15 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Live Action Remake Movies
We don’t know about you fine folks, but we tend to give live action remakes a little side-eye whenever we hear that they’re in the works. Some of the originals are so dear to us that it almost feels like our kid coming home with a nose ring or something. They were so perfect as they were! Why oh why did those ruffians pressure our sweet Janey girl to put a hole in her face?!
Sorry, we’ve just been told by the higher-ups to keep personal issues to ourselves. Anyway, we guess that live action remakes can give a new generation that same feeling we had, so good on them. The Lilo & Stitch remake made over a billion dollars at the box office this year, but Snow White didn’t get the love it was hoping for, so it all seems like one big gamble. And much like our daughter’s miscreant friends, we might never forgive The Lion King remake for having Seth Rogen singing ‘Hakuna Matata!’ We brought up our kid again, didn’t we? Sorry, it’s just, whoever thought that voice could sing was out of their minds!
’Lilo & Stitch’ is dedicated to a true Disney great
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The new Lilo & Stitch is dedicated to the memories of David Ogden Stiers and Zoe Caldwell, who voiced Jumba and the Grand Councilwoman respectively in the original film. You’d remember David Ogden Stiers as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast, Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas, and the narrator in the Winnie the Pooh films. Rest in Peace, Mr. Stiers. Thanks for the memories.
Dopey Talks in the ‘Snow White’ remake
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In a controversial move, a shocking change in the Snow White remake is when Dopey talks. The character in the animated film is entirely mute, but in the 2025 version, Dopey is voiced by Broadway star Andrew Barth Feldman. In the end, he’s actually revealed to be the narrator!
SAG Strikes delayed the production of ‘How To Train Your Dragon’
Universal Pictures
It was announced in February 2023, but filming couldn't actually start until January 2024. Despite the challenges, they took advantage of the extended pre-production, and refined designs for the animated creatures and environments. They completed principal photography in only four months!
’The Lion King’ had to be careful depicting the violence
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Because it was a live action movie, they had to adhere to stricter rules about the fight scenes. Depicting scenes like the end battle between Scar and the hyenas meant the animators had to be cautious not to make it too realistic (since realism could obviously make it too gory for young moviegoers).
Disney auditioned 2,000 people for the lead roles in ‘Aladdin’
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
For the 2019 remake, Disney put out a worldwide casting call for actors and singers from Arab or Asian backgrounds. The process lasted months as producers reportedly found it hard to find actors who could both sing and act. Mena Massoud ended up playing Aladdin, and Naomi Scott got to play Jasmine.
2016’s ‘The Jungle Book’ had a star-studded cast
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Voices of the characters included: Bill Murray as Baloo, Christopher Walken as King Louie, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Lupita Nyong’o as the motherly wolf Raksha, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, and Idris Elba as Shere Khan.
Tim Burton wasn’t even a fan of the original ‘Alice in Wonderland
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
At Comic-Con in 2009, he said “It was always a girl wandering around from one crazy character to another, and I never really felt any real emotional connection.” He signed on to direct for the chance to add some depth to the story.
The original Belle was thrilled with the casting of Emma Watson
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Actress Paige O'Hara, who voiced Belle in the 1991 animation, said that casting Watson as Belle was a “genius” move. She even offered to give Watson some singing tips. Susan Egan, who originally played Belle on Broadway, was also enthusiastic about it, stating that Watson is “perfect.”
They didn’t animate Dumbo until after production ended
No one really knew what Dumbo would look like, since he wasn't computer-generated until after production was totally complete. When the movie was being edited, they began inserting the live-action Dumbo into the film's empty spaces.
The tones are played with in the Pinocchio remake
A slightly darker, sadder tonal shift is having Geppetto grieve the loss of his deceased son, but they do lighten up Pinocchio's trip to Pleasure Island by replacing the beer and cigars with root beer. Screen Rant notes that certain rewrites have the movie missing the point of the original.
Harry Styles was almost cast as Prince Eric
Shutterstock
Before Jonah Hauer-King was cast as Prince Eric in the 2023 remake, the role was offered to Harry Styles. He turned down the opportunity to focus on movies with darker themes like Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman.
There was a familiar tune in ‘Cinderella’
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In the 2015 remake, it seems like Ella is humming a random tune as she feeds the animals, but if you listen closely, she's actually humming "Sing, Sweet Nightingale" ( a classic song from the animated version).
101 Dalmatians by the actual numbers
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
For the giant pack of doggies, 230 puppies and 20 adult Dalmatians were actually used for filming.
Adoption over breeding in ‘Lady and the Tramp’
In the animated version, Lady and the Tramp have puppies of their own, but in the live-action movie, their owners choose to adopt puppies from a shelter instead! They wanted to encourage viewers to adopt rather than breed.
Liu Yifei did most of her own stunts in ‘Mulan’
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In an interview, cinematographer Mandy Walker said that instead of using her stunt double for most of the film, Yifei trained with her stunt double before shooting and ended up doing 90% of the stunts herself.
