Is Disney Out of Ideas?

Disney has announced a live-action remake of yet another classic animation, prompting many to wonder whether the hundred-year-old company is showing its age.

Dwayne Johnson said his 2016 fantasy movie Moana will be given the live-action treatment, like so many Disney properties that have come before. The Little Mermaid, Lady & The Tramp, The Jungle Book, Aladdin, and The Lion King, among others, have been rereleased over the past decade with a modern makeover.

Founded in 1923, Walt Disney Studios has been responsible for some of the most beloved animated and live-action movies of all time. Over the last ten years, however, the house of mouse has been repurposing classics for new audiences, and rolling out sequels galore.

Has the ideas well run dry?

Not necessarily.

Newsweek asked creative experts what's happening at Disney, and while many acknowledged that the rolling out of remakes isn't a good look, others suggested that there is a higher purpose for the abundance of do-overs.

Disney has bought a number of other major studios since the turn of the century, purchasing Pixar in 2007, Lucasfilm in 2012, Marvel in 2015, and 20th Century Studios (Fox) in 2019. Collectively, there is now a massive amount of output being pushed by Disney, both in theaters and on streaming services.

Under Disney's stewardship, we'll see Pixar release a fifth Toy Story movie, Marvel will enter the fifth phase of the MCU, and Lucasfilm will welcome back Harrison Ford for a fifth Indiana Jones movie.

'Disney Being Risk-Averse'

Experts seem to agree that Disney isn't necessarily being purposefully lazy or uncreative in their decisions; they're being "risk averse."

Jason Ruiz, associate professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame told Newsweek: "Out of ideas? Not sure about that, but Disney has clearly fallen into a rut of remaking their animated hits into live-action movies rather than aiming for originality. Tapping into nostalgia has proven more profitable than originality at the moment."

Since 2014's Maleficent, there have been 14 remakes or adaptations released in cinemas or on Disney+. Starting with Peter Pan & Wendy in April 2023, and The Little Mermaid in May 2023, there are currently 17 more remakes lined up.

Nathan Miller, a crisis communications expert and the founder and CEO of Miller Ink, told Newsweek: "Gigantic companies like Disney are naturally going to be risk averse in most creative decisions because failure is so costly. I thought Moana was fantastic, but I wonder whether we need a live-action version. The rise of streamers and online distribution has created unprecedented options for 'long-tail' storytelling that is more experimental and creative."

The Long-Tail Model

The "long-tail" business model is one that has been utilized to huge success by retailers like Amazon. Essentially, it focuses on selling lower volumes of a variety of specialized and niche products, rather than high volumes of a smaller number of products. This model has been lucrative in the online space as there are lower costs and unlimited storage space associated with it.

"It's a lot easier for Disney to turn its animation catalog into live-action films because there is 'at least' a baseline audience built into those stories from people who follow the legacy of the Disney brand," president of production company Rosso Films International, Stefano Da Frè, told Newsweek.

"The vital existential question of, 'what is the risk of not creating original content?' is perhaps the most interesting." Da Frè continued. "Sooner or later, Disney will run out of its animation catalog, therefore, there is a direct long-term financial risk. Each remake considered in the Disney boardroom should be met with a parallel development, so the company has the ability to focus on short-term profits with long-term creative goals."

A turning point for Disney may have been the 2012 flop John Carter. The live-action sci-fi fantasy adventure, based on the novel A Princess of Mars, is considered one of the biggest bombs in Box Office history, reportedly resulting in a $200 million loss for Disney. As a result, its planned sequels were cancelled. In the following decade, Disney went on to make more than a dozen remakes of old classics.

"The studios aren't necessarily out of ideas, they are just more risk averse than ever," Frank Salzano told Newsweek. The managing partner of New York-based entertainment law firm Salzano Ettinger Lampert & Wilson, LLP continued, "This results in Disney and others making films they feel are safer in the sense that they believe there is already a built-in audience or a brand like Marvel, etc. This results in less newly created content being made into films—for some that's a very unfortunate reality."

It's not unfortunate for Dwayne Johnson, who spoke of his excitement when announcing the live-action version of Moana on Monday. "We're honored to partner with @DisneyStudios to tell our story through the realm of music and dance, which at the core is who we are as Polynesian people," he wrote on Instagram.

'Nothing New Under the Sun'

Ryan McCormick, a reputation management expert for Goldman McCormick Public Relations crunched the numbers for Newsweek.

"On an approximate $175 million dollar budget, Moana (2016) grossed $682 million dollars. It makes fiscal, logical sense for not only Disney but other film studios seeking to squeeze more juice out of properties that already have a proven loyal fan base. This is a big reason why we keep getting so many reboots," McCormick said.

"My guess is that there will be some bellyaching about whether or not we need a remake of Moana (2016) but that the tactic will ultimately work," Professor Ruiz added. "I personally hope that audiences will start to demand more from the company, which has proven itself perfectly capable of reinvention and innovation over the decades."

With Moana being the latest property to get a revamp, across Disney's multiple studios, there doesn't appear to be any sign of this remake model slowing down—a phenomenon which isn't new according to Juda Engelmayer, CEO of New York-based public relations firm HeraldPR.

"As Ecclesiastes 1:9 teaches, 'there's nothing new under the sun.' It's just how we manage it and make it new and inspiring," he told Newsweek. "We have cops and robber films, romantic stories, and in essence, everything is like Star Wars; [...] David and Goliath retold. It's just how we frame the process along the way."

For big studios, Engelmayer concedes that they need "money and reliability," which is something independent films with new ideas can't guarantee.

Some studios though have made it their mission to aim for originality. A24, a movie studio that is only a decade old has tapped into a new generation with its releases like Spring Breakers, Ex Machina, Moonlight and Uncut Gems. They swept up multiple Oscars at the 2023 Academy Awards with the wholly original Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Engelmayer suggests Disney's current model will eventually bottom out. "Public and consumer boredom and disappointment will eventually lead us back to unique and daring stories by bigger studios, but as long as everyone is afraid to offend, defend or risk the unknown, we will see a lot more of the same being reinterpreted."

There is another suggestion as to why Disney is intent on recreating classics, with Professor Ruiz using The Little Mermaid as an example.

When the latest trailer for The Little Mermaid remake dropped, there was much discussion about race. Actress Halle Bailey will play Ariel. Political commentator Matt Walsh was slammed for suggesting a Black mermaid wasn't "scientifically" accurate. He later said his comments were a joke.

"I think remakes are great when they push the boundaries of the original text or somehow challenge what we think we know about them. The Little Mermaid will accomplish this partly through casting. This is much more appealing than straightforward remakes that simply reproduce the original in live-action," Professor Ruiz said.