With last year’s The Lion King and Aladdin having both grossed north of $1 billion at the box office, Disney’s remake of animated films pipeline is showing no signs of slowing down. The studio has even more remakes scheduled for the next couple of years (beginning with its delayed Mulan in July and the upcoming The Little Mermaid). However, the House of Mouse will also be working on live-action reboots exclusively for Disney+.
Following The Lion King, Mulan, and Aladdin, Disney’s 1973 animated classic film Robin Hood will be the latest animated film to get a live-action/CG hybrid remake. The movie will also be a musical and will be produced exclusively for Disney+.
Exploring Existing Properties
Robin Hood isn’t the first film to be made a Disney+ exclusive. The move by Disney is a sign of how it’s reimagining its animated properties for other distribution platforms. Lady and the Tramp became a Disney+ exclusive when the streamer launched in November 2019. Rebooted IPs give the studio an opportunity to look at the nostalgia it created from a different perspective.
In the 1973 film — which was produced and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman (also known as Woolie Reitherman and a member of Walt Disney’s core animators, the Nine Old Men) — was a retelling of Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marian and the Sheriff of Nottingham as anthropomorphic characters. As in the original story, Robin Hood led the fight against Prince John’s excessive taxation against the poor. In Disney’s animated version, Hood was depicted as a fox, Little John was depicted as a bear, Friar Tuck as a badger, the thumbsucking Prince John as a lion, the sheriff of Nottingham as a wolf and Maid Marian as a vixen.
Kari Granlund, who penned the live-action Lady and the Tramp, is working on the script, with Carlos López Estrada attached to the project for directing duties. Estrada’s last film was the 2018 comedy-drama Blindspotting, his directorial debut.
Disney+ Surpasses Netflix Subscriber Base
On April 3, the Disney+ streaming app launched in India and overtook the global streaming video leader, Netflix. It’s a feat no other competitor has accomplished.
With over 14 million new subscribers hungry for original content, remaking old classics like Robin Hood will help Disney bulk up its streaming library and give subscribers a reason to continue using the service in a competitive market.
MiceChat recently reported on April 8 that Disney+ surpassed 50 million paid subscribers due to service rollouts in international territories. These included the UK, Germany, Spain, India, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. Due to the French government’s concern that Disney+ would put too much strain on bandwidth, the service’s launch was delayed in France. However, the app is now available to customers in that region.
Due to physical production being shut down around the world due to the pandemic, it’s unclear when Disney will begin production again. We’ll keep you posted on the film’s progress.
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Let’s Hear From You
What are your thoughts on Disney’s continuation of remakes? Do you think Robin Hood is a good choice for a live-action/CGI remake? Have you seen the original film? Let us know in the comments below.
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