Everybody loves Disney, right? The creatives behind the now-massive corporation have been producing childhood classics for generations. Recently, fans and critics alike have complained about the studio's direction and the films that are prioritized. Disney fans have decided they don't want live-action remakes anymore —they want excitement and new material to love.
Disney made its first live-action remakes as early as the 1990s with "The Jungle Book" and "101 Dalmatians." It wasn't until the 2010s that the studios started producing them yearly. However, fans have started to grow tired of these remakes, with some saying Disney should stop producing remakes over original animated features.
Vidhi Dharnidharka, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, said Disney and its studios, including Pixar, haven't had the same air of creativity in their projects since COVID.
"The last couple big new things that we saw coming from them were like 'Turning Red,' 'Encanto' and 'Luca,'" Dharnidharka said. "Those were the three biggest things I think of when I think about the new, creative things that Disney has made."
Melody Limon, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, agrees with Dharnidharka. She said live-action remakes offer a security blanket for studios during these struggling times for Hollywood. Studios know they will profit off of retelling classics.
"Putting out live-action movies is kind of a safe place for them. They know people are going to go see it," Limon said. "They know they're going to profit off of it… although I do think that Disney is in a position where they should, by all means, be able to take risks."
Despite Disney receiving backlash on studio direction, there are still other areas of the company flourishing. The Disney parks are an example of just how embedded Disney is when it comes to pop culture.
Emma Nance, a freshman studying biomedical engineering, said the parks symbolize how timeless and popular Disney truly is.
"Disney, as a theme park concept, will never get old, " Nance said. "People are always going to love being in different lands and getting away from their day-to-day, no matter what kind of corporate decisions Disney makes. The basis of the parks and the main framework is too strong."
The negative attitude toward live-action remakes has been building over the past couple of years among fans, and the release of 2025's "Snow White" starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot was the breaking point.
The film has had major controversies from the beginning and was written off by most as a box-office failure. Controversies included diverging political views among cast and crew, the decision to have the seven dwarves be CGI rather than human actors, as well as disappointment in creative decisions like costuming and hairstyle.
Amid this controversy, Disney has decided to put a pause on the production of its live-action "Tangled" remake, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It's undecided whether this film will be picked up again or reworked.
This decision to halt, or at least rethink, live-action productions might be the first step in Disney reconsidering audiences and centering their wants for more original animated content and creativity.
"They think there's a risk of something new," Dharnidharka said. "And they don't realize that what people are looking for, especially in Disney, is something new, and that's not what they're giving their audiences."
Edited by Andrew Dirst, Abigail Beck and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at jagon128@asu.edu.
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Jazlyn is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is her second semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Blaze Radio.
