When I was younger, I lived for Disney. Whether it was their films or TV shows—I loved it all. The recent live actions for several films, like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast and many more have made what I once considered to be a cartoon, real life. When I heard Dumbo and Lion King were being turned into live action films, I was thrilled. More movies are coming to life! Normally, when Hollywood tries to make something come back, whether it’s through a reboot or a sequel, things don’t go as well as planned. They often fall short. However, the reason I love live actions so much is because they are creating something new out of the blue. They are are taking something people loved from the beginning, and recreating it in a way that makes it feel more realistic to the audience.
Growing up, Lion King was cute and fun because it was talking and singing animals. I never really understood the fact that the animal kingdom was something real. I just thought all animals lived happily amongst each other. As I grew up, I understood more why the death of Mufasa meant so much and why it was important for Simba to step it up. So even though I have only seen the trailer, the scenes that they show give me chills. The live action looks like it will be a theatrical version of Planet Earth. I even heard that in order to recreate the animals and their movements in the film, they observed real lion cubs and lions. Now, having them do something in a similar manner with characters that actually look real will be truly interesting.
Dumbo, on the other hand, reminds me of Winnie the Pooh. Although each story is different, given the fact that Dumbo is very tragic, they both give off a sense of cuteness. When I was younger and I would watch Winnie the Pooh or Dumbo, I would be happy because both had happy endings. They were cute stories that entertained me. However, while watching the Christopher Robin film, I bawled my eyes out. The creators of the film put a spin to such an innocent story that had me crying the entire time. I have a feeling that Dumbo will be no different. Dumbo is already a sad story to begin with, but I have a feeling the live action will take the story to another level. From the trailer, it already depicts very somber scenery. Obviously, the story will have a happy ending like most Disney films, but I already know I’m going to have to bring a box of tissues to the theater. In spite of probably bawling my eyes out, I know this live action won’t fail to be everything I would hope for it to be.
Overall, I’m someone who welcomes live actions. Disney has a history of making magic feel like real life, so I’m very excited. Both of these stories were amazing when they first came out, so I can only hope that the creators will do the cartoon films justice.