disneyprincess11 wrote:
You know: first, I was furious about this remake. How desperate it is, how lazy it is, and how much of a cheap money grabber it is. But, I realized this on the way home after rehearsal for my college's musical.
What else can Disney do for the classics to keep the legacy alive? Yes, there are TV shows like House of Mouse & the 90s shows, but there are so many slots to fill in. Broadway shows? Expensive as heck and limited theaters. Disney Parks? Expensive and a lot of people can’t go. Clothes, books, toys….little kids stuff. What about adults, teenagers? What can parents give to kids for the magic of Disney? How can Disney prevent people from getting bored with the same things and forget about them?
Remakings of the Disney classics to the big screen. If these remakes the only way to keep the magic of Disney alive, so fine! Go for it. Give us the same stuff we love, but put a spin on it. Give something exciting to something that we love! We need to spice things up after a while. We need to remember the nostalgia and the magic that these old Disney movies gave us and are giving us to kids. So, I approve of these remakes if they’re doing them right. Is it stupid? Yes. Is it lazy? Yes. Is it desperate for money? Oh yeah! But, it reminds us of the magic of Disney and if it sucks, we have the originals and we can appreciate them! And this is far better than the cheap-quels. So, bring it on Beauty and the Beast, Jungle Book, Pete’s Dragon, Mulan, and heck-even you, Winnie the Pooh! Yes, you’re too soon, desperate for money, and will look creepy in CGI, but give us something to smile about ‘cause I have a feeling that you’ll make me cry (The plot is good, TBH)! Tim Burton’s Dumbo, Maleficent, and AIW, you suck.
So people know it's a stupid, lazy cash-grab and still support it? SMH...
The thing is,
Snow White,
Pinocchio,
Bambi,
Alice in Wonderland, etc. managed to stay popular and engrained in public memory without having to be re-imagined for a new generation for a reason. They are competently made, quality films that were sold on their own merits. This new wave of Disney re-imaginings is pretty much the same thing as DTV sequels of the '90s, except where one could choose to ignore DTVs as their availability was limited, these live-action movies are omnipresent.
I really, REALLY dislike this trend. Call me paranoid and old-fashioned, but executives just coming up with these things gives off the feel that they (and fans who go bananas over this) find that there's something wrong with animated versions of these stories and that they need to be shot in live-action to somehow be legitimized. And that fact that they're often altered and twisted to fit the modern perspective just confirms my suspicions. Animation (and hand-drawn animation in particular) is going through rough times as it is and this is the last thing it needs. What happened with original content anyway?
If Disney wants to remind people their "old" films exist and just how special they are, there are ways to do it: from merchandising more than a few films to more than a few target groups over limiting their home video accessibility and making special events of theatrical re-releases to creating commercials, shorts and TV specials featuring animated characters. It works for
Toy Story, doesn't it? Or will it be next in line for a live-action "treatment"?

Given what we've seen so far with these wretched things, I see three ways this new WtP movie can go:
1. Christopher Robin is now a heartless, cynical businessman and needs to be reminded of his childlike innocence and sense of wonder with the help of his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood; also known as
Scrooged Poohed...
or
2. Christopher Robin is an overworked spineless pushover who is constantly brought down by his friends/family/colleagues and told that visions of his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood are merely delusions, so at first he tries to fight them but at the end he embraces his inner child, complete with a big speech in the end. His bullies have a change of heart, everyone is happy.
or
3. Christopher Robin, now in his mid-twenties, is having recurring nightmares of a place called the Hundred Acre Wood, filled with strangely familiar monsters. After a freak accident, he finds himself in the land of his nightmares where he encounters his childhood imaginary friends Pooh, Piglet and Tigger too who are now living under a repressed regime of a being known only as the Heff. Reluctantly, Christopher Robin fights the Heff (who turns out to be a manifestation of his middle school tormentor), restores order to the Hundred Acre Wood and goes back to his own world. It is left ambiguous if the events were real or if Christopher Robin was in a coma.
A combo of these three versions is also possible.