So many of us grew up watching Disney movies, and every time Disney announces another live-action
reboot, we look forward to it for MONTHS, sometimes even years!
So let’s break down our ranking of the best Disney Live Action movies.
Who doesn’t love these feelings of nostalgia? I know, I know, it’s a controversial list
to put together, because everyone has their favorites, but I’m willing to risk that!
So let’s kick this off with 2017’s Beauty and the Beast at #7!
“if shes the one who will break the spell, you must finally learn to love.”
Beauty and the Beast has always been an enchanting story, and with a cast like Emma Watson, Josh
Gad, and Luke Evans, they got our attention!
The songs were wonderful, and the movie was pretty magical!
At first, it was kind of wild seeing Emma Watson star as Belle and not Hermione Granger…
This live action “Beauty and the Beast” was the re-telling of the same classic story
without too many updates, except it was much longer, coming in at 2 hours and 9 minutes.
If you couldn’t get enough of this one, Disney is making a Gaston origin story called
“Little Town” with eight episodes coming to Disney Plus!
At number six, we’ve got 2020’s Mulan!
“loyal, brave and true.”
Mulan was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up, and seeing the live action reboot
of the story was pretty spectacular!
It followed the story of a young woman disguising herself as a man to fight in the imperial
army, in place of her ailing father…
Throw in some girl power, mixed with incredible battle scenes, and can we talk about those
costumes?!
And in 2020, no less, when we hardly got any new movies, Mulan was a treat!
Moving on to 2019’s…The Lion King at number 5.
“run away simba, and never return!”
The Lion King’s cast included names such as Donald Glover, Seth Rogan, oh, and a little
known artist named BEYONCE.
So it goes without saying that we got a killer soundtrack, not to mention Beyonce’s “Black
is King” visual album that followed, which was EVERYTHING…
“life is a set of choices…”
And The Lion King film itself was visually stunning!
Definitely more CGI than “live action” – and some called it a money grab by Disney,
since not much of the dialogue or songs were changed, but ya know, if it aint broke, why
fix it, right?!
Rolling in at number four are the Maleficent movies!
“Don’t ruin my morning”
2014’s “Maleficent” and 2019’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” were *loose* cinematic
adaptations of “Sleeping Beauty…”
They star Angelina Jolie as the iconic villain with a heart, and of course Elle Fanning as
Aurora…
These fun fantasy/adventure films, tell the backstory of the evil fairy godmother and
showed us what hardened her and ultimately caused her to curse a sweet baby Princess.
These movies are filled with magical storytelling, over the top battles, and we gotta say- they
did a pretty outstanding job!
Up next is…2019’s Aladdin at number 3!
“a whole new worldddd, don’t you dare close your eyes”
Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott killed it as Aladdin and Jasmine…
Will Smith had a VERY different take on the genie than Robin Williams did in the original…
But you can’t say he didn’t go all out…
“I stand by my oath of wishes 3, I’m kidding, watch this.”
The film WAS a marvel and we loved the updates, like Jasmine being a modern princess refusing
to be speechless!
It would be hard to ever live up to the original, but it was so fun seeing the original acted
out! We’re here for that.
On to 2016’s The Jungle Book holding the #2 spot!
“What are you doing so deep in the jungle?” (show him)
Mowgli and Baloo teamed up again for a jungle adventure in this mesmerizing film!
And we know, it’s a mix of CGI and live-action, but this one was exceptional!
I don’t want to say it was *better* than the original, because it’s hard to compare,
but what a captivating watch!
Ok we’ve got to top this list with…Cruella at number one!
“I’m just getting started, darling.”
Another villain origin story-- this movie was everything!
Emma Stone gave yet another performance of a lifetime, and somehow made us sympathetic
to a woman who hates dalmations?
If you’ve seen the film, ya get it….
The outfits were punk rock, the music was bangin’, and you really felt for Cruella,
as you see w hat she went through growing up.
I could watch this over-the-top tale over and over again…and I probably will!
Alright and get excited because there are more Disney live action adaptations coming
your way very soon… We mentioned Gaston’s origin story…there’s
also Cinderella featuring Camila Cabello… and Snow White just cast Rachel Zegler for
the lead… The Little Mermaid is currently in production,
with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and music by the one and
only Lin Manuel Miranda.
Well that’s all we have time for today… But we’d love to hear YOUR picks!
For details on the upcoming Snow White live action movie, click right over here for another
Clevver News video.
And let me know in the comments whether you agree or disagree with my choices! And what
YOUR favorite live action Disney movie is! For now friends, I’m your host Carly Henderson,
you can find me on social media @carlyhenderson_ and I’ll see you very soon!