We know them all by heart, but recently the classic stories of our childhood have been reappearing on the big screen. This time, instead of in cartoon form, they features real actors.
In the past few years, Disney has added a new genre to its repertoire: live action remakes. Disney has been casting actors to portray the iconic characters of its famous movies, the first of which was “Alice in Wonderland,” which starred Johnny Depp. The most recent addition to the trend is a live action “Beauty and the Beast” starring Emma Watson.
“I saw ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ and I really liked it,” said junior Hannah Robertson. “The special effects were really good, and they did a good job bringing it to life.”
For the fantasy stories, which almost always personify objects and animals by giving them voices and the ability to do actions, requires a lot of special effects. For the most part, they use Computer-Generated Images (CGI). The quality of the CGI, for some, has been a large reason why these movies have been getting praise. Last year’s ‘The Jungle Book,’ for example, only has one real actor in it, so the rest require a lot CGI to make it seem realistic.
“I saw the Jungle Book remake, and I thought it was really well done, especially the special effects,” said senior Adam Withington. “The CGI was very realistic.”
Of course, with a remake always comes the debate of which one is better.  While the new ones are higher quality, there is something about the original movies that gives the viewer a sense of nostalgia.
“I prefer the original movie because I used to watch it a lot as a little kid,” said Withington.
While the original movies are able to bring up the childhood memories of watching them over and over again, the newer movies do offer a higher quality visionary experience, which for some makes them the better of the two.
“I prefer the new one because it was cool seeing it modernized, and they did the original story justice,” said Robertson.
Whether you prefer the original cartoon or the updated special effects, there is something interesting in seeing our favorite stories portrayed in a modern way.
“I like how realistic the remakes are,” said sophomore Haley Seaward. “It is really cool seeing my favorite animated Disney movie come to life.”