By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Remakes have always been popular with Hollywood studios, but the trend for the last decade has been taking a hit animated film and then doing it all over again in live-action, and typically, it’s a hit the second time around. Disney has already made live-action versions of its 90s Renaissance-era films, including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Mulan.
The studio is now remaking the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, followed by Moana, but it’s ignoring two films that underperformed at the time but are now cult classics. Both Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet were part of the company’s last-ditch effort with 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, regrettably hitting theaters two weeks after Dreamworks walked up to Disney and punched them in the face with Shrek. It was a straight-up old-school pulp adventure that broke the Disney Renaissance streak of musicals.
When the exploration sub, Ulysses, stumbles across Atlantis, the crew is betrayed and has to 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. Sadly, audiences did not show up, which makes Atlantis: The Lost Empire perfect for Disney’s next live-action remake.
Of course, you could also argue that Atlantis: The Lost Empire already exists in live-action as Stargate since it has a lot in common with the original 1994 film. There’s also the fact that the animation and designs are part of the movie’s appeal, thanks to the work of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.
The world Mignola envisioned is so bright, vibrant, and gorgeous that it would be just as or even more impressive in live-action. Unlike Disney’s other live-action remakes, it’s not a musical; it’s a pulp adventure that has more in common with Indiana Jones than it does Aladdin, and modern cinema is sorely lacking in that type of movie.
Why Treasure Planet Needs A Disney Remake Now!
One year after Atlantis: The Lost Empire underperformed, Disney released Treasure Planet, which is exactly what it sounds like: Treasure Island in space. As the Muppets proved with Tim Curry in Muppet Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure story is timeless and is one of those tales that should be adapted, with every generation adding their own take on it.
No Disney live-action remake has yet touched on sci-fi, which 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 Planet, like Atlantis: The Lost Empire before it, pushed the boundaries of animation at the time of its release, featuring traditional 2D animation layered on top of CGI. It still looks fantastic today, and if it were translated into the Disney live-action remake style, it would still look phenomenal, as proven by the Guardians of the Galaxy films.
After characters from the Treasure Planet started appearing in the Disney trading card game Lorcana, interest in the film shot up 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 type of Disney live-action remake, as they underperformed and could be redeemed. That’s opposed to the company’s current boring yet financially effective approach of remaking massive hits.
Each of these two movies is a cult classic, and you’ll find people asking where to get merchandise at Disney theme parks for them, but it’s not there. Add that in as another reason why pulling misses out of the vault for a second chance could work out so well for a company that seems to only care about short-term money.
While we wait for Disney to wake up, I’m going to go watch Stargate again.