Cinderella Is Disney’s First and Best Modern Live-Action Remake

Disney’s Snow White Could Be Better Than Audiences Expect

Disney Should Remake Its Less Successful Animated Films

Since 2015, Walt Disney Studios has been churning out a slew of live-action remakes of its classic animated hit films. Starting with Cinderella in 2015, starring Lily James as the titular princess, the quality of the adaptations has varied greatly. 2010’s Alice in Wonderland could be considered as part of this group, but it was more of a stand-alone project, having been released five years prior. And while this isn’t the first time Disney has re-formed its favorite stories in live-action (101 Dalmatians and The Jungle Book both received treatments in the 1990s), this wave of films has been a concerted and larger-scale effort by the company. Cinderella started off the trend strong with fabulous costumes, a slightly different take on the story and characters than its animated counterpart, and a simple and solid execution.

However, it could be argued that as Disney makes its way through its catalog of popular animated films, the effort placed into these adaptations is taking a nose dive. Even so, with the next release of Snow White 2025 — Disney’s first most iconic princess — the film might have the potential to top James’ Cinderella. With new trailers dropping in late 2024, audiences are seeing a somewhat altered Snow White but also a possible stellar performance by controversial actress Rachel Zegler.

Cinderella Is Disney’s First and Best Modern Live-Action Remake

Disney began developing Cinderella for live-action as far back as 2010, five years before the film’s release. Studio chairman Alan F. Horn said that, “It needs to be the definitive ‘Cinderella’ for generations to come, so if [we] need to spend a little more, spend it to make sure it’s one for the time capsule.” President Sean Baily added that they had the goal of creating “the most beautiful movie we have ever made.” And that vision shows in all elements in Cinderella from the effects, to the sets, to the costuming. James’ ballgown transformation scene is not only reminiscent of the 1950 animated sequence but almost dreamlike in quality and totally fresh in its own right. The movie also did something Disney doesn’t often do; give the audiences a glimpse of Cinderella’s mother.

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While there were touches and nods to the original, many changes were executed that made sense for a live-action film. While Cinderella’s mice carried the animated film and probably had more lines than anyone, they’re non-speaking characters in this version of the story. Cinderella also has a clandestine accidental meeting with the prince prior to meeting him at the ball. Further establishing a relationship between the romantic leads prior to their eventual marriage. Disney attempted the same sort of thing with The Little Mermaid (2023) between Ariel and Eric, but it did feel a tad more forced in the narrative. These are, after all, fairy tales — but it’s understandable the studio would want to buck the trend of its female leads marrying a man they just met.

Other established characters were given updated takes and characterizations in Cinderella. Cinderella’s mother is the person who basically delivers the most thematic element of the film and the core message of Cinderella’s character: have courage and be kind. A driving force Cinderella lacked in the original film. It adds an extra dimension to her and further establishes who she is and how she’ll behave when she faces challenges throughout her story. Helena Bonham Carter brought a comedic flair to Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. Somewhat replacing the lighthearted antics of the mice in the original. And Cate Blanchett brought a wonderfully diva-esque quality to Lady Tremaine — the wicked stepmother — that’s delicious to watch.

Disney Cinderella Movies

Cinderella (1950) • Animated

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002) • Animated

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (2007) • Animated

Cinderella (2015) • Live-action

The prince’s character even received a refresh. While Disney is making a concerted effort to update some of the elements of their potentially outdated princess narratives, the revisions in Cinderella felt fairly effortless. Compare this to Beauty and the Beast (2017), which gave Belle more of a modern (and somewhat anachronistic) awareness of social inequalities and a knack for invention like her father when her character was already fully realized in the animated film. The prince in Cinderella, now named Prince Kit, was also rebuilt from the ground up. In an interview with Collider in 2015, actor Richard Madden said of his portrayal: “I made him someone who had a sense of humor and who is aware of his own privilege and who has compassion for everyone around him. That was exciting for me because you don’t see him like that in the animation. You don’t even get his name in the animation.” Madden added, “It was fun to start from scratch with this and hopefully build someone who was a bit more fun and more real.”

Disney’s Snow White Could Be Better Than Audiences Expect

It’s taken Disney almost 10 years to circle back to its very first princess in live-action: Snow White. During the interval, the live-action trend has become more formulaic and less original — if it’s possible to do with remakes. While Cinderella put a fresh spin on the original Disney film, much of the imagery of Snow White looks reminiscent of its animated counterpart: specifically, Snow White’s dress and the Evil Queen’s overall appearance. All a potential indicator that it could be more of a shot-for-shot reboot similar to Beauty and the Beast. Which begs the question: Aside from monetary gain, why create this version at all? But there may be more to this Snow White than audiences are seeing at first blush.

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The film has been surrounded by controversy after comments made by its stars in 2022. Zegler fanned the flames when she maligned the original 1937 film as outdated and even inappropriate on some levels. She stated major changes would be made to Snow White’s character and implied the princess would be “becoming the leader she knows she can be” in this version and not “dreaming about true love.” This led some fans to question why Disney believed it had to be one or the other. Why a princess or heroine can’t have both a desire for the true love of a fairy tale and aspirations outside of that? The criticism of Disney then became that, perhaps, Disney is taking its rewrites a bridge too far.

After the delayed release of Snow White to 2025, much of the ire directed at Zegler has since died down. Leaving the potential for audiences to be more open to this alternate take on Disney’s first feature-length animated film. In late 2024, Disney dropped two new trailers for Snow White, giving viewers a greater glimpse into what the movie will look, sound, and feel like. Uncanny valley CGI dwarves aside, Zegler’s performance appears sincere and heartfelt. Zegler’s Snow White espouses her own mantra. That she was raised by her father to be “fearless, brave, and true” similar to James’ Cinderella’s platitude to “have courage and be kind.” One of these trailers even shows Snow White almost sharing a kiss with a young man, giving the impression that the idea of her finding love may not have been completely left out of the story.

Disney Should Remake Its Less Successful Animated Films

With how much Disney has been focusing on remaking some of its most financially successful classics, it might be time for some of its box office bombs to get the same attention. Movies like The Black Cauldron even feature a princess as a central figure, something that still seems to be a major selling point for Disney. The studio would have an opportunity to “fix” weaker elements of the original films and realize them in a totally different way. Movies like Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet have compelling high concepts that are practically begging to be realized in live-action. These epic science fictions have most certainly amassed cult followings in the years since being released, and audiences might invest more into seeing them on-screen than during the initial releases. Plus, giving these stories a second change feels almost more creatively justifiable than simply rehashing material that was already good the first time around.

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Regardless of how Disney chooses to move forward with selecting the material for its live-action remakes — the hope is that it will use Cinderella and some of its other more quality reboots as templates. The studio is completely capable of producing excellent and memorable content so long as its goal remains quality over quantity. And, perhaps, with Snow White, it has a chance to show audiences its moving back in that direction.