Whether you love them or hate them, Disney’s decision to make live-action films based on their animated classics has paid off financially. The company has generated over $9 billion worldwide banking off the nostalgia of The Jungle Book, Lion King, and Beauty of The Beast. There’s no denying that business hasn’t been so great as of late as The Little Mermaid is considered a flop by not being able to reach the billion mark. However, it’s impossible to call Disney’s decision to make live-action films a flop as it’s still a massive success.
So it’s no surprise that another studio is following suite. Universal is set to drop their first live-action adaptation: How to Train Your Dragon. The popular animated series is scheduled for 2025 and has a reported budget of $165 million. The animated franchise is beloved by fans and critics, and it happened to have been nominated for several Oscars for Best Animation. Critically and commercially speaking, it’s understanding why Universal would start with this franchise, but is Universal still making the mistake of trying the Disney model?
Where Disney When Wrong With There Live-Action Adaptations
When The Jungle Book was first released, it felt like a breath of fresh air because it was cool to see the animated classic in live-action form. The best thing about The Jungle Book is that it wasn’t some scene-for-scene copy of the original. Jon Favreau put his spin on the film that respected the original material, yet still made the adaptation feel like it’s brand new. Disney hasn’t really been able to recapture that magic sense. Sure, films like Aladdin and The Lion King were able to make over a billion dollars, but those were bland retelling of the same story.
Audiences love the familiar; that’s a big reason why Hollywood keeps making reboots and sequels because that’s the demand in the current North American market. However, these live-action films have paled in comparison to the original. It’s a tall task to since the advantage of animation is that you can do anything that you want. The characters are more lively and colorful, the world is more vibrant; none of the live-action films have been able to match that or surpass what the original films have done quality wise. What’s the point in shelling out cash for a weaker version of a film that nearly everyone has at home on digital or DVD?
Where Universal Could Go Wrong
Doing a How to Train Your Dragon adaptation is bold. This means that the live-action adaptation has to heavily rely on CGI for a good portion of the films, especially the dragon. Now, this isn’t impossible to do. After all Game of Thrones was able to create three stunning dragons throughout it’s nine seasons. However, it will surely be costly. Universal has the tricky problem of needing to find the proper balance when adapting the animated film. They’re clearly going after the diehard fans of the series, yet they’re also trying to bring in a new set of fans.
The CGI can easily kill the entire experience, especially if the dragons look terrible. However, it isn’t just the CGI as it depends on the acting and directing. If the actors don’t give off the same performance (or better) as Hiccup, Astrid, Tuffnut then that can ruin the experience as well. Universal needs to find a way to honor the original film, yet add a few new wrinkles that doesn’t make it a carbon copy.
There’s so much pressure on How to Train Your Dragon because the animated films set a high standard in quality. The adaptation needs to be just as good or even better than the original. The Jungle Book was and that’s why so many flocked to the theaters. This wouldn’t be an easy feat as if How to Train Your Dragon bombs at the box office then it could ruin any more live action Universal adaptations.
Is Universal Making A Mistake By Venturing Into The Live-Action Territory?
Personally, yes they are. Originally should be king when it comes to making movies, but Hollywood is a business first and foremost. That means it would be stupid for any executive to ignore the financial potential of adapting their animated classic to a new generation. Granted, the first How to Train Your Dragon came out in 2010, so the film isn’t old enough just yet. However, it the executives at Universal paid attention to the mistakes Disney made then she should understand the faults of their adaptations. There’s no guarantee that the live-action adaptation would turn out to be a success, but NOT trying would be an even bigger failure.
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