The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board.
In the recent years we’ve seen an emergence of remakes and spin offs in films and television which begs the startling question: Is Hollywood running out of ideas?
Disney has become notorious for their live-action remakes of several classics, which, to their credit, are sometimes amazing but just as often fall short. Disney’s repertoire of live-action remakes includes Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland, The Jungle Book, and, most recently, Dumbo. These films always prove to be a success in the box office and they play on the nostalgic feeling in all of us at the opportunity to see some of our most cherished and loved childhood movies recreated on the big screen.
Image from The Paw Print
Some may argue, however, that these recreations take away or diminish the effect of the original animated versions. This is when the questions of why begin to roll around in the heads of viewers. Why recreate such iconic films and risk damaging their overall meaning for any reason other than the paycheck?
Another example of Disney’s lack of originality is the continuation of the Toy Story series into a fourth film. The ending to the third Toy Story film has quite often been praised for its emotional and moving wrap up to such a loved series and a fourth film could taint what most people thought of as a goodbye.
Lluke@nosobodyToy Story 3 has the best ending of any trilogy ever. Prove me wrong
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This is another example of Disney playing on the emotions of their fans for monetary gain.
There are even some crazy conspiracies that Disney secretly runs the world and manipulates government decisions but that’s a story for another day.
It has become a trend that television shows and films just don’t know when to stop. “Pretty Little Liars,” for example, was a highly popular show that lost many fans after their inability to wrap up the mystery and give the audience the answers they deserve. What’s even more disappointing is that the show is coming back with a new spin-off entitled “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists,” but for what purpose? Many people fear the reason for remakes and spin-offs is solely for monetary purposes and this just may be the case.
Image from Freeform
It’s truly worrisome to think that Hollywood values the money brought in by the content created rather than the actual storyline and quality of the content but that’s become a common fear. Invader Zim, for example, was a popular and well-liked Nickelodeon series that lost its spot on air despite fan protests and disapproval. Many fans often get disheartened and lose their faith in the broadcasting network as well as television in general when they see one of their favorite shows go off air. This has caused the younger generation to lean more towards Netflix, Hulu and other streaming platforms as opposed to cable for many of their entertainment needs.
Streaming platforms have helped with the issue of television shows earning their spot on air, but if Friends can nearly lose it’s spot on Netflix it’s hard to tell how reliable and consistent these platforms may be. There’s even the concern of feature films skipping the big screen all together potentially taking away from the cinematic and dramatic appeal created by the movie theatres.
For now, lovers of film and television must cherish the quality media that is still being created and hope for less greed from Hollywood in the future.
Images: The Paw Print, Twitter, Freeform
Featured Image: Katherine Sinkovics
