Top 20 Best Changes in Live-Action Disney Remakes

The original movie is a classic, but there’s one major flaw that the 1996 remake fixed. Roger and Anita lovingly take in all 101 dogs in the 1961 version, but they still only live in a small house. How could they really have the space and the means to take care of them? The live action remake shows the audience that Roger and Anita move into a new, much larger house with all the space they could possibly need. This more realistic addition to the story is valuable because it illustrates their compassion for the dogs and dedication to properly taking care of them.

There have been many renditions of this story with different ties between Captain Hook and Peter Pan. But the live-action film from 2023 makes several improvements on the 1953 animated version. In the older one, the characterization is very black and white. Peter is good; Hook is bad. In the update, the audience gets a look at things from the villain’s perspective. He was a former Lost Boy who just missed his mom, was supposedly exiled by Peter for doing so and got lost at sea looking for her. When Hook returned to Neverland as a pirate, Peter couldn’t forgive him for growing up and the two became enemies. The backstory adds more depth to the main conflict in the movie.

Many changes made in this adaptation were criticized, including the removal of most of the songs and some fan favorite characters. But a new character, a shapeshifting witch named Xianniang, truly shines. As a woman, she understands Mulan’s plight of being misunderstood for standing outside the norms of her society. Initially allied with the villainous Böri Khan, Xianniang shows us a sort of dark side of Mulan’s potential. In the animated version of the story, the antagonists are quite flat. Adding another complex female character makes for more compelling character relationships in the updated version of the film.

Since the release of the 1941 animated film, animal rights in relation to the entertainment industry have come a long way. So it’s no surprise that Dumbo’s happy ending is reimagined for the remake. Instead of continuing his circus life and signing a showbiz contract, Dumbo gets to go live in the wild with his mother. The two even find an entire herd of elephants and have plenty of space for Dumbo to fly around in the sun. The change makes for a much more serene conclusion, one the elephants truly deserve.

This update is a bit odd, as it makes the movie a sort of remake-meets-sequel. In this version, Alice went down the rabbit hole when she was younger, but she has since forgotten. The adventure feels new, even though every creature she encounters seems to remember her. In the original film, Alice wakes up in the end and concludes that Wonderland must have all been a dream. But in the remake, her dreams turn out to be memories. The change implies that Wonderland is a real place that Alice can return to when she needs it.

It’s easy to hate Gaston in the original “Beauty and the Beast.” He’s a pompous jerk who spends the whole movie boasting about himself and tearing down others. He’s still mostly that in the remake, but there’s another level to him. There are moments where Gaston remembers his time in the war and how it has affected him. The audience can glean that there might be a reason why he is so prone to violence and always needs to be the hero. It’s never said outright, but actor Luke Evans speculated that the character could be experiencing PTSD. This adds some depth to the antagonist that wasn’t there in the animated take.

As with many live-action remakes, this update takes characters with much smaller stories in the original and expands upon them. In the 1967 version of “Jungle Book,” the wolves who raised Mowgli only appear at the beginning of the film. They make the man cub leave the pack because they hear the fearsome tiger Shere Khan has returned. But in the 2016 rendition, the wolves play a much bigger part in the story. Mowgli’s journey through the jungle begins after the tiger directly threatens him and his pack. In the update, the pack shares in Mowgli’s stand against Shere Khan, facing off against the antagonist together.

There are a lot of things that this remake of the animated classic got right. A small but impactful change addressed a problem with the glass slippers. In the original, the Fairy Godmother turns Cinderella’s shoes into glass slippers with magic. It doesn’t really make sense that they don’t turn back to regular shoes along with everything else at midnight. But in the live-action movie, Cinderella takes off her old flats and the Fairy Godmother creates the glass slippers, tailor-made for Cinderella’s feet. This simple fix explains why the shoes only fit her perfectly and why they don’t transform at midnight.

Although this remake received a mixed critical reception, there is one thing that is unquestionably an improvement on the original. At the end of the animated movie, the Sultan decides to lift the rule that a princess must marry a prince, instead allowing Jasmine to marry whom she deems worthy - of course, she chooses the non-royal Aladdin. In the live-action update, Jasmine is not only given her choice of marriage, but also the power to rule. Her father apologizes, praises her leadership qualities, and names her the future sultan. Aladdin and Jasmine subsequently marry.

If you come across this tiger, you’d better have some fire ready. Shere Khan appears as the fearsome main antagonist in the 1967 and 2016 versions of “The Jungle Book”. In both movies, his intense hatred for humans causes him to target the young Mowgli. But the 2016 remake gives him another reason to despise his prey. In a flashback, we see that Mowgli’s father scarred Shere Khan with fire while fighting the animal. Despite killing Mowgli’s father, the tiger is still hungry for revenge. The decision to tie Shere Khan’s motivations to Mowgli’s past adds a significant amount of weight to their final struggle.

