Disney’s latest trend is to remake some of their animated back catalog into “live-action” films. Live-action is in quotes because movies like The Lion King is still animated but with CGI instead of live actors. With The Little Mermaid hitting theaters, it seems to be a winning strategy as the box office numbers keep increasing and a new generation of fans discover these great Disney stories. What other animated films not made by Disney could use a live-action remake?
This classic story from director Brad Bird is primed for a live-action version. We saw in Ready Player One that a CGI Iron Giant running around looks pretty good in live-action. You might as well get the real thing. When a giant robot comes from outer space, he befriends a young boy named Hogarth. While the two find fast friends in each other, not everyone else feels the same way. Soon government agents arrive to assess the visitor’s threat level and eliminate him.
While this would fall more into the realm of The Lion King adaptation, there could be a couple of human characters in the background, which could set it apart. A family of mice living in a cinder block in a farmer’s field plan to move as plowing season approaches. Her youngest child is sick, and moving could prove to be fatal.
She seeks help from a group of rats that live in a nearby rosebush. We learn they escaped from a laboratory where their intelligence was boosted. Soon a plan to overthrow the leadership of the rats is exposed and threatens all their lives on the farm. The film is super dark and has scenes that scarred children who watched it when it came out. This makes it the perfect film to get a remake.
Another one that might fall into more of just a CGI remake, but it would still work pretty well in the upgraded form. A group of dinosaurs from different families must journey together to find The Great Valley and be reunited with their families. Along the way, they encounter various obstacles and predators. Working together, they have to try and survive. After the first theatrical film, there have been 13 direct-to-video sequels and even a TV series. Nothing has been done with the property since 2016, and now seems like the perfect time for a reboot.
Maybe the most famous anime of all time has been up for a live-action remake for a long time, but no one has been able to make it happen yet. After a world war destroyed Tokyo in 1988, we jump to 2019, where the city has been rebuilt. Kaneda is the leader of a biker gang that roams the streets. His friend Tetsuo is injured and taken to a government facility. There he is experimented on and develops telekinetic powers. He decides to use these powers to destroy those that oppose him. Could he be the second coming of the power that destroyed Tokyo before?
A Russian mouse emigrates to America but gets separated from his family. The stories are that America is a land without cats. When he arrives, he quickly learns that isn’t true. He begins searching for his lost family and makes new friends along the way. This story would be a great one to remake for a present-day audience.
This film was already CG animated, but an actual live-action version would be great to see. Seeing Danny DeVito in an orange body suit would be worth it, if nothing else. A young man tries to win the heart of a young woman. To do so, he has to find out if any more real trees are left in the world. This leads him to run into the Once-ler. An old businessman who built his wealth by destroying the environment. After being told of the Lorax, they set out to restore the environment.
In a magical land, a unicorn learns that she is the last of her kind. The rest have been collected by the evil King Haggard. She sets out to find the others but disguises herself with a spell that changes her into a beautiful woman. With this change, she experiences love for the first time with the evil King’s son. She makes friends along the way to help her accomplish her goal and release the unicorns. Based on the best-selling fantasy book, seeing a new, modern adaptation would be fun.
In an apocalyptic future, the singer of a punk band is kidnapped by a deranged rock star. His goal is to use her voice to summon a demon from another dimension. The rest of her band has to follow them to Nuke York to stop Hell from being unleashed upon the world and save their lead singer. A live-action version would be a lot of fun to watch with modern technology.
This motion-captured film is perfect for a new live-action remake. The Tintin comics are popular worldwide but, weirdly, never really caught on in the United States. Steven Spielberg directed the animated film, and it did terribly at the US box office. The rest of the world seemed to love it as it did great, but the poor reception appeared to kill any future planned sequels.
Tintin buys a model ship at the market but soon finds himself pulled into a globetrotting adventure when he learns that the model contains a scroll that could show where a giant treasure is located. His faithful dog Snowy accompanies him as he is kidnapped and escapes. To keep the treasure out of the hands of the villainous Sakharine, he must team up with Captain Haddock and two Interpol agents.
Chihiro’s parents decide to move the family to a small village but take a wrong turn on their way. They go through a tunnel to find themselves in an abandoned amusement park. While they are searching the area, they find a restaurant that has food but no staff. The parents begin to help themselves as Chihiro roams around the abandoned park. Soon she learns they are not alone and that evil spirits and demons inhabit the place. She has to save her parents and try to return them back to their world. This would be a great live-action film that would have some great visuals. Perfect for a remake.
What animated films would you like to see get the live-action remake treatment?