any reason to expect that this is going to be different from any of Disney’s other, rather disappointing live action remakes? How is this going to be any more magical a film than the 1937 animation?
Actor Peter Dinklage has already criticised the film and has slated Disney for still making that “backward story of seven dwarves living in the cave”. If the film isn’t going to be an improvement on the original, nor is it doing anything vastly different, what’s the point in making it?
Looking at Disney’s upcoming slate of animated film, there’s Wish starring Ariana DeBose and Alan Tudyk which is set for release in late 2023. The film follows Princess Asha and her goat named Valentino as they meet a literal star and go on an epic adventure among the stars and through various different worlds in order to help save Asha’s people. Wish sounds exactly like classic Disney magic. So why can’t the live action films get this right?
Maybe the live action format of filmmaking just doesn’t work as well for magic as animation does. The first live action film that Walt Disney Pictures ever made was Treasure Island in 1950, a whole 13 years after Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Disney’s first feature length animated film, was released. But there have still been plenty of good live action Disney films over the years.
Magic in films is so important because that’s what we love so much about the movies. The magic that transports us to another world, full of incredible characters. It doesn’t have to be actual physical pixie dust or a magic wand that provides this magic, it’s just the magic in the world and the characters of the film that draws us in. And that’s one of the wonders of Disney and their films. It’s a shame to see so many live action films not have this key Disney feature and hopefully they can bring it back to their films in the not-so-distant future.
If anything, we need to cherish those magical Disney animated films like Encanto and hopefully Strange World, as one day these animated films may also lose their charm and their magic that we love so much. I really hope Disney’s animated films don’t go the way of the live action department but there’s just something about their live action films that just lack that classic Disney magic.
What are your thoughts? Be sure to let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Jed Wagman
Originally published November 4, 2022. Updated November 23, 2022.
