We All Have Feelings but Here Are some Dizzying Disney Facts

By Greg Rabidoux

So, I have been talking a lot this week on a number of very fine Talk Radio Shows and Podcasts about the relative bomb that is SW25 (Snow White 2025).

In my blog as well as On-the-Air, I've shared several factors that pretty much doomed this latest insufferable animated classic to not so live-action remake classic by Disney. I won't rehash all my reasons in this space but please do check out my full blog on Snow White and the PR missteps by its star Rachel Zegler and those creepy CGI-generated dwarves below.

My point?

We all have opinions and feelings and sometimes folks get a little too caught up in their feelings. If you happen to be one of those and are adamant, vehement maybe? about injecting politics and a specific agenda into all things Disney and at all costs, please take a look at the Facts below and always remember that, as Walter Elias Disney used to say, "Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever."

So, laugh more. Keep imagining no matter your age. And keep dreaming. I sure do.

But please keep in mind that Walt also used to remind his team that magic takes hard work, and you have to be the best at the business of entertainment or be left behind.

And here's where my bias against live-action remakes of classic animated Disney stories stems in part from these four beloved films:

ANIMATED v LIVE ACTION: DISNEY

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Budget: ($1.4M) $22. 5 million (adjusted)

Box Office: $2.3 Billion (adjusted)

Snow White (2025)

Budget: $270 Million

Box Office: $44 Million

2. The Lion King (1994)

Budget: $45 Million

Box Office: $1.7 Billion

The Lion King (2019)

Budget: $265 Million

Box Office: $1.4 Billion

3. Mulan (1998)

Budget: $90 Million

Box Office: $305 Million

Mulan (2020)

Budget: $205 Million

Box Office: $69 Million

4. The Little Mermaid (1989)

Budget: $40 Million

Box Office: $212 Million

The Little Mermaid (2024)

Budget: $355 Million

Box Office: $349 Million

Disney's Animated Classics: Budget at Risk (BAR) $195 Million/Profit $3.7 Billion

Disney’s Live Action/Digital: Budget at Risk (BAR): $1.9 Billion/Profit (With Lion King (+) $412 Million/Without (-) $368 Million Loss)

Even for Las Vegas that's a lotta live-action money at risk for a relatively smaller payout, let alone for The House of Mouse. Is it me or is the decision to keep taking animated classics and churning them out as live action just a dopey idea or am I just being grumpy?

Greg Rabidoux is an award-winning filmmaker, author, and co-founder of Valmar Films, and is currently at work on a Docu-Drama, and a narrative feature-length film script.

For more check out www.valmarfilms.com