‘Dragon,’ ‘Stitch’ and lucrative nostalgia plays

Box office juggernauts “Lilo & Stitch” and “How to Train Your Dragon” continue a trend that may be more economically bankable than the superhero genre.

Live-action remakes of beloved animated films continue to be consistent draws for certain moviegoers with an itch for nostalgia. Quality doesn’t seem to be the key ingredient here, as the biggest successes (i.e. “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” remakes in 2019) play more like cynical, artless cash grabs instead of loving, thoughtful homages.

Certainly, not every live-action remake attracts an audience. Case in point, Disney’s “Snow White” release this past spring. It bombed hard … and all for reasons related to its headlining star’s social media feed.

“Snow White,” a story rooted from the Brothers Grimm that had its Disneyfication back in 1937, just hasn’t been the go-to children’s film for families in decades. Add to the fact that we’ve seen other live-action iterations fairly recently (“Snow White and the Huntsman,” “Mirror, Mirror").

No, the live-action remakes that bank the most cash attract families whose parents grew up watching the cartoon versions as kids. The biggest box office winners, “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” all stem from Disney cartoons in the ’90s. Those millennials are the ones taking their kids to see these spectacle-infused imitations.

As a parent myself, I’ve largely avoided taking my kids to see these movies in the theater, at least not without making sure they know the originals well enough to realize that these live-action movies never work quite as well.

“Lilo & Stitch,” a movie that Disney almost burned off onto Disney+, has seemingly attracted the generation just below me, as the original film, released in 2002, came out when I was going through my “Dude Film Bro” phase as an 18-year-old worshipping the throne of Quentin Tarantino. Only a modest hit at the time of release, the original “Lilo & Stitch” deservedly found a core, devoted audience over the years. It’s a sweet movie with a crazy central character. Nowadays, even before the live-action version was released, the character of Stitch appears more in Disney merchandise than even Mickey Mouse.

Last weekend’s success of “How to Train Your Dragon” can be credited to an even younger display of nostalgia. The original animated film, released by Dreamworks, released in 2010. The animated franchise included a successful sequel (third installment “The Hidden World") as recently as 2019.

Curiously, “How to Train Your Dragon” adheres to the original film’s story even more closely than any of the Disney remakes. The original’s director, Dean DeBlois, returned to helm the live-action film, at least in part to assure that some other filmmaker didn’t radically and unnecessarily change the story for the worse.

The result is unusual: The new “How to Train Your Dragon” is essentially the same movie as the 2010 version, replacing animated humans with live-action people and keeping the core CGI dragon designs. It’s a good movie because the original movie is good. But if you’ve seen the original, what’s the point of seeing the new one? Well, for young adults who watched the original 15 years ago, there already appears to be an itch for nostalgia.

Maybe the state of the world caters to a desire to fall back into the things that brought us joy as children. I’m a “Jurassic Park” loyalist even after every sequel presents a clear downgrade. Give me that signature T-rex roar and I’m happy enough dropping another 12 bucks at the theater.

At the same time, I think I’d be more inclined to go to the theater to see the 2010 “How to Train Your Dragon,” or the 2002 “Lilo & Stitch” on a giant screen. There remains an assumption in Hollywood that adults don’t want to watch animation unless it’s with their kids. Never mind that “The Lion King” contains just as much animation as the original. Apparently, “photo-realism” is mature.

Ultimately, I can’t begrudge parents and young people flocking to the theater to see these live-action remakes. Whatever it takes to keep movie theaters open! If we must have these movies, I suppose I appreciate the “How to Train Your Dragon” approach of ensuring the story remains top-notch. Nostalgia can work well when it comes from a genuine place. I just wonder what the next generation of parents will have to show their kids if they only continue to be exposed to the copies of the copies.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at [email protected].

    This image shows Maia Kealoha, left, and Sydney Agudong in a still from the film "Lilo & Stitch."