Students weigh in on next Disney live-action film

by Maddie Levans

Over the past few decades, Disney has been turning more and more classic movies into live-action hits. From 101 Dalmations to Beauty and the Beast, it seems like more and more Disney classics are being adapted to fit the silver screen.

The first live-action Disney movie, 101 Dalmatians, instantly became a smash hit, grossing over $33.5 million in its opening weekend and over $320 million worldwide. Disney then released a sequel in 2000, titled 102 Dalmatians, that grossed over $183 million worldwide.

Afterwards, Disney took a break from rebooting their classic stories until, in 2015, they released Cinderella, which quickly gained more and more attention, amounting to almost $600 million in ticket sales worldwide. In 2016, a live action version of the 1967 classic The Jungle Book, which had a global profit of almost $1 billion dollars. Now, in 2017, Disney released Beauty and the Beast, which has made over $1.2 billion worldwide, and is still in theaters today.

The next live action remake is said to be Mulan, which is to be released in 2018. Many fans of the 1998 classic, however, are worried about prominent rumors about the film’s details. So far, there is no definite answer to if the film will include the original soundtrack, boasting sing-along hits like “I’ll Make a Man out of You” and “Reflection.” Fans are also worried about the replacement of supporting character (and Mulan’s love interest) Li Shang for a more arrogant, Gaston-esque fellow recruit, Chen Honghui. As of now, Disney is holding an open casting call for Chinese actresses, similar to how they chose an actress for the hit movie, Moana. More details have yet to be released, but as of now, the details concerning a Mulan reboot are hazy.

Here at the Tribune, we wanted to see what Disney movie you, our readers, wanted to see be made into a live action film. Coming in 1st was The Lion King, followed by, sure enough, Mulan. When asked about why Mulan should be made into a live action film, juniors Katie Traynor and Aidan Fryar had various reasons for wanting a non-animated reboot. “Mulan has a good mix of action, comedy, and romance” Traynor said, saying that “seeing it live-action would be a dream come true.” Fryar, on the other hand, admires the film’s primary themes, which he described as, “Protecting family, defying gender roles, and hard work leads to success.”