What to Watch: Our Favorite Disney Reboots

SNOW WHITE, Disney’s live action remake of its 1937 animated classic, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, changes the beginning, deletes two major songs and adds some characters, songs and details, but otherwise it follows the original movie’s story about a young princess who flees her evil stepmother and finds refuge among seven dwarfs in the woods. SNOW WHITE has a few storytelling hiccups, plus two or three scenes that probably will scare older pre-teenage children, but even so it’s a delightful, funny, exciting, and wholesome movie with good performances, good singing, a strong Christian, moral, conservative, patriotic, pro-capitalist worldview, and some Christian allusions supporting true love, doing the right thing, letting goodness be your guide, inner beauty, freedom, honesty, sincerity, sacrifice, fairness, and bravely standing up to tyranny.

A live action version of the 1941 animated classic, DUMBO tells the beloved story of a young elephant with big ears who can fly and then is separated from his mother. Directed by Tim Burton, DUMBO is beautifully made, with a strong moral worldview about the need for family and helping others, along with lots of suspense that may scare very young children.

LADY AND THE TRAMP is a wonderful live action reimaging of the 1955 Disney cartoon classic, available on the new Disney+ streaming service. The movie brings the characters to life as Lady and Tramp try to steer clear of the dog pound and get back to, or find, those who love them. LADY AND THE TRAMP delivers many funny, heartwarming moments and has a strong moral worldview promoting family and sacrificing yourself to help others, but it does have brief moments of peril and shows homeless dogs stealing food.

ALADDIN is a spirited live action remake of Disney’s classic 1992 cartoon with Will Smith playing the role of the blue genie, who helps a kindhearted Arab street urchin win the heart and hand of a beautiful princess. Beautifully put together, the live action ALADDIN is as wonderfully entertaining as the original cartoon, with many positive messages celebrating truth, honesty, justice, compassion, courage, humility, freedom, family, and doing the right thing.

THE JUNGLE BOOK is a more dramatic, 2016 live-action remake of Disney’s 1967 cartoon classic about an Indian boy raised by wolves who comes into conflict with an evil tiger that wants to kill the little “man cub.” THE JUNGLE BOOK is an instant family classic with lots of exciting action, wonderful special effects, a superb script, excellent performances, funny subplots, and a Proto-Christian message that disobeying the natural moral law brings death and places everyone in danger. Some intense action warrants caution for younger children.

MUFASA: THE LION KING is an animated action adventure musical that tells the exciting story of how Simba’s father became King. MUFASA: THE LION KING is a beautifully animated adventure story with two memorable songs, some great voice work, lots of jeopardy, and strong, inspiring ideas of what makes a great leader, but some of the action and fighting is too intense for younger children.

CINDERELLA is Disney’s live-action version of the classic fairy tale where a girl has two loving parents who instill in her the message that if you are kind and good then you will be happy, but when her parents pass away, she’s put in a position where kindness and goodness are not always easy. CINDERELLA has a very strong Christian, moral worldview of loving and serving others before yourself, but it does have some magical thinking set in a fairytale world.