Of Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Remakes have always been popular with Hollywood studios, but the trend over the last decade has been to take a successful animated film and then remake it again in live-action, and usually it’s a hit the second time around. Disney has already made live-action versions of its renaissance films from the 90s, including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaidand The mule.
The studio is now remaking the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfsfollowed by Moanabut that ignores two films that underperformed at the time but are now cult classics. Both Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet was part of the company’s last attempt at traditional animation, and both films are now recognized as hidden gems that would be incredible in live-action.
Why Atlantis: The Lost Empire Needs A Live-Action Remake
Atlantis: The Lost Empire was released in 2001 and unfortunately went to theaters two weeks after Dreamworks walked up to Disney and hit them in the face with Shrek. It was a straight-up old-school pulp adventure that broke the Disney renaissance of musicals.
When the exploration submarine, Ulysses, stumbles upon Atlantis, the crew is betrayed and must save the kingdom with the help of Kida, an Atlantean princess. It looks gorgeous, thanks to the cutting-edge combination of traditional and CGI animation, but the story is also solid. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t show up, which does Atlantis: The Lost Empire perfect for Disney’s next live-action remake.
Of course, that can also be argued for Atlantis: The Lost Empire already exists in live-action as Stargate as it has a lot in common with the original 1994 film. There’s also the fact that the animation and design are part of the film’s appeal, thanks to the work of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.
The world Mignola envisioned is so bright, vivid and beautiful that it would be equally or even more impressive in live-action. Unlike Disney’s other live-action remakes, it’s not a musical; it is a pulp adventure that has more in common with Indiana Jones than it does Aladdinand modern cinema is lacking in that kind of film.
Why Treasure Planet Needs a Disney Remake Now!
A year after Atlantis: The Lost Empire underperformed, released Disney Treasure Planetwhich is exactly what it sounds like: Treasure Island in space. As The Muppets proved with Tim Curry in The Muppet Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure story is timeless and one of those stories that should be adapted, with each generation adding their own take on it.
No Disney live-action remake has yet been touched upon sci-fiwhich would help it stand out against the likes of Moana or The Lion King. There have been very few big-budget theatrical, family-friendly sci-fi adventure films in the last decade, so it would be a hit almost by default.
Treasure Planetas Atlantis: The Lost Empire before that, pushed the boundaries of animation at the time of its release, with traditional 2D animation layered on top of CGI. It still looks amazing today, and if it were to be translated into Disney’s live-action remake style, it would still look phenomenal, as evidenced by Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
After characters from Treasure Planet began appearing in Disney card games Lorcainterest in the film increased among those too young to have seen it in 2002. There is an audience for this story.
Leaving Money on the Table
Both Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet would also be a different kind of Disney live-action remake, as they underperformed and could be redeemed. That’s in contrast to the company’s current boring but financially efficient approach to remaking massive hits.
Each of these two movies is a cult classic, and you’ll find people asking where to get Disney theme park merchandise for them, but it’s not there. Add that as another reason why pulling misfits out of the vault for a second chance could work so well for a company that only seems to care about short-term cash.
While we wait for Disney to wake up, I’m going to go watch Stargate again.
