Recently, Walt Disney Studios has been ramping up its remake strategy. The studio is capitalizing on the enduring legacies of its biggest animated classics, such as Beauty and the Beauty, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio, by remaking them in live-action. These remakes have been extremely successful at the box office, appealing to older audiences through nostalgia while giving younger audiences a chance to experience the magic of seeing Disney's iconic stories on the big screen for the first time. In this guide, you can find out how to watch every live action Disney remake on streaming services in the United States.
Disney began dabbling in remakes in the 1990s with Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story, and 102 Dalmatians. However, the studio only distributed (but did not produce) Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, while Mowgli's Story was a direct-to-video release. Hence, the studio’s first big live-action adaptation success was One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which grossed $320.7 at the box office on a $67 million budget.
The studio waited until 2010 to release another remake, starting with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Technology advancements meant the studio could truly capture the full scale of the classics. Disney then picked up the frequency with which it released live action remakes.
Beauty and the Beast (2017) is one of the biggest standout remakes. Emma Watson and Dan Stevens bring Belle and Beast to life in an enchanting, magical movie with lavish details and beautifully crafted songs. It also became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, solidifying the appeal of live action Disney remakes.
The studio also released The Jungle Book and The Lion King. While these remakes were CGI-heavy, the special effects were so lifelike that it’s difficult to label them as “animated,” especially since The Jungle Book had a prominent human component in actor Neel Sethi, who brought Mowgli to life.
Disney has gotten creative with its remakes in other ways, too, such as with Christopher Robin and Cruella, which are adaptations of Winnie the Pooh and One Hundred and One Dalmations, respectively. Instead of being straightforward adaptations, they were live-action reimaginings that probed the iconic villain Cruella’s (Emma Stone) origins and the life of an adult Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor).
Following the recent success of the Halle Bailey-led The Little Mermaid, Disney is developing more live action remakes of their own classics, with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Moana on the horizon.
Where can I watch live action Disney remakes online?
Here are all of Disney’s live-action adaptations in release date order, from oldest to newest. In this guide, we've included the latest streaming information so you can easily find where to watch every live action Disney remake. You can also use JustWatch to find out which movies are available to stream legally for free.