Disney’s wave of live-action movie adaptations began with 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland”。Then starting with 2014’s Maleficent，Advance at the rate of one film per year，Until this year we had a blowout of four movies a year。

The 9 live-action movies that have been released have totaled a global box office of US$6.2 billion so far，The average box office for a movie is nearly 700 million US dollars，This is a box office result that many movies cannot match。

As early as last week，The cumulative global box office of "Aladdin" currently being screened has reached 8.USD 1.7 billion，And as a Hollywood musical，"Aladdin" rarely conquers the East Asian market，Won the box office championship in Japan for 3 consecutive weeks，It is still popular in Korea，Overwhelmed "Toy Story 4" last week and once again topped the weekly box office list。

After "Aladdin"，The new "The Lion King" will also be released in domestic theaters in July，Although "The Lion King" cannot be made into a "live-action" version，But under Disney’s super-realistic CG technology，The movie looks no different from the real African savanna。It is worth mentioning that James Jones, the voice of the original Mufasa, will also return，Simba’s girlfriend Nana is voiced by Beyoncé this time。

Next year，The audience will also see the live-action version of "Mulan"。Disney has taken great pains to please the Chinese market，Liu Yifei plays Mulan this time，And Donnie Yen、Jet Li、Gong Li will also star，Looking at the cast, I can’t tell this is an American movie。

around 2010，Two big things happened at Disney。The first thing is to acquire Marvel。The second thing is that Disney’s production department has two new executives-Disney 188bet sports betting app download Pictures President Sean Bailey and Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn。

There seems to be no direct relationship between the acquisition of Marvel and Disney’s remake of live-action movies，But Sean Bailey, who is in charge of the production, was very frank in an interview with foreign media and said that their idea of ​​making a live-action movie was actually inspired by Marvel。

“We think，If we talk about Iron Man、Thor、Captain America is a Marvel superhero，Then Alice、Cinderella、Belle is our superhero。Kuila、Maleficent is our super villain。”

and，Sean Bailey and Alan Horn also set a clear time limit for Disney’s ambitious live-action film adaptation plan-only remake works before 2000。

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Only remaking works from the last century is a very clever approach，Because this just hits the mood of our times - nostalgia。

From 1989 to 1999，This period is called the “Disney Renaissance”，Starting from "Mermaid" released in 1989，Disney has launched animated films such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", "The Lion King", "Mulan" and "Tarzan"。

《Mermaid》

In the past 10 years, Disney has released original animations at a rate of one per year，Every film has won an Oscar，It can be said that it is both high-yield and high-quality，It also gained a lot at the box office。

We can find it too，A considerable number of Disney’s current live-action adaptations come from this stage。

Who would go to the cinema to watch these live-action movies adapted from old animations？Post-80s and 90s。These animations just happen to accompany the growth of this generation，Now this generation has grown up and started families，They will take their children to relive it again。

eight、The 1990s was also the time when home video equipment became popular，Even if you can’t go to the cinema to watch "The Lion King"，You can also be baptized by Disney at home using DVD。

There are also a few small data here to prove the significance of home distribution to the spread of Disney IP。The video tape of "Aladdin" sold 24 million units in one year、"Beauty and the Beast" sold 22 million units in two years。The most exaggerated one is "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"，This film grossed $7.188bet app download 8 million when it was released in 1937，But later I made a profit by selling video tapes.USD 400 million。It can be said，The animated image of Snow White can be passed down to this day，The video tape is indispensable。

In that era when spiritual life was not rich，The audience’s attention has not been stolen by various electronic devices，As long as one thing is good enough，It can be quickly copied by various mass media，Become popular among the people。Michael Jackson’s song、"Titanic" and Disney's animation are both "classicized" in this way。

Disney’s IP value and business model

But the word classic also has another meaning - outdated。They seem to be the fun of middle-aged people，Not much related to young people。Disney never misses a generation，This generation of young people is certainly no exception，So the second significance of live-action movie adaptations is to attract today’s young audiences。

Disney’s greatest value lies in IP。To ensure they continue to attract new generations of viewers，This kind of Disney's maintenance of IP includes necessary "update iterations" - modifications to the original stories and character settings，To adapt to changing times。

originally from "Sleeping Beauty"，The witch Maleficent who cast a curse on Princess Aurora is just a "facialized" bad guy image。But in the movie，Maleficent has more personality，She cursed because the king failed her，And she also developed mother-daughter feelings for Aurora。In the recently released "Aladdin"，The image of Princess Jasmine has also changed from a weak woman with a "vase" nature to a strong woman who aspires to be a king。

