The past few years, Disney has been bringing back some of our favorite Disney Renaissance films — in the form of a live-action remakes, that is. At this point, just about every Disney animated film from the ’90s has gotten a live-action (or CGI) retelling.
While some of these remakes have managed to find their own originality to differentiate from their animated counterparts, others have not been as successful at becoming more than shot-for-shot remakes. We’re taking a look at every live-action Disney remake (minus any sequels) so far, and ranking them from worst to best!
Our Ranking of Disney’s Live-Action Remakes from Worst to Best
12. Dumbo
A stellar cast, wonderful CGI, and a truly cute elephant — what could go wrong? While the animated classic Dumbo has been known for making audiences cry (seriously, how can you not during Baby Mine?), it also brought with it laughter, and, well, more tears, but these ones of joy!
Unfortunately, the remake missed the mark with bringing those same feelings for audiences. While we expected director Tim Burton to bring his zany brand of storytelling to the film, even that fell flat, which ended up leaving us with our least favorite Disney remake yet.
What We Love: There’s simply no denying that the CGI of Dumbo is stunning, and just simply looking at the image above has us going “awww!”.
11. Aladdin
According to its box office numbers and the fact that a sequel is already in the works, our second to last pick is likely not going to be a popular one. But what this comes down to is whether the live-action remake either improved upon or brought originality to the story of the original, and in the case of 2019’s Aladdin that just was not the case.
While Will Smith as the Genie was charming, and the music was fun, the live-action Aladdin never quite brought the same spark as the original 1992 classic. The new version had a Robin Williams-sized hole in it that unfortunately keeps this musical adventure from ranking higher on our list.
What We Love: The live-action flick added a new song to its story, Speechless, which was delivered beautifully by Naomi Scott’s Jasmin.
10. Lady and the Tramp
Premiering as part of the debut of Disney+ was this remake of Lady and the Tramp, which featured some real-life adoptable pups as its leads (and they are adorable!). While the classic tale is sweet as can be and filled with plenty of Disney magic, we found it was ultimately not the most memorable when compared to the flicks on this list. Plus, we’re just going to say it — there’s something jarring about the CGI mouths on the cute real-life pups!
What We Love: Casting rescue pups in the starring roles was a wonderful decision on Disney’s part, and both Lady and Tramp were captivating performers.
9. Christopher Robin
Oh, Pooh Bear, you are just as charming as ever in Christopher Robin! The plot of this 2018 film is an interesting one, taking a look at what happens when Pooh’s beloved bestie, Christopher Robin, grows up and forgets about his time in the Hundred Acre Woods.
Ultimately, we’re ranking Christopher Robin in this spot because it simply wasn’t the best nor the worst on the list. The tale was sweet and fun to watch, but isn’t one we find ourselves looking to rewatch for a repeat viewing.
What We Love: Jim Cummings returns to voice Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, and hearing both of those voices instantly brings a smile to our faces.
8.. Alice in Wonderland
Another Tim Burton film, we will say this about Alice in Wonderland: it did feel a lot more like a Burton flick! There were zany characters, fun, colorful CGI and sets and, of course, Johnny Depp!
The film is definitely on the long side, but we give it props for bringing some different elements than the original animated film offered.
What We Love: While Tim Burton’s direction isn’t for everyone, it works very well when it comes to the wild and zany story of Alice in Wonderland!
7. Maleficent
We may be cheating a bit with this one, because Maleficent isn’t a remake, per se but instead tells the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty from the villain’s perspective.
For that reason alone, we really enjoyed many of the original elements from Maleficent! Angelina Jolie also wonderfully embodies the role, making us feel for a character that was just seen as a purely evil being in the original animated film. We think it’s a flick from this list that’s well worth a watch!
What We Love: We give major props to Maleficent for mixing up from being a straight remake of Sleeping Beauty and instead showing that the evil Disney villains we’ve come to know aren’t always just pure evil.
6. The Lion King
And this is where we start to get controversial. While 2019’s remake of The Lion King was a box office smash, the film doesn’t rank higher on this list for one big reason: it is nearly a shot-for-shot remake of the animated 1994 original.
Now, we should say that the CGI photorealism for this flick is out of this world. Truly, its breathtaking, and gives us the utter cuteness of some very real looking baby lion cubs. But, what we felt this film was lacking was any form of originality outside of its technological design. In fact, the main differences in storyline were cut scenes versus ones that were added (we might be a little bit bitter about cutting Be Prepared altogether). While it’s certainly not the worst of the Disney remakes, we simply aren’t able to call it one of the best either.
What We Love: Disney loaded up The Lion King with some A-list stars, and the voice acting is fabulous. John Oliver as Zazu and Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner and Pumbaa and Timon, respectively, were true standouts in an all-around fantastic cast.
5. Beauty and the Beast
The animated Beauty and the Beast from 1990 was an instant hit, marking the first time an animated film was ever nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. So, obviously, the live-action remake had a lot to live up to.
In many ways, we think that 2017’s Beauty and the Beast was very well done — it had some fantastic cast members, fun songs, and even added some additional backstories for its characters. While it might not have been quite on par with the original, we think it brought enough original features to set it apart and land it among the top few picks on this list.
What We Love: Luke Evans was the perfect casting for Gaston — we would happily watch an entire film with Evans portraying the love-to-hate-him villain. The addition of the Beast’s new song Evermore was also a welcome addition to the film.
4. Pete’s Dragon
While Pete’s Dragon didn’t get the same box office success as many other entries on this list, it ranked second to highest when it came to critical success, and we can certainly see why.
