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Question for the Week of May 14 2012

May 14, 2012 by admin divider image

How do you feel about the new studio trend of cranking out live-action versions of classic animated fairy tales like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland?

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http://www.twitter.com/morgan_burt Morgan Burt

It’s perfectly fine! It’s not like the studios own the SOLE rights to those stories. It breathes new life into the stories we love. I don’t think that making new live-action versions takes away from the “originals” (or what we’ve deemed originals). It’s up to each of us to decide which ones we like best and consider “classic.”
http://www.facebook.com/NathanBryan.net Nathan Bryan

Its fantastic. Why spend extra money on something that has a 50/50 chance of earning money when you can perfect something that is solid and tried. It would be nice to have new things every now and then though.
Samuel

Overall, its very refreshing to see new interpretations on the supposed Disney classics, but as usual other studios see that fairy tale movies are bringing in big bucks , so know its only a matter of time before they over-saturate the market and then fairy tales will once again become part of the background.
Awesomeeatsyou

I like different interpretations of these tales, but when the media is focusing so much on just one it makes it irritating. So many companies are doing stuff with Snow White, but it gets old. It would be better if they branched out to some of the other fairytales as well, not just focusing on one.
Sheri

I love it. I am a huge fan of fairy tales in general, and I also love re-interpretation. Some of my favorite books are re-imagined fairytales told from a different perspective or with a different twist.
Cerebus4000

I think its great. The stories are more mature without being vulgar and the writing is in many cases better. They have also drawn some of the finest actors for the roles.
The LA Animation Examiner

I’d like to play the live-action Mother Goose. Any takers?
Andrea

It’s better, in my opinion, that they take on making live movies of classic fairytales than live takes on some cartoon classics (Alvin and the Chipmunks, Smurfs, Yogey Bear, etc).
Do you know what would be a great not-so-classic live? Mulan
Artistyoung

Alternate realities are fine and you can tune them out if you are smart and clever.
AnimationHope

With the new trend in live action film making and classic movie re-vamps, taking classic fairy tales and giving them a new fresh spin is what’s doing the trick at the box office…for the most part.

Should EVERY classic fairy tale be tweaked and worked into a live action film? No. Some classics are meant to stay classic.

Recently there have been a few classic live action flicks that have done the job, namely: TRON: Legacy, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010), and now Snow White and The Huntsman. All three of these movies were carefully planned and perfectly executed to branch off from the “Rated G” frame and translated into a more contemporary story (Even though TRON legacy was a sequel, it still brought in elements from the original that made it really feel like a continuation but a whole new movie at the same time.)

However, there are more problem children than the latter, Red Riding Hood and Beastly, just to name a couple. These two films were, in my opinion, poorly executed and just plain atrocious and done with the best intentions.

If your going to take a classic and try to tell the same story in a newer/different way, you better raise the bar because there is nothing more depressing than going to watch a favorite childhood film get massacred on the big screen for the sake of a trend (that will most likely die out in the next couple of years).

Here are the real questions:
When will all the re-makes, prequels, etc. stop?

With the exception of Disney’s The Princess and The Frog, When will we see a film with the originality and caliber to stand among the great classical fairy tale films that we all grew up with(e.g. Beauty and The Beast, Cinderella, and so on and so forth)?

And, when will production companies suck it up and shell out some extra cash to bring back the tride and true traditional 2D animation films for the new generations to come?