5 animated movies that Disney could remake

With The Little Mermaid riding high at the global box office, these are five more animated films that Disney could give the live-action treatment.

Over the last two decades, Disney has made billions turning its beloved animated back catalogue into live-action movies.

The likes of Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast have all been remade, and even though the reviews haven’t always been positive, the box office totals have been huge.

Their latest effort – The Little Mermaid – is currently the Number 1 movie in the world. While Snow White, Lilo & Stitch, and Moana are coming soon, with many more in development. So ignoring those titles already in play, here are five more Disney flicks ripe for a remake…

The Rescuers (1977)

Based on a series of books by Margery Sharp, The Rescuers revolves around members of the Rescue Aid Society, a group of mice dedicated to finding kidnap victims.

The film follows two such mice – Bernard and Bianca – as they hunt for a young mouse who has been abducted by treasure hunters as part of their plan to steal a giant diamond. Along the way, they receive help from a cat, an albatross, and a dragonfly.

The film was a hit, and became Disney’s first animated movie to get a sequel, with The Rescuers Down Under releasing in 1990.

The Black Cauldron (1985)

Disney has mainly remade the classics, leaving their less acclaimed efforts from the 1970s and ’80s alone. But there’s lots of potential in those movies, especially The Black Cauldron.

Loosely based on The Chronicles of Prydain, and filled with Welsh mythology, the film finds a bard, a swine-herder, and a Princess doing battle with an evil Emperor endeavouring to take over the world using the titular cauldron.

There was trouble behind-the-scenes, with sequences cut for being too frightening. While the film was a box office bomb. But The Black Cauldron has gradually built up a cult following, and that popularity – combined with Disney’s more relaxed approach to scary stuff – means the time is right for a new adaptation. One that might even be planned, as although they previously lost the rights to the books, Disney regained them in 2016…

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

What if a super-sleuth mouse lived underneath Sherlock Holmes? That’s the high-concept idea at the heart of The Great Mouse Detective, aka Basil The Great Mouse Detective.

Based on the Basil of Baker Street books by Eve Titus, this adaptation finds the titular mouse, and his trusty sidekick Major Dr. David Q. Dawson, on the trail of their arch-enemy Professor Ratigan. Whose plan is to kidnap the Queen to become “Supreme Ruler of All Mousedom.”

It’s a great premise, and an entertaining film, that was also one of the first Disney animations to cast a star, with Vincent Price lending his amazing voice to the film’s villain.

Tangled (2010)

We’re into the modern era now, with Rapunzel reimagining Tangled a smash-hit for the studio in 2010.

Giving the Grimm fairy-tale a very modern makeover, the film had Mandy Moore voice Rapunzel, the princess with the long hair, while Zachary Levi is Flynn Ryder, the handsome thief who helps free her for an amazing adventure.

The film was a critical and commercial success, scoring 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and making more than twice its budget at the box office. So a live-action remake is probably inevitable.

Frozen (2013)

And speaking of inevitable, live-action Frozen will definitely happen. One of Disney’s biggest hits of all-time is also another reimagining of a fairy-tale, namely Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen.

Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel play the sisters who fall out in icy fashion, while Josh Gad steals pretty much every scene as talking snowman Olaf.

The first Frozen grossed $1.2 billion at the global box office, while Frozen 2 managed $1.4 billion, so when it comes to live-action Frozen, it’s less a case of if, and more a matter of when.

While you wait for these live-action remakes to be made, check out our review of The Little Mermaid here.