Inside Disney's money-spinning movie adaptations - huge hits and massive misses

Dwayne The Rock Johnson is back on the big screen this week in the live action version of Moana. The ex-wrestler will play demigod Maui, just like in the 2016 animated version.

The magical romp, set in ancient Polynesia, is just the latest of Disneys money-spinning movie adaptations. Here we take a look at some previous examples

Animal magic: Disneys first live action remake was Rudyard Kiplings The Jungle Book (1994). It was filmed using real animals including monkeys, camels and wolves but unlike the animated original, they didnt speak or sing. It made a respectable $70m (52m), against a $30m (22m) budget.

Best in show

The animatronic pups in 101 Dalmatians (1996) did much better at the box office, grossing $321m (240m) on a $67m (50m) spend. It became one of the years biggest films, starring Glenn Close as evil fashionista Cruella de Vil and Jeff Daniels as Roger Dearly, who owns Dalmatian Pongo.

Wonders never cease

The live action trend exploded in 2016, thanks to Tim Burtons billion-dollar smash hit Alice in Wonderland. The movie, starring Mia Wasikowska as Alice and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, raked in $1.025bn (766m) on a budget of $200m (150m). Another 21 remakes have been released since, with six more currently in production.

Remaking money

According to the critics, the best Disney remake is The Jungle Book (2016), which has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But The Lion King (2019) is the most successful so far, having grossed $1.7bn (1.2bn) at the box office. In second place is Beauty and the Beast (2017), with $1.3bn (947m), while third-place Aladdin (2019) made 1.1bn (768m).

Action replay

The Rock isnt the only star to take the same live role he played in an animated movie. James Earl Jones was Mufasa in both versions of The Lion King, while Frank Welker reprised his Aladdin parts in the 2019 remake, as the voices of Abu, Rajah and The Cave of Wonders.

Stitched up like a kipper

Not everyone is backing the live action trend. Chris Sanders, who co-wrote Lilo and Stitch (2002), had a second outing as cheeky alien Stitch in the 2025 remake. But his writing partner Dean DeBlois stayed away from the project, saying: Id rather see something original.

White and wrong

It all went a bit pear-shaped with Snow White (2025), which lost Disney a devastating $170m (127m). Critics blamed remake fatigue, woke casting choices like the decision to use CGI characters instead of dwarf actors and conflict between stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. A planned version of Tangled was briefly shelved during the backlash, but is now back in production.

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