Chris Gore, Founder/Owner of FilmThreat/Author/Filmmaker: But
the pile of feces in the live-action Pinocchio is the most likable character.
Film Courage: What do you love about Disney live action remakes?
Chris: I don't love anything about Disney live action remakes. I think these are the worst films
of our time that represent everything wrong with factory filmmaking and studio executives
and lawyers deciding they need to make a movie to somehow preserve the intellectual property.
The Disney live action remakes with the exception of a few, I would say the Jungle
Book by John Favreau, but almost all of them have been incredibly unwatchable.
Thankfully the classic films on which they're based still exist films like Pinocchio, Beauty and
the Beast, and whatnot but the live action remakes have been the worst. Pinocchio in particular was
one that had me specifically angry because it was first of all embarrassing at how bad the film was.
Everything wrong, you're taking the design of the original Pinocchio and rendering it in computer
animation and it's the exact same design. You get Tom Hanks to play Geppetto who it's interesting
in the original animation of Pinocchio it's you have Geppetto and he's so excited to have
a young boy a son but when you take these Concepts and from animation 2D animation
and put them into live action there's something about it that is at the very least unsettling
of a live-action Tom Hanks dancing with joy that he has a young boy, a young live boy that's his
I don't want to like I don't know how long of a dramatic pause I could put there after
saying those words but there's something about it that just seems weird in live action and I
think that that's something if you look at animated shows like The Simpsons when they
talk about religion or politics or just so many different issues that The Simpsons touch on you
could never do that in live action you couldn't do a live-action sitcom that discussed those ideas
I mean you used to be able to with all in the family but the only way to to tackle those ideas
unfortunately in a mainstream way is is in 2D animation or at least you used to be able to
but the but the live-action Disney films are just a travesty and sort of represent everything
wrong with modern movies today everything wrong just the updating it for modern audiences with
unnecessary gender and race swaps that I think that audiences are beginning to tire of
the live action doesn't really work there's certain concepts and ideas that work best in
animation perhaps that's why perhaps that's why the Jungle Book is probably the one that stands
out as it is the most watchable and probably the best of them is because it's it's all animated
it's all animated with the exception of the young boy but but my God these these Disney animated
or these Disney Animation translations to live action are are travesty I feel like I could teach
a class where we just watch parts of Pinocchio daily and I tell you why this isn't working
there's even a scene in which Pinocchio trips over a pile of feces covered in flies and
part of me thinks that the reason that the feces in Pinocchio with the the flies you could hear
the flies is so graphic it was like the animators put that in to let us know yeah we know we know
too they are this bad and that film it just it's horrific I really get the sense that it's it's
an attorney is saying look we need to remake these and we need to brand them to remind people
it's it's somewhat similar to there was a trend in the 90s to do sequels to classic Disney
animated films Cinderella to Lion King 2 Bambi to and you can probably find them at yard sales
in the clamshell VHS casing you can find the sequels to all the classic Disney animated
features and they're all completely forgettable and I wish they never existed and I would say
the same for all of these Disney Live Action films is literally an attorney saying well
just do it. It's disappointing to see people like Robert Zemeckis
who made a short on a short list of perfect films made Back to the Future
right and then to see Tom Hanks probably the most beloved actor you could still call him a
star for them to team up with Disney to make it is horrific and I just hope that Disney stops.
Film Courage: Not to get too graphic but I am curious with the pile of feces and the flies,
in what context was that in the scene?
Chris: Well Pinocchio is skipping his way to school. He's distracted and happens upon a pile
of feces. It's a completely unnecessary thing to happen in the midst of the live-action remake of
the classic Pinocchio to put in this pile of feces but I do believe that was a not so secret message
that the animators may have just decided to add
why would they do this otherwise there's there's no point in it does it pay off later in the story
is it on his shoe and he says I don't recall that it that it pays off or has meaning but the pile
of feces in the live-action Pinocchio is the most likable character oh okay great I say that with a
straight face I have some numbers here Lion King 1.6 billion dollars worldwide, Beauty
and the Beast 1.2 billion, Aladdin over a billion worldwide, and The Jungle Book almost a billion.
So what about the fact that many of these remakes are huge business.
Film Courage: You talk about a lawyer that
could be sitting behind their computer figuring out numbers?
Chris: Yeah doesn't it make sense. Though
sure it makes financial sense to remake classic and familiar intellectual property into another
form from live action or from animation to live action. That makes total sense on paper. I think
these films are completely creatively bankrupt and forgettable and it's unfortunate that audiences
would not be more discriminating when it comes to these come to these movies so I just don't
think that we're going to be talking about any of these live-action Disney remakes far
into the future. We will still be discussing the classic films upon which they're based.
Film Courage: Now forgive me I'm not a parent but I know that moms need a break,
dads need a break. Is this the kind of movie that can say “Hey guys we're gonna
get in the car and go see a movie! We are we going to see Pinocchio!”
Chris: There is definitely a school of thought that I will say that the
reason that these movies are profitable is they're effectively babysitters. So
that could also be a reason for the success and also I kind of find it there's always a movie
and this is in particular around the holidays usually Thanksgiving or Christmas and whatnot,
there's a movie that offends no one is not interesting completely forgettable. But it's
the only movie the entire family can agree that we can all go see together. That's why you see
movies opening on Christmas day right that it is a thing a lot of movies open on Christmas Day
and not everybody wants to go see The Godfather 3 on Christmas Day but they'll go see something like
like a Disney live action remake. I despise these films with every fiber of my being so I find they
I mean I guess the best thing you can say about them is it keeps certain artists employed.