Disney originals vs. remakes: Which ones are better?

No one can forget the first time they saw their favorite Disney movie, much less how they saw it remastered and updated to a modern cinematic masterpiece. But how do the originals stack up to their new counterparts? According to Reviews.org, some remakes actually made way more at the box office compared to the original films.

By Kayleen Padron

After adjusting for inflation, movies like “Beauty and the Beast” (2017), “Alice in Wonderland” (2010), “Aladdin” (2019), “Maleficent” (2014), “Dumbo” (2019) and “Christopher Robin” (2018) actually made more than their predecessors.

As far as rankings among fans, however, that’s a different story. By using a combination of IMDB ratings, box office earnings, and the opinions of Disney fans, Reviews.org came up with a list of the top Disney movies (both remakes and originals) of all time.

The only remakes that made the list were “The Jungle Book” (2016) and “Beauty and the Beast” (2017), earning a number nine and number 10 rating respectively. “The Jungle Book” remake was actually the highest rated remake on the list. It comes to no surprise that the highest ranked movie is the original “The Lion King,” which debuted in 1994.

Some fans just couldn’t decide between the originals and their remakes. For example, “Sleeping Beauty” (1959) and “Maleficent” (2014) ranked numbers 16 and 14, respectively. On the other hand, “101 Dalmatians” (1961) surpasses its remake by a long shot, with the original ranked at number four and its remake from 1996 at number 21 (the lowest ranked movie on the list).

The only remake that wasn’t compared to its original was “Lady and the Tramp” (2019), because it had no box office earnings to report.

Currently, Disney’s top three highest-grossing films are originals. “Cinderella” (1950) made over $2 billion, “101 Dalmatians” (1961) made $1.8 billion and “The Lion King” (1994) made $1.6 billion.

The debate between original movies and their remakes rage on, with some die-hard Disney fans rolling their eyes with each remake announcement. Unlike Pinnochio, the numbers don’t lie. Original movies seem to be a clear favorite to fans everywhere.