2025’s long-awaited Snow White has joined Walt Disney Studios’ growing list of live-action movies focusing on their iconic Disney Princesses. Since the late 1930s, Walt Disney Studios has been devoted to adapting famous fairy tales and classic stories into animated movies, and many have gone on to be ranked as some of the best movies of all time. While still creating many original animated features, in recent years, Disney has turned its attention to recreating their classic animated movies into live-action adaptations. Disney’s ever-increasing catalog of live-action remakes includes The Jungle Book (2016) and Dumbo (2019).
Disney’s live-action remakes have had varying levels of success with critics and audiences, but many have become some of the company’s biggest box office hits of the last few decades. Many of their remakes have been updated for modern audiences, and this includes movies that star their popular female characters from the Disney Princess franchise. While remakes such as Maleficent (2014) and Aladdin (2019) include live portrayals of Aurora and Jasmine, there have been several times across the years when a Disney Princess has been the star of a live-action movie, with different results of success.
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5
Mulan (2020)
Directed by Niki Caro
Mulan
PG-13
Action
Adventure
Drama
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9/10
4.4/10
Release Date
September 4, 2020
Cast
Yoson An, Doua Moua, Jet Li, Liu Yifei, Jason Scott Lee, Jimmy Wong, Tzi Ma, Gong Li, Donnie Yen, Chen Tang
Runtime
1h 55m
Director
Niki Caro
Franchise(s)
Mulan
Budget
$200 million
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A project that lingered in development hell for a decade, Mulan is one of the most critically divisive live-action remakes of any Disney animated movie. Starring Yifei Liu as the titular character, it depicts Hua Mulan, a young woman from Imperial China, who disguises herself as a man and enlists in the army, in place of her ailing father. She establishes herself as a strong warrior and eventually succeeds in defeating Böri Khan. The movie is both remade from the 1998 animated movie, Mulan, and adapted from the Chinese folklore legend, “The Ballad of Mulan.”
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The movie’s production was impacted by several controversies, including Disney’s decision to film Mulan near Chinese internment camps, for the removal of the character, Li Shang, who served as Mulan’s love interest in the animated movie, and for not hiring a director of Asian descent. The director, Niki Caro, later defended the movie and her role as a non-Asian director in the production, stating, “there is another culture at play here, which is the culture of Disney, and that the director, whoever they were, needed to be able to handle both” (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Upon its release, reviews for Mulan praised the movie for its visual effects, Liu’s performance as the famed warrior, action sequences, and costume design. However, it was also criticized for its historical inaccuracies, screenplay, and for not including any of the popular songs from the animated Mulan movie. While it provided a powerful message of female empowerment and offered something new to the legendary story, many agreed that the 2020 live-action Mulan couldn’t compare to the success of the 1998 animated adaptation.
4
Snow White (2025)
Directed By Marc Webb
Snow White
PG
Family
Fantasy
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5/10
135
3.3/10
Release Date
March 21, 2025
Cast
Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Martin Klebba, Ansu Kabia, Dujonna Gift-Simms, Joshmaine Joseph, Lukus Alexander, Misa Koide, Katie Hardwick, Dean Nolan, Kathryn Akin, Leon Ung, Emilia Faucher
Runtime
109 Minutes
Director
Marc Webb
Writers
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Erin Cressida Wilson, Wilhelm Grimm
Producers
Callum McDougall, Marc Platt
Main Genre
Fantasy
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The live-action adaptation of Snow White comes more than eight decades after the release of Disney’s first full-length animated movie, which is still considered to be the best Disney Princess film. Inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, the movie depicts Snow White, a princess who is forced to flee from her castle, after learning her stepmother, the Evil Queen, plans to kill her to retain her title as “fairest in the land.” After escaping into the forest, Snow White teams up with seven dwarfs and a group of thieves, to overthrow the queen and take back her kingdom.
Similar to Mulan, Snow White faced several controversies during production, including the casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White and its reimagining of the seven dwarfs. Upon release, Snow White received mixed reviews, being criticized for its CGI effects and its changes from the animated movie. However, Rachel Zegler’s role was widely praised, with many agreeing that she gave a standout performance, similar to her work in West Side Story and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Snow White also includes a strong soundtrack of classic and original songs that helps solidify the remake as a decent live-action Disney movie.
