JAY JOSHI
Movie studios across the world are no strangers to ‘recycling’. There are remakes of old movies, or ‘retelling’ of old stories in modern setting, and whatnot. But in recent days, we are witnessing movie studios get rather creative with the whole old wine in new bottle idea by sourcing material from a new frontier: animated movies. For now, Disney seems to be leading this trend. From Cinderella, to Jungle Book, Dumbo, the recently released Aladdin, and upcoming Lion King are a few shining examples of how the studio has undertaken a systematic programme of giving a live-action touch to its old animated masterpieces.
Now, films some of these animated movies had earned their own place in our hearts, becoming sotr of cultural treasures. When you thought about Cinderella, you thought of the beautiful cartoon character. Similarly, the Genie in Aladdin was written for Robin Williams who brought the character to life with many of his own improvisations in voice acting. Considering this, would it really be wise to adapt a classic animated film into a movie?
The question brings mixed responses.
“I think it’s a good idea to adapt an animated film into live action. Not everyone likes to watch animated movies. So, live action is going to get you a bigger audience.” says Nagnath Khadke, a dentist and a movie buff from Priol. “ what really matters is how the adaption turns out to be. For instance, the Transformers live-action film was way better than the cartoon series., but the same cannot be said about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that came around in 2014. As an enthusiast of both animated and live-action films, I would be interested in watching how certain things that look good in animation-such as the parrot Iago in Aladdin- have been depicted in the live-action version. Movies such as GI Joe have shown that this can be done perfectly well. Maintaining that convincing quality is the key.” says Khadke.
Kalpa Sainekar, a writer from Margao agrees. “It’s a good idea to have a film available in different forms. I think both formats have their own charm. But the makers should choose films wisely for adaption, else they end up making something that looks cute in animation but garish in live-action films.” says Sainekar.
However, live-action films may not be able to cover certain aspects that make their animated counterparts appealing, says Ryan Fernandes from Merces. “In animated films things such as emotions or certain quirks of the characters can be shown in vivid detail. Live action cannot always offer that opportunity. I feel that even when being considered for a remake, certain animated films like Aladdin should be remade as animated films only. There is no way you could compare the Genie of Robin Williams with the Genie of Will Smith, simply because the animated version let Williams focus completely and do a lot of experimentation with voice acting. That could be a little difficult in live-action because the actor must also focus on what he shows to the camera here.” says Fernandes.
Abhinav Joshi from Ponda cites a practical reason why adapting animated films into live action is a good idea. “The key is putting up the film in theatres. There is much less chance of audience of all ages coming to the theatres to watch an animated film. Live action is the name of the game when it comes to theatres.” says Joshi. “Also, I believe the audience might find live action a bit more appealing and relatable since it all looks so real. Transformers for instance looks very convincing.” says Joshi.
All things said and done, advancements in technology are making it easier to show many fantastic things more effectively in live action format, and we are certainly headed for a time when films might be available in multiple formats.
