There’s no doubt that Disney’s live-action remakes have been successful, financially at least. For instance, the 1994 animated film The Lion King pulled in around $987 million globally. The figure pales slightly in comparison to the over $1.66 billion the 2019 live-action remake grossed globally. But more money doesn’t necessarily mean better, and most people who have seen both versions will find it difficult to disagree.
Admittedly, there are elements of the live-action that convinced fans to spend that much in theaters, but some stories are better in animated versions. Making it live-action just takes away a little piece of the soul that’s difficult to get back. To that end, let’s take a look at these five animated classic movies that should have stayed animated.
5. Dumbo (1941)
Dumbo’s biggest appeal is that he’s a goofy little elephant with giant ears that let him fly. That’s a very adorable concept for a cartoon. But in live action? It just looks like a lab experiment that went wrong. The same live-action also somehow figured that viewers needed a backstory about a sad circus family. It was completely unnecessary because the original told its entire story with barely any dialogue and a baby elephant who never even talks.
And let’s not even talk about the pink elephant scene. That only works in 2D because it allows the viewer to excuse the weirdness as something that just happens in cartoons. In live action, it’s just weird, plain and simple. It says a lot when even a director like Tim Burton couldn’t save the movie from its currently appalling 46% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
4. The Lion King (1994)
Perhaps to fully understand why The Lion King should have never gotten a live-action remake, one needs to go back and watch Mufasa’s death scene in the 1994 original. The way Simba’s face contorts from the grief of watching his father die is something only animators can pull off. Pretty much everyone felt Simba’s pain in that moment because even though he is a lion, his reactions look and feel human. That same scene in the 2019 version doesn’t quite trigger the same heartfelt emotions because real lions can’t furrow their brows or widen their eyes when tragic things happen to them. Needless to say, more pixels didn’t buy more feelings.
3. Pinocchio (1940)
There’s nothing that makes sense about a talking cricket in a top hat and a wooden puppet that comes to life. Well… unless it’s in a cartoon, a world where anything and everything is possible. The original Pinocchio is all disjointed wooden limbs and looks like a real puppet. This is why, when he eventually turned into a boy at the end, it meant something to everyone who was watching. It didn’t feel that way in the 2022 live-action remake when the blue fairy made him real, because guess what? The boy was “real” all along! Frankly, the critics who called it “soulless” and “pointless” were being nice.
2. Snow White (1937)
This is where it all started for Disney animation. The 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is pure, hand-drawn magic. The dwarfs feel like real characters, and the animals do chores like it’s normal. And it’s normal, because it’s a cartoon! But the moment it went live, it lost the very things that made it magical. The magic mirror suddenly feels like a large fancy TV, the singing critters become noisy animals, and the dwarves look like they wandered off a Renaissance faire poster and can’t find their way back. The 2025 remake has been drowning in drama, including casting debates and marketing misfires, but the main problem it has is the tonal whiplash it’s given a lot of viewers.
1. Mulan (1998)
This is probably the one that stings the most because it traded personality for prestige. The 1998 Mulan depicts a glorious mess of war, comedies, bangers, and tears, all in one beautiful package. There’s a sarcastic dragon who is basically a stand-up comic. There’s also the training montage set to a song that still lives rent-free in the heads of many fans of the original. And then, there were musical numbers happening right next to sword fights.
All of it worked perfectly until some bigwigs at Disney decided “grounded” and “serious” were the way to go. They got rid of Mushu, the songs, and the humour, all the things that made the animated version so enjoyable. Was it bad? Some critics didn’t think so. Was it forgettable? Its 46% popcornmeter rating on Rotten Tomatoes would suggest so. Some viewers called it “lifeless” and “empty.” They’re not wrong.
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