Dazzling or Dull?

Snow White has a new look?! Rapunzel’s hair is actually going to be that long?! What’s with the casting choice? Why is Disney doing this? Do they want to pay homage to the classics, or is it a quick money grab?

These are just some of the questions firing around student’s heads when the topic of Disney comes up. Whether they had a favorite character, a comfort movie, or even a family tradition, students have been surrounded by Disney their entire lives. 

“Disney is very, very big for me,” senior and Disney fanatic Aryn Brown says. “I grew up watching Disney. Snow White was my favorite princess when I was younger, and Cinderella's my favorite now; I've been to both Disneyland and Disney World. Disney World is hopefully going to be my graduation trip!”

Students like Brown have seen Disney play a major role in their childhood and sometimes even on to their late teenage years, but some of the adults around JA have been obsessed for even longer.

“If you look at all these [social media platforms], they have people who just love Disney,” Mr. Kirkley explains. “It's just their happy place. It allows me to forget about all the crap I have to do beyond that, and I can really just focus on being there in the moment and live in the world.”

Clearly, the JA community finds some semblance of comfort and familiarity in Disney. So how do they feel when all the classics are being remade?

“The movies are not bad, but they're trying to do too much to keep their copyrights, and it is forcing it down consumers' throats,” senior Jayden Bilby states. “They're kind of both improving their movies and doing the opposite at the same time.”

The overwhelming consensus was that Disney was grasping at straws, looking for whatever money they could find without creating new ideas. However, some of the live actions remakes that have changed the plot of the originals have been generally well-received.

“I think changing [the plot] or maybe modernizing it is better,” junior Sam Evenson comments. “Snow White does not look good, though. If you're gonna change it so drastically, change the name of the movie. Make it a new movie. Make it a new idea.”

With all of these live action movies coming out, many have begun to wonder if they will one day hold the same significance for future generations that the cartoons did for current students.

“I feel like it's gonna be a while... but I think maybe our generation, when we end up having kids, is going to be more likely to show them the remakes,” Evenson theorizes. “Especially the younger ones in our generation, because then it'll be the things that came out when they were growing up.”

While some kids are bound to eventually appreciate the remakes more than the originals, there are others that may come to realize the impact the first Disney movies had on society.

“I think a lot of kids are growing up on these and I think a lot of them like them, but because they don't know the original story,” Brown explains. “They don’t understand just how revolutionary they were for their time when they came out. And then this is just basic for our time: it’s a princess movie. It’s been done before.”