Disney released the teaser trailer for the live action remake of “Beauty and the Beast” on May 23, and BYU-Hawaii students said they are excited to see the movie. Students were also surprised by Disney’s announcement of 12 new live action remakes to be released between now and 2019.“I’m so excited for ‘Beauty and the Beast,’” said junior Ethan Roberts, a computer science major from California. “The trailer was awesome. I think the music in the trailer sounded really good, just like the original cartoon.”Set for release on March 17, 2017, “Beauty and the Beast” stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast. A host of celebrities will make up the cast of the castle’s magic furniture, including Emma Thompson, Ian McKellen, and Ewan McGregor.Marley Wilson, a freshman from Florida studying English and Psychology, said, “I’m just really excited that Emma Watson is in it. I think she will play the part perfectly.”Daniel LeBaron, a senior from Utah studying ICS, said that while he wants to go see “Beauty and the Beast,” he wasn’t wowed by the trailer. “The trailer was just a bunch of random pictures and the audio was hearkening back to lines you’ve heard before... All that trailer did was say ‘we’re doing a remake.’ But I already knew that. So I think it was just there to get people hyped up.”In a press release on April 26, Disney announced 12 new live action remakes that would be released between now and 2019. The movies are: “Alice through the Looking Glass,” “Pete’s Dragon,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Cruella,” “Dumbo,” “Mary Poppins,” “Maleficent 2,” “The Jungle Book 2,” “Tinker Bell,” and three unnamed live action remakes.Natalie Powell, a sophomore from Texas studying social work, said, “Remakes have had a positive reaction so far and they’re pretty good, so it would make sense that they’re making so many. I guess they’re cash cows.” Esther Xavier, a sophomore from Malaysia studying EXS, said, “It’s fine that they’re making so many remakes because we don’t really watch the classics anymore. So it’s like a refresher. And full of nostalgia.” LeBaron said he wondered why Disney can’t come up with something new rather than redoing old movies.Of the live action movies coming up, Powell and Xavier said they would both be interested to see “Cruella,” which will star Emma Stone and is currently in development. LeBaron said he would like to see “Pete’s Dragon” since he always watched the cartoon as a child.Wilson said she would love to see “Dumbo” because she remembered only a little bit from the original movie. “I wish they would make a Jasmine one. Since everything in that movie is from an Aladdin standpoint, I would love to switch it around and see it with Jasmine.”Disney has already released four live action remakes: “Alice in Wonderland,” “Maleficent,” “Cinderella” and “The Jungle Book.” Powell said she liked the remakes she’d seen, but that “they can’t be compared to the originals, because the originals are the ones I grew up with.”Wilson said, “I don’t like them because they take away from the originals. Growing up I really enjoyed those movies, and so for them to totally twist it, I have a really hard time with that.” She said she appreciates what Disney is trying to do but at the same time she likes to hold on to the classic movies. Concerning “Maleficent,” the 2014 remake of the 1959 “Sleeping Beauty” cartoon movie, Xavier said, “If it was supposed to be a remake of the child’s movie, it was a bit too violent and vivid. If Disney aimed to make it scary, then it was good. But it could cause nightmares.” Powell added that she thinks the live action movies are more interesting for older audiences and are scarier than the cartoons. “I think the movies will be better if they stop trying to hide the actual storyline beneath all the special effects,” Wilson said. “Movies nowadays are full of action but there’s no gray matter or supporting material.”
Writer: Samantha Daynes