3
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Directed By Rob Marshall
The Little Mermaid
PG
Musical
Family
Fantasy
Adventure
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7/10
Release Date
May 26, 2023
Cast
Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina
Runtime
135 Minutes
Director
Rob Marshall
Writers
Jane Goldman, David Magee, Rob Marshall
Franchise(s)
The Little Mermaid
Main Genre
Animation
Budget
$200 million
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Released in 2023, the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid masterfully blended elements from the animated movie and believable modern updates to its classic story. Directed by Rob Marshall, The Little Mermaid follows the adventures of a curious mermaid, Ariel (Halle Bailey), and her desire to learn more about life above the sea, against the wishes of her father, King Triton (Javier Bardem). After rescuing a human prince, during a storm, Ariel strikes a deal with the cunning sea-witch, Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), to give up her voice in exchange for human legs.
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The Little Mermaid’s remake brilliantly expands on the original story, with praise going towards the revamping of Ariel and Eric’s love story, providing him with a new backstory and giving viewers an explanation for the divide between humans and water creatures. The original movie’s composer, Alan Menken, returned for the remake and collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda to create a strong soundtrack for The Little Mermaid, consisting of both new and updated songs from the animated classic.
Not only does Bailey honor the original Ariel throughout the movie, she also expands on her character, providing audiences with a new, likable, and relatable version of the popular Disney Princess, which helps rank The Little Mermaid as one of Disney’s best live-action movies in recent times.
However, the movie’s greatest asset is easily the performance of Halle Bailey as Ariel. She managed to overcome severe backlash over her casting in The Little Mermaid, to give a powerful and resourceful performance of the adventurous mermaid, reminiscent of Jodi Benson’s voice acting in the 1989 movie. Not only does Bailey honor the original Ariel throughout the movie, she also expands on her character, providing audiences with a new, likable, and relatable version of the popular Disney Princess, which helps rank The Little Mermaid as one of Disney’s best live-action movies in recent times.
2
Cinderella (2015)
Directed By Kenneth Branagh
Cinderella
PG
Adventure
Drama
Family
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6/10
Release Date
March 13, 2015
Cast
Richard Madden, Hayley Atwell, Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett, Lilly James
Runtime
1h 52m
Director
Kenneth Branagh
Writers
Chris Weitz
Franchise(s)
Disney
Budget
84.21–95 million
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The 1950 animated adaptation of Cinderella is remembered as Walt Disney’s favorite movie, which meant the 2015 live-action remake, directed by Kenneth Branagh, faced heavy pressure to reach the same height of success as the original. Cinderella focuses on the life of Ella (Lily James), who, after the death of her father, is forced to live as a maid in the home of her stepmother, Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett), and is given the cruel name, Cinderella. With the help of her fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter), Cinderella attends the prince’s ball, which changes her life forever.
Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella proved itself to be a worthy remake of the 1950 animated classic and also successfully elevated the original story.
Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella proved itself to be a worthy remake of the 1950 animated classic and also successfully elevated the original story. The movie’s critical success was, in large part, thanks to Lily James’ breathtaking and emotional performance of the titular princess, and Cinderella has since been ranked as one of James’ best movies. While the movie does omit the original’s catchy soundtrack, Cinderella has a talented cast of different characters, beautiful costume designs, and the perfect blend of friendship, romance and self-belief that make it an excellent live-action adaptation of the world-renowned Charles Perrault fairy tale.
1
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Directed By Bill Condon
Beauty and the Beast
PG
Romance
Fantasy
Musical
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7/10
7.1/10
Release Date
March 17, 2017
Cast
Emma Watson, Ian McKellen, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Dan Stevens, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Kline, Luke Evans, Josh Gad
Runtime
129 minutes
Director
Bill Condon
Writers
Stephen Chbosky, Evan Spiliotopoulos
Prequel(s)
Beauty and the Beast
Franchise(s)
Disney
Studio
Walt Disney Studios
Budget
$160–255 million
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The 1991 Beauty and the Beast is considered the best Disney animated movie, due to its storyline, likable side-characters and enthralling soundtrack. It won two Oscars in 1992 for Best Original Song and Best Original Soundtrack, and was the first of only three animated movies to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. A live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast was long-anticipated before it was finally released in 2017. The movie depicts Belle (Emma Watson) taking her father’s place as resident in the palace of the Beast (Dan Stevens), and as time passes, a romance eventually blossoms between them.
Bill Condon’s live-action adaptation has a strong cast including Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Emma Thompson, and Josh Gad, breathing new life into the original’s celebrated characters. Through its inclusion of new, emotional songs such as “How Does A Moment Last Forever?” and “Evermore,” the live-action movie created a powerful and detailed story that breathes new life into the beloved fairy tale. Emma Watson’s performance as Belle was praised by critics for expanding on the character’s independence and has been ranked as one of the best Beauty portrayals and solidified Beauty and the Beast as the best live-action Disney Princess movie.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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Category: Entertainment