Live-Action ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’

[doctornick]

What kind of movies do you want them to make that will have wide appeal, won't turn off a portion of the potential customer base and will do awesome financially?

Well I would start by not doing anything that may have a negative impact on the nostalgia based branding that Disney thrives on.

As I’ve said before, go an make a “girl boss” movie. There’s no reason that movie should be an “updated” Snow White.

Or more broadly, if I were running Disney I’d lean heavily on using mythology/folklore from all over the world and creating new Disney branded stories based on a variety of cultures. I think inclusion is very important and bringing out less know traditions from different cultures would great and IMHO well received

 

[doctornick]

What was different in The Little Mermaid remake? It was very faithful to the original, wasn't it?

I’d hate to point out the obvious, but there’s different ways to be “faithful” to the original. Story and plot is one and visually is another…

To use that as an example, I think they would have been better off having a “Halle as a mermaid” film but not having her be Ariel or having the movie be The Little Mermaid. In fact I think they could have made it something like TLM adjacent with a red haired Ariel making a cameo but having Halle’s character being a different mermaid in the same universe.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney fans on The Lion King remake: It's awful because it's just a beat by beat remake of the original.

Also Disney fans, on Snow White remake: It's awful because it's not a beat by beat remake of the original.

Unpleasable Fanbase - TV Tropes

Sometimes, fanbases are, or appear to be, perennially complaining not just about minute details of the Canon, but about everything. This sometimes relates to fake fannishness: some people just don't like a piece of fiction, yet insist on …

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[GimpYancIent]

Well I would start by not doing anything that may have a negative impact on the nostalgia based branding that Disney thrives on.

As I’ve said before, go an make a “girl boss” movie. There’s no reason that movie should be an “updated” Snow White.

Or more broadly, if I were running Disney I’d lean heavily on using mythology/folklore from all over the world and creating new Disney branded stories based on a variety of cultures. I think inclusion is very important and bringing out less know traditions from different cultures would great and IMHO well received

Yes, however that means creativity, talent and understanding the material being worked plus the projected audience. The (thankfully small even though they think they are big) crowd generating all the live action remakes is sadly lacking in those categories.

 

[Chi84]

I’d hate to point out the obvious, but there’s different ways to be “faithful” to the original. Story and plot is one and visually is another…

To use that as an example, I think they would have been better off having a “Halle as a mermaid” film but not having her be Ariel or having the movie be The Little Mermaid. In fact I think they could have made it something like TLM adjacent with a red haired Ariel making a cameo but having Halle’s character being a different mermaid in the same universe.

Did you see the movie?

 

[LittleBuford]

I’d hate to point out the obvious, but there’s different ways to be “faithful” to the original. Story and plot is one and visually is another…

What about the significant visual changes that Aladdin made to the characters of Genie and Jafar?

 

[GimpYancIent]

I’d hate to point out the obvious, but there’s different ways to be “faithful” to the original. Story and plot is one and visually is another…

To use that as an example, I think they would have been better off having a “Halle as a mermaid” film but not having her be Ariel or having the movie be The Little Mermaid. In fact I think they could have made it something like TLM adjacent with a red haired Ariel making a cameo but having Halle’s character being a different mermaid in the same universe.

Yes, been pointed out before but ignored, Halle as a mermaid with her own story, her own songs, music and name. That would have been respectful, interesting and appealing. What was done was not.

 

[LittleBuford]

Yes, been pointed out before but ignored, Halle as a mermaid with her own story, her own songs, music and name. That would have been respectful, interesting and appealing. What was done was not.

To whom was it disrespectful?

 

[Chi84]

Yes, been pointed out before but ignored, Halle as a mermaid with her own story, her own songs, music and name. That would have been respectful, interesting and appealing. What was done was not.

Have you seen the movie? In what way was it disrespectful to the original?

 

[Californian Elitist]

What about the significant visual changes that Aladdin made to the characters of Genie and Jafar?

Not to mention Jasmine, who is played by an actress who is half white.

 

[doctornick]

Did you see the movie?

No. But to be fair, I haven’t gone to see any live action remakes* in the theater (ie my point is not about me but on the the theater going public in general). I’m speaking on broad terms on how to increase the number of people seeing Disney movies.

* except BATB which was just because I went with someone who wanted to go not because I was inspired to see it.

 

[Chi84]

The reason I'm asking @doctornick and @GimpYancIent if they've seen The Little Mermaid is because I know people who actually changed their minds after seeing the movie. In my opinion, everything that was done made perfect sense and fit so naturally into the plot.

 

[doctornick]

The reason I'm asking @doctornick and @GimpYancIent if they've seen The Little Mermaid is because I know people who actually changed their minds after seeing the movie. In my opinion, everything that was done made perfect sense and fit so naturally into the plot.

That’s fine. But you have to get people though the door for that to happen. And I’m concerned that people “make up their minds” far in advance of these movies’ release dates which prevents them from ever “giving them a chance”.

 

[Chi84]

No. But to be fair, I haven’t gone to see any live action remakes* in the theater (ie my point is not about me but on the the theater going public in general). I’m speaking on broad terms on how to increase the number of people seeing Disney movies.

* except BATB which was just because I went with someone who wanted to go not because I was inspired to see it.

Then maybe be a bit more circumspect in deciding how "faithful" it was to the original. If you don't want to see the films because they're live action remakes and will have a negative effect on box office, that's fine but you're making representations about a movie that you haven't even seen. The "thing" people are complaining about was barely noticeable and didn't detract in any way from the faithfulness of the plot.

 

[LittleBuford]

Disney fans on The Lion King remake: It's awful because it's just a beat by beat remake of the original.

Those fans would be right.

 

[Chi84]

That’s fine. But you have to get people though the door for that to happen. And I’m concerned that people “make up their minds” far in advance of these movies’ release dates which prevents them from ever “giving them a chance”.

That's absolutely your call, but I'm not sure anyone should be directing movies toward a demographic that makes up their minds in advance and won't even give movies a chance. What kind of movies would we be seeing? The original animated versions? Those exist in abundance for that particular demographic.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Haven’t even seen the movie. Of course.

 

[LittleBuford]

Haven’t even seen the movie. Of course.

Hey, that’s a key qualification in these parts! The level of clairvoyance here would put Madame Leota to shame!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Hey, that’s a key qualification in these parts! The level of clairvoyance here would put Madame Leota to shame!

Seriously! I don’t feel like I can have an honest discussion, in these cases. Already claiming the animated version of Snow White is superior to the live-action, when we haven’t even gotten a teaser/trailer, let alone time slots at theaters, and making complaints and criticism about a film you haven’t even seen. How can we argue and discuss in good faith then? What’s the point?

It’s why I stopped posting in TLM thread. I’ll likely do the same here, eventually.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Seriously! I don’t feel like I can have an honest discussion, in these cases. Already claiming the animated version of Snow White is superior to the live-action, when we haven’t even gotten a teaser/trailer, let alone time slots at theaters, and making complaints and criticism about a film you haven’t even seen. How can we argue and discuss in good faith then? What’s the point?

It’s why I stopped posting in TLM thread. I’ll likely do the same here, eventually.

To be fair, I’m pretty sure the new Snow White will NOT be as good as the 1937 version. That’s a tremendously high bar. But it doesn’t have to be to be a good film.