Continuously update the original IP settings，And attract a new generation of viewers，It’s just the first part of Disney’s entire business chain。When you accept their "brainwashing"，After becoming a loyal fan，More IP-derived consumption will open to you，Including but not limited to: Disneyland、Toys、Games and various brand cooperation products，For example, UNIQLO’s co-branded model UT。

Disney’s persistence in IP-based operations is actually not limited to squeezing the value of the original old animation IP，They will also do some things 188bet online sports betting that we think are very incredible。For example, adapting Disneyland rides into movies。

The prototype of "Jungle Cruise", which is expected to be released next year, is a water ride of the same name in Disneyland，Visitors can take a boat ride through many rivers in the park。

Of course，This is not the first time Disney has done something like this，The most famous movie adaptation of Disney attractions is the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series。

Is Disney resting on its laurels?

However, this method of recycling IP to make movies was also thought up by Sean Bailey and Alan Horn, the current heads of Disney’s production department，Both Walt Disney himself and both of their predecessors, Jeffrey Katzenberg, have expressed their distaste for remakes。

In 1933，Walt Disney’s animation “The Three Little Pigs” was a huge success，Someone asked him to make a sequel，But he flatly refused。Jeffrey Katzenberg, who started Disney’s “renaissance”, also wrote in a company memo that “people don’t want to watch what they’ve seen，Our mission is not to recycle，Instead create a new story。”

"The Three Little Pigs"

It can be said that the gene of innovation has been engraved into Disney’s genes over several generations，Why now，Disney suddenly gave up on innovation and started resting on its laurels？

In fact, Disney has not completely given up on innovation.

In the field of animation，Disney’s own animation studio is still producing high-quality original animation。"Frozen"、"Super Marines"、"Zootopia"、"Moana" can be regarded as a masterpiece of animation in recent years。It’s just that as the competition in the animated film market becomes more and more intense，Disney is no longer what it used to be，Have power over the market。

In the field of live-action movies，Disney also has no shortage of non-animated adaptations，Tomorrowland based on the Disney attraction、"A Wrinkle in Time", adapted from the novel of the same name, and "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms", adapted from the fairy tale, were both released in recent years，It’s just that without exception, they all failed at the box office。

These movies did not do well at the box office，Except it doesn’188bet app download t look good，To a large extent, I suffered the loss of unknown IP。"A Wrinkle in Time" is a science fiction novel published in 1962，But it’s not a well-known novel。The story of "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" comes from German folk fairy tales，The story of "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" comes from German folk fairy tales，But the popularity of this fairy tale is limited to Central and Eastern Europe。

The squeeze of streaming media

The failure of several Disney films adapted from non-famous IP，It also reflects the squeeze of streaming media on the current movie market。

A "kitchen and restaurant" relationship has been formed between streaming media and theaters。Restaurants will not go out of business just because every household has a kitchen，But people’s expectations will be higher in the restaurant than in the kitchen。This principle is reflected in the film market，Everyone will only go to the cinema to watch "big productions" that are highly topical，Low-budget movies will turn to streaming channels。

And "blockbuster" often means strong publicity，When the cost of publicity and distribution is equivalent，The audience’s recognition of well-known IP movies must be higher than that of original movies。From this perspective，Betting on big IP is also a safe choice。

This trend can be seen from the popular original movies launched by streaming media platforms in recent years，"Manchester by the Sea" cost only $8.5 million，The budget of "Roma", which won the Oscar for Best Director, was only 15 million，Compared with the current budget of hundreds of millions of dollars，They are all low-budget original movies。

There are no "blockbuster" original movies on Disney's own streaming media Disney+，Based on what Sanwen Entertainment previously pushedWhat assets does “Real Estate Dealer” Disney have?More than Marvel Star Wars Pixar Fox》，Currently released Disney+ original movies，They are all traditional drama films that do not require many special effects。

If this trend continues to evolve，We will see more and more IP masterpieces in cinemas in the future，The market for small and medium-cost original films will be further compressed。In other words，It’s even 188bet app download harder to see Disney’s original live-action movies in theaters。

Disney because of its long history，The development process will always be divided into many stages by business historians。In addition to the "Renaissance" period mentioned above，There is also the so-called "Sleeping Beauty" period (1971~1989)，Disney’s development at this stage has reached a bottleneck，The works are lackluster，Like a sleeping beauty。

I don’t know 50 years from now，How will future business historians evaluate Disney in this era。

*This articleSource:WeChat public account "三文娱乐"(ID: hi3wyu)，Author: Dkphhh，Original title: "4 animation-adapted live-action movies in one year，Is Disney really resting on its laurels？》.