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Ranking Disney Live-Action Remakes

Disney has been making live-action remakes of their animated classics since 1994, but only in the 2010s decade did they start doing that practice extensively for better and for worse. On the one hand, we get to experience these classics again on the big screen, but on the other hand, they are all either much or infinitely weaker to the original films. But some are legitimately good in their own right. Here is my ranking of all of them.

16. 102 Dalmatians

This is by far the most pointless movie on this list. It is a sequel to the 1996 remake, and unlike that movie, it’s not even passable, but downright bad across the board. Glenn Close is good per usual, but the dogs are shortchanged, the story is so terrible and the action is also bad. It was a pointless sequel that never justified its existence in any shape or form.

15. The Lion King

Yes, The Lion King remake gets the second to last spot, and deservedly so as it’s so bad. It is a giant waste of time as it offers almost nothing new. And fine, they opted for a rehash through and through, but at least do it well. But no, they did such a bad job where the animals look expressionless, and the musical numbers are horribly mistreated. The VFX are amazing, though.

14. Maleficent

This isn’t a terrible movie per say, but it’s the one which infuriated me the most on this list. Angelina Jolie is fine in the role as are the visuals, but the movie is simply too dark and lifeless, and the decision to entirely get away from the plot of the original in favor of this incredibly forced feminist agenda made me angry as the character is not even a villain anymore.

13. Alice Through the Looking Glass

This sequel is actually not all that worse from the first movie which isn’t saying much, but at least it’s not more terrible. It’s another good-looking mediocrity which has its moments, but the overall story is uninspired and Johnny Depp here has given possibly his career-worst, horrible performance.

12. Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors, but this is by far one of his worst movies unfortunately. It looks great and I loved Helena Bonham Carter in it, but it’s another case of forced feminist agenda with a changed plot for the worse. It actually made sense which was a horrible decision, and it’s never as delightfully weird as the original classic.

11. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is obviously an improvement upon its predecessor thanks to terrific special effects and a fantastic Michelle Pfeiffer villainous turn. However, it’s still a mediocre movie that is way too messy in terms of storytelling, and again managing to mistreat the titular character and the fairies themselves.

10. 101 Dalmatians

I actually did not hate this one. Glenn Close is simply too good as Cruella and I also really enjoyed the first act as it was so charming. But it eventually became quite mediocre, especially in the action-heavy third act, and the Dalmatians are both underutilized and nowhere near as memorable as they were before.

9. Lady and the Tramp

I found this remake quite passable. Yes, it’s very badly paced with the third act in particular being chaotic and not well executed at all. The supporting characters are also very badly utilized. But the leads themselves are excellent, and the film isn’t a rehash in its entirety which I appreciated. The movie’s second act offers a very tender romance for sure.

8. The Jungle Book (1994)

The first remake from Disney and one of the two remakes of the original 1967 classic, this one is interesting for being a departure from the first film and it does work solidly as a period piece, but it simply lacked entertainment factor to me and the animals themselves are weak and forgettable in their scenes.

7. Beauty and the Beast

This movie really appealed to me at first watching it in the theater, but that was mostly nostalgia rearing its ugly head. It’s actually just solid with wonderful Emma Watson, some fine new additions and solid characterization and romance, but the movie copied the original way too much for my liking and the songs themselves were mostly ruined.

6. Mulan

A pretty underrated movie in its own right, the 2020 remake of Mulan was marred with controversy and it certainly has its troublesome aspects such as the unnecessary addition of Chi, but the acting is pretty good, the movie is quite different from the original and the witch character played so well by Gong Li is the film’s most intriguing new addition.

5. Dumbo

By far the most underrated Disney movie on this list is Tim Burton’s Dumbo. Of course it’s nowhere near the quality of the original and the kids are terrible themselves, but the adult actors all did a great job, a darker tone to it was interesting and that final sequence really made me super emotional how beautiful it was. I also loved its take on animal abuse.

4. Aladdin

Guy Richie was and still remains a terrible choice for this movie and a big hurdle for it, but nonetheless the flick otherwise ended up being perfectly solid, and even very good. The two stars along with Will Smith are all excellent, the audio-visuals are great and it succeeds as this sumptuous, elegant and hugely romantic Arabian fairy tale offering.

3. Christopher Robin

I really had a problem with the third act of this film which was too standard for me, but otherwise the movie was wonderful. Tigger and Pooh are excellent and they look great whereas Ewan McGregor was great in the main role. The second half is light and amusing while the first half was depressing and gloomy to a terrific effect.

2. Cinderella

I liked this film’s departure from the original, but still the heart and core were retained and that mix is the best one for these remakes, as evidenced by the top two picks on this list. I loved the beautiful costumes and sets here and most of the new plot points worked for me. It’s also quite magical and endearing through and through.

1. The Jungle Book (2016)

This 2016 remake from John Favreau is never as great as the original was in my opinion, and that statement is wrong by many as the first movie is in the top ten pantheon of Disney classics. But still, this is a perfect combination of solid nostalgic touches and references coupled with many new and different takes and choices which were more in line with the novel itself. The Oscar-winning CGI is superb, the animals look great and the action is darker. It thus takes the number one spot quite easily.