Disney hasn’t always had the best track record with diversity. Fortunately, the company has worked to represent people of different races and cultural backgrounds in recent years. In their live-action films, they’ve used colorblind casting for numerous characters. 2016’s “The Jungle Book” had one of their most diverse main ensembles to date. Neel Sethi led the film as Mowgli, and there were vocal performances from actors of color like Lupita Nyong'o and Giancarlo Esposito. Casting more minority actors means more chances for all kinds of audiences to see themselves represented on the big screen. Here’s hoping Disney will bring diversity to even more of its characters moving forward.

In the original “Sleeping Beauty”, the wicked fairy Maleficent inflicts a sleeping curse on the infant Princess Aurora before disappearing from her life. The live-action film took the opposite approach by having Maleficent protect the princess while waiting for the curse to take effect. This plot change results in the pair forming something like a mother-daughter relationship. At one point, Maleficent even tries to reverse the curse. Although the fairy’s first attempt fails, her love proves powerful enough to awaken Aurora. Having Maleficent break the curse after developing this strong relationship brought a great layer of drama to the familiar tale.

The animated version of Lady Tremaine is infamous for being cruel, bitter and spiteful. But the 2015 retelling suggested Cinderella’s stepmother was more than that. When Lady Tremaine hears her second husband has died, she’s genuinely hurt and worried about what will happen to her daughters. The combination of Lady Tremaine’s pain and pressures lead her to treat Cinderella cruelly and act ruthlessly to ensure her children are taken care of. While that doesn’t excuse her misdeeds, it creates an interesting character dynamic. Since Cinderella had suffered loss just like Lady Tremaine, the villainess is a constant example of what the optimistic protagonist could have become.

When a prince and his servants are cursed to turn into a beast and household objects respectively, they hide away in a castle. But despite living close to a village, the local townspeople don’t seem to notice that a royal and his subjects have disappeared. This plot hole from 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast” was fixed in 2017. In the remake, the curse erases all memories of the prince and his servants. The enchantment also slowly turns the servants more inanimate over time, making their predicament a matter of life or death. These alterations to the enchantment strengthen the plot and raise the stakes.

Marrying someone you just met might not lead to happily ever after. Disney seemingly recognized this in 2015’s “Cinderella”. Instead of having the Prince meet Cinderella at a ball, their first encounter is a brief meeting in a forest. While the prince is out hunting, Cinderella is running from her cruel family. Despite coming from vastly different circumstances, the two easily exchange witty banter and adorable smiles. The prince is so into Cinderella that he invites the entire kingdom to his ball so that he might see her again. Their new forest encounter is ultimately a short yet sweet scene that demonstrates why they’re meant to be. The Prince is also motivated to marry a woman to please his dying father — not simply because he is of age.

After spending most of his life being raised by a loving animal family, Mowgli is encouraged to go to a human village to escape the vicious Shere Khan. In the live-action adaptation, he returns to his jungle community once the threat is over. This is in sharp contrast to the 1967 version, where Mowgli tries living with humans… after meeting a girl. Both endings are portrayed as happy resolutions for Mowgli. However, the new ending makes more sense given Mowgli’s love for his adopted family. It also implies that he doesn’t need to move from his home to live a full and happy life.

At the start of “Maleficent”, the titular character is a peaceful fairy. Her fate changes when she meets and falls in love with a human named Stefan. Although Stefan initially cares for Maleficent, he later drugs her and cuts off her wings to become king. She is so hurt by his heinous actions that she curses his daughter with an enchantment that only true love can break. Maleficent’s updated backstory gives us deeper insight to her dark deeds, and reasons to root for her redemption. Even fans of Maleficent’s purely evil incarnation can’t deny that her new character arc makes for a compelling story. Maleficent isn’t the only one who got a new backstory. The Prince also gets some depth instead of basically being just some guy who was around.

Fans of 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast” came up with a disturbing theory. In the prologue, the prince disrespects an enchantress, is turned into a beast and given until his 21st year to reverse the spell. The rest of the movie takes place near the curse’s conclusion. Since Lumière says 10 years had passed, the prince must’ve been around 11 when he first became the Beast. While this was never directly confirmed, Disney covered their bases in the 2017 film. This time around, the Prince is clearly cursed as an adult. His punishment is easier to watch knowing it started after he hit puberty. Plus, they also add that the Beast likes romance novels, just like Belle. This gives them an actual connection they didn’t previously have.

There’s a running joke about classic Disney movies that the princesses always marry men they just met. The 1989 animated version of this fairy tale is one of the worst offenders. Mermaid Ariel immediately falls for the human Prince Eric, even though she’s never even spoken to the guy. But the 2023 remake solves this problem. Eric gets a much more in depth back story. He longs to explore the sea and feels restricted by the rules he must live by as a prince. Through this characterization, the film makes the audience care more about Eric and want to root for him.

While Disney has given us many iconic female leads, some of them lacked complex character traits and often seemed dependent on their love interests. This sometimes made them feel like passive participants in their own stories. But the modern remakes actively fight this trend. Cinderella stands up for herself, Belle is a headstrong inventor who makes things with her father, and Aurora thaws Maleficent’s heart before helping her defeat the king. Although they often find love, each female lead can take care of themselves. They’re still the iconic characters we grew up with, but with added layers that make them even better role models.

What animated film should Disney remake next? Let us know in the comments.