A new interview with TIME Magazine will comfort many enthusiasts, and also temper the expectations of those few clamoring for a live-action adaptation of films from Pixar Animation Studios.
What’s Happening:
- In a new interview with TIME, Pixar Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter got fairly candid regarding the many live action adaptations of animated films, adding that Pixar titles are off the table.
- As we approach the theatrical release of the highly-anticipated Inside Out 2, Docter was asked about a current fan-casting situation wherein Josh O’Connor, one of the stars of Challengers, has been suggested as perfect for a role in a live-action Ratatouille.
- While Docter seemed to be excited about O’Connor’s love of the film, something that the actor has displayed numerous times on the press tour for Challengers, he did seem to balk at the idea of a live-action version of one of the studio’s landmark films.
- “This might bite me in the butt for saying it, but it sort of bothers me,” Docter said. “I like making movies that are original and unique to themselves. To remake it, it’s not very interesting to me personally.”
- Pixar also has a very unique and fantastic way of telling their stories in the animated realm, simply by embracing the possibilities of the medium. To translate them into the real world might prove difficult.
- Docter, who directed that Academy Award-winning Up, elaborated on this idea, saying “It would be tough. So much of what we create only works because of the rules of the [animated] world. So if you have a human walk into a house that floats, your mind goes, “Wait a second. Hold on. Houses are super heavy. How are balloons lifting the house?” But if you have a cartoon guy and he stands there in the house, you go, “Okay, I'll buy it.” The worlds that we’ve built just don’t translate very easily.”
- That’s not to say that elsewhere at the Walt Disney Company, they aren’t going to try. Using their vast library of films from the Walt Disney Animation Studios, many of which are already adaptations of known fairy tales or literature (territory Pixar Animation Studios has not ventured into), there has been a seemingly non-stop barrage of live-action adaptations for nearly a decade.
- With 2015’s Cinderella largely regarded as the film that launched the current cinematic trend, Disney has released (on Disney+ or in theaters) the live-action:
- Cinderella
- The Jungle Book
- Beauty and the Beast
- Christopher Robin (Based on characters from The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh)
- Dumbo
- Aladdin
- The Lion King
- Maleficent and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Based on characters from Sleeping Beauty)
- Lady and the Tramp
- Mulan
- Cruella (Based on characters from 101 Dalmatians)
- Pinocchio
- Peter Pan & Wendy
- The Little Mermaid
- There are also a selection of live-action adaptations based on Walt Disney Animation Studios films (whether it be for Disney+ or theatrical release) in various stages of development or production. Whether it be early development, or a title on the verge of arriving in theaters, these include:
- Snow White
- Mufasa: The Lion King
- Moana
- Lilo & Stitch
- Hercules
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Robin Hood
- Aladdin spin-off
- Bambi
- The Sword in the Stone
- The Jungle Book sequel
- A Tinker Bell film
- The Aristocats
(Note: updates on some of these films have gone silent, but were previously named as being in active development)
- And if Docter has his way, it seems you won’t ever see a Pixar title on this list.
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