Credit: DisneyLove them or hate them, Disney’s live-action films and adaptations seem to be the way the company is going lately.
Walt Disney Studios has been remaking and making over films for far longer than a decade now, and there seems to be no end in sight. With that in mind–again, whether the live-action films are your favorites or your foes–it’s interesting to take a look at a few things that fans and foes of the films might still not know about those &*$#!?@ live-action Disney films.
Related: Walt Disney Was Vehemently Opposed to the Remakes, and Honoring Him Means Honoring His Wishes
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a fantastic and magical musical that took fans by surprise when it debuted in 2014.
Some fans loved it so much that they’ve called on Disney to create a brand-new film inspired by the musical that stars actresses Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick. Into the Woods stars a variety of talented actors and actresses, including Streep and Kendrick, alongside Emily Blunt, James Cordon, Johnny Depp, and many, many more.
One thing you might not have known about the live-action musical, however, is that on the soundtrack for the film, the opening number–from beginning to end–lasts more than fourteen minutes! Yes, 14 minutes!
Also, there was so much attention to detail in the musical that some of the elaborate sets were actually inspired by real forests. A few of the sets were so convincing, apparently, that the film’s stars reportedly even got lost in them from time to time. Despite being inside a building, some of the stars were so confused by the trees and effects that a member of the production team had to search for and rescue them.
Cool Runnings
While sports are globally understood, there are some countries in the world that aren’t ever really associated with certain sports. The island country of Jamaica is one of them.
Jamaica boasts gorgeous beaches, incredible food, rich culture, and snow-free weather. That’s why it seemed nearly laughable when Disney decided to make a movie about Jamaica’s ties to the Winter Olympics with its bobsled team.
Disney likely knew it could capitalize on the fact that not everyone knew that Jamaica has an Olympic bobsled team–and some fans might not actually believe it! But Disney’s Cool Runnings is based on the true story of Jamaica’s award-winning bobsled team.
Some of the details in the film are clearly part of Hollywood inspiration, while other things are the real deal. In the part of the film that depicts the ABC network reporting on the team, there is actual footage used from the 1988 Winter Olympics. Cool Runnings watches a bit like a fictional documentary, but a moment of surprise takes over as the actual people involved in the story show up for a walk-on role.
George of the Jungle
The old adage about it taking a village to raise a child rings true in Disney’s George of the Jungle.
But the film is proof that another adage, if you will, is also true: that it “takes a dedicated and disciplined team of professionals to get an actor ready for a movie.”
Walt Disney Studios spares no expense when it comes to the production of its films. But when it came to the production of George of the Jungle before its July 1997 release, some say that Disney should have included the expenses of training stars on manners and etiquette. That’s because the star of the film, actor Brendan Fraser, spent countless hours working with a personal trainer to bulk up for the role.
No harm, no foul, right?
Wrong–according to Fraser’s trainer. Following the release of the film in 1997, Brendan Fraser was reportedly sued by the trainer, and it was reasoning struck some as strange. He sued Fraser for not thanking him enough in the credits for the film.
One of the greatest American authors, if not the greatest, is Mark Twain. This renowned writer gave us timeless and unforgettable stories like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which have become staple reading assignments. He also wrote the equally compelling and often required reading, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Although initially set in what is now the Midwest, Missouri, during Huckleberry’s time, it was considered part of the South.
Therefore, his name was reflective of that era.
When Disney Studios adapt these stories into a movie, the title was changed to The Adventures of Huck Finn. During the press tour, one of the actors mentioned that the original title, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, sounded too Southern, which for some reason made the movie less appealing to audiences.
Though the aforementioned films are older films from Disney, the prevalence of live-action films seems the way of the studio of late.