This week, the Walt Disney company announced that they will be rebooting their most popular franchises with live action reimaginings and postmodern narrative twists. Now, I have mentioned many times on this blog that I am a huge fan of Disney movies, with many of them forming the bedrock of my undying love for film. For as long as I can remember, the classic Disney movies have been a core staple of my weekly viewing and even today, I am not averted to settling down with a hot chocolate and enjoying the animations that I loved when I was child.
Of course, Disney has been remaking their most indelible works for a good few years now, beginning in 2010 with Tim Burton's gorgeous looking but perfunctory 'Alice In Wonderland' and even as I write this, 'Maleficent', the completely redundant retelling of 'Sleeping Beauty' is earning millions of dollars worldwide. But while 'Maleficent' and 'Alice In Wonderland' were certainly box office successes in their own rights, they were, to me, nothing but nostalgia crushing exercises that destroyed everything that I had admired and adored so much about their respective originals. 'Maleficent' for example turned one of my all time favourite cinematic villains into a troubled and conflicted antihero; completely obliterating the power and terrifying ruthlessness of Disneys most iconic and memorable antagonist. I'm all for remakes and re-imaginings if they expand and develop their originals in a way that is believable and true to both the characters and the story. But when a film completely destroys the legacy of it's source to the point that it fails to resemble it's primary influence in any way shape or form, that, to me, is a huge insult to fans of the original films and the artists, writers and directors who worked so hard to bring animated magic to the silver screen all those decades ago. It is as if writers today believe that their oh-so meta sensibilities will turn these silly little cartoons into something truly unforgettable, while in reality, they are actually stepping on the toes of some of the most revered and beloved pieces of family entertainment ever created.
Over the next few years, we can expect a number of reboots (or as I like to call them, cash grabs) including a live action re-imagining of 'Beauty & The Beast' to be directed by Bill Condon and well as a new version of 'Cinderella' made by Kenneth Branagh. Of course, I can't say whether these movies are good or not because they have only just started production but before filmmakers are given the change to destroy the legacy of the most important motion pictures of my childhood, here is my personal countdown of the top 10 greatest animated Disney movies ever to be made.
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