The third instalment of the “Princess Diaries” has been confirmed to return.
Following a popular pattern, this decade of increasing production of sequels/remakes to classic and fan favourites are being released. Are films recently relying too much on our nostalgia, how far is this going to go and would we rather encourage more original storylines?
The return of the “Princess Diaries” for a third instalment certainly strikes up the increasingly frequent debate of this decade: the ever-growing production of sequels and remakes.
This beloved Disney film was a pre-existing storyline (taken from a book), and already features a sequel, “The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement”, which was released in 2004, 3 years after the first instalment. With this in mind, does it really require a third film, 20 years on? Maybe it is simply a product of the safety blanket