Why We Still Love Classic Disney and Why Its Remakes Feel So Empty

The Universal Language of Disney Films

We have all watched a Disney movie at some point in our lives, whether we know it or not. As children, it is more than likely we were drawn towards one of the many Disney classics that appeared on our TVs. I personally still feel some connection towards movies like The Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, Mulan, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Lilo and Stitch, and so on… These are just some off the top of my head.

Needless to say, all these films despite being outdated and aimed to children, still create emotion and longing inside me that I was not even aware that I had. And this is true not just for me and my generation but even those much older than me, my father, my brother, they all feel the same. Walt Disney created this amazing atmosphere for fostering creativity that has had a timeless impact on several generations.

Nostalgia used as a marketing tool

Growing older, every time we watch a Disney film, we all feel a sense of not just individual nostalgia but a kind of collective nostalgia, finding comfort in the fact that we can all find comfort in these films. It really is amazing how a single film can transport us across time, triggered just by a single visual, or a note from the score, or a particular line of dialogue. Just like that, we’re five years old again, no worries in the world as we stare at this medium called film. Oh, that fleeting comfort we feel from that one moment. It truly is priceless.

Or is it? Disney certainly thinks they can put a price on it. Lately, all we see are remakes and countless remakes of certified Disney classics that no one asked for. Disney have strayed so far from the legacy Walt Disney had built, forgetting the meaning of originality. All they do is profit off the fact that we will pay them money to seek that nostalgia in the form of their half-hearted remakes. And we do. We cannot help ourselves. We keep paying them and they could care less about quality when they can profit off of our desperation to not only feel nostalgia but perhaps to instill that same nostalgic feeling in our children.

Even franchises like Star Wars, bought over by Disney, continue to produce unnecessary remakes and sequels with no creative design, focused solely on bringing back characters to create a need in the audience that never existed. Superhero movies like Spiderman, Batman, X-men, etc. are endlessly remade but in their case, at least the movies are more creative and despite the utilization of nostalgia, they have more depth to them. There has also been a new Harry Potter remake announced which is also meant to target nostalgia from our generation.

Are we, the audience, to blame? Have we encouraged too much of this? Disney spend a lot of time and money on marketing which is certainly a huge factor. In fact, they put more effort on marketing a movie than in making the movie. Their endless campaigns eventually feel like propaganda, drawing the masses. There certainly exists a large group of audiences who go only to see how bad it is, and that by itself ends up supporting them.

Gen Z seem to be in this trend of drowning themselves in nostalgia just to avoid living in the present. It can be attributed to perhaps how the world is now, that this generation are too afraid of what is happening and what will happen. We seem to search for any way possible to go back to a simpler time whether it be games, movies, fashion or music. Any work of art that can transport us to a simpler time.

The Fall from Creative Grace

Disney was a stalwart in originality and creativity. Then along the way, much like most things, money took over and corrupted what was truly important and the idea of Disney is one that only exists in our minds. We can only imagine now how the future generations will remember this era of remakes in their memories and if they can even amount to a minuscule amount of the nostalgia we feel. The beauty of animation that could transfer emotion like no other. All they will have to remember is the crude and “realistic” CGI versions of unoriginal art. There is no magic, no childlike wonder to be encouraged in that.

I am by no means claiming that CGI is a bad thing. It is a technological marvel in film and has a huge role to play but the use of CGI has to be in appropriate fields. Take the Sonic movies for example, using CGI to create animated characters in a realistic form is a better use than what Disney do. Disney's approach to CGI requires tireless work and effort for something that is absolutely unwanted, undermining their own animators in the process.

Can Disney ever return to what they once were? A force of inspiration in animation and creativity. A studio that went beyond just making movies. They raised generations with art that was unique and evocative. With more remakes gaining profit, it remains to be seen if they are stopping anytime soon. There are glimpses of the old Disney in a few original works here and there, but it remains to be seen if they can find their way back to what they once were.