Top 10 Live Action Disney Films
Editor’s Notes: Maleficent opens in wide release today, May 30th.
Disney is more famous for their animated feature films. As a corporation who is completely orientated by family entertainment, it’s no surprise that they have an invested history in live action family focused feature films. This list was such a joy to compose because it brought back a lot of forgotten gems from my childhood. One thing that made it hard to pick was the emotional involvement that suddenly came flooding back. In my opinion, it’s pretty clear that the best live action Disney have been from the archives of the Disney collection. The recent offerings are bold moves with the same core values and have been fair competitors for CGI prowess. Most recently Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) re-envisioned a classic fairytale narrative and ticked all the boxes for what Disney stands for. In terms for the future of Disney live action films this is definitely the direction they are corning the market in. Where Disney is willing to try new avenues, some haven’t been as obviously successful as they perhaps could have been. In Tim Burton’s case he seems to have failed Disney with his Alice in Wonderland (2010) dark revamp, a case of just a director’s a-typical stamp on a film, rather than a refreshing and worthy re-take. Where Disney has come from with its classic live action films proves that they can get it right when they take the right angle. Let’s hope that Maleficent is the fresh new narrative angle they need to rival their history in live action.