The story takes you through a range of emotions, and at the heart of it is a (truly impressive CGI) big, green dragon named Elliott. This one will pull at your heartstrings in the best way, and places high on our list by being an overall great film.
What We Love: Pete’s Dragon has never been the most talked about Disney animated flick, but this live-action film does great justice to its sweet story. The CGI is also truly impressive and makes Elliott feel truly real.
3. 101 Dalmatians
Adorable puppies and one truly iconic villain — what’s not to love about the 101 Dalmations remake? The 1996 flick (aka, the earliest entry on our list!) tells the classic tale of the massive family of pups, with Glenn Close portraying the “sudden chill”-inspiring Cruella.
While childhood nostalgia might rank this one higher on our list than other’s would place it, we think that any film that gives us a fun story and tons of adorable puppies to watch for is a worthy remake, indeed.
What We Love: Glenn Close’s Cruella de Vil is iconic, and is truly deserving of all the praise.
2. Cinderella
Cinderella is the tale that has probably been retold most out of everything on this list. From musical adaptations to a variety of both historical and modern retellings — to steal from Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella truly is a tale as old as time.
And yet, though we’ve seen the story told time and time again, there’s still something truly magical about this 2015 remake of the animated classic. From incredible performances by the entire cast, to stunning costumes and magical settings, the film might have been telling a story we recognized well, but we still were able to watch (and enjoy) it with fresh eyes.
What We Love: The casting for this movie is near perfection, and the costumes and scenery make for a truly magical tale worthy of this iconic story. Plus, just look at Cindy’s dress — it’s breathtaking!
1. The Jungle Book
It was not easy to pick a number one spot on this list, but ultimately we’ve got to pick The Jungle Book. Directed by Jon Favreau (who also direct the photo-realistic The Lion King remake from above), that tale of Mowgli was a joy to watch in this 2016 film.
With wonderful CGI, and a fantastic performance from Neel Sethi who played Mowgli, The Jungle Book is a Disney remake that we would happily watch time and time again. Like Cinderella, and many other movies on this list, the story of The Jungle Book is not a new one, pre-dating even Disney’s animated telling, and yet this remake brought something new for audiences to enjoy. What ultimately makes some Disney remakes work more than others is bringing something new to the table, and that is a task that The Jungle Book handily succeeded with.
What We Love: What didn’t we love? The story of Mowgli was told in a breathtaking setting, with CGI that never once left us feeling like we weren’t really watching a young Mowgli hang with his best bear friend.
What are your favorite (and least favorite) live-action Disney remakes so far? Let us know what YOUR rankings would be in the comments below!
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12. Lion King – Original is my all time favorite movie. I have to completely disagree with liking the voice acting, I thought it was absolutely horrible and in no way comparable to the original. The ad lib and changing of many of the classic lines ruined the whole thing in my opinion. I am admittedly a purist. CGI was great.
11. Beauty and the Beast – my second favorite animated movie. Other than the casting choice for Gaston I hated the casting, especially the choice for Belle. Again most of the new voice overs and changing of lines in the movie didn’t work for me at all. Also thought the CGI versions of the enchanted characters missed the mark. Not of fan of the political innuendo inserted into the movie for one character that never existed either. Totally missed the mark for me and would be 12 if not so disappointed with the script changes in Lion King.
10. Aladdin – Big fan of Will Smith so had very high hopes for his performance as Genie which unfortunately led to a big disappointment and of course no one could ever match the amazing performance by Robin Williams. Liked the casting choices for Aladdin and Jasmine. Hated the plot changes and again the politics that don’t belong and would never fit in with the time and place of the story.
9. Lady & The Tramp – Number one rule of remakes being a purist is do not change the characters in the story, so obviously didn’t care for that part at all. Wife and I got Disney + just to watch this one and were exceptionally disappointed with just about everything to do with it.
8. Alice In Wonderland – wasn’t a big fan in the first place and the darker twist on the character designs and lines didn’t help.
7. Maleficent – Interesting twist on the original story to make it the villains point of view but again changes to the original story line and some of the casting left us disappointed.
6. Cinderella – not bad overall but some of the script changes with lines we were used to hearing were not for the better in my opinion.
5. 101 Dalmations – not a lot to say good or bad, it was okay.
4. Christopher Robin – liked the casting, liked the CGI, story didn’t change too terribly much from what I remembered and we enjoyed this one. Rare for us to like a live action remake and we wish Disney would stop ruining great classics quite frankly.
3. Dumbo – Probably my 3rd favorite Disney movie. Hated the fact there was no real role for Timothy T Mouse and the elimination of the crows who teach him to fly and love their song in the animated version. However given this movie went completely off script from the original and made it all about the darkness of humans and the reality of greed, with the exception of the flying elephant, I was somehow okay with the story overall and the CGI as you said was amazing. Lots of good “allergy” moments as we would call the tear jerker scenes. Casting for how the story was rewritten was well done. Again very rare we enjoy the live action remakes but this one was good by us after excepting the complete rewrite.
2. Pete’s Dragon – Another completely different take on the story and quite frankly not even the same movie as the animated version in my book. Given this fact we enjoyed the new story and the CGI and had a good mix of the emotional roller coaster between laughter and “allergy” moments. Would watch again.
1. Jungle Book – Quite frankly wish they had stopped after this one, it was very well done all the way around and didn’t even mind the script changes or twists to the story. Amazing CGI and kept true for the most part. Voice acting didn’t try too hard or change too much. One of the very few live action I watched more than once and made me hopeful about future live action remakes. Hands down the best of them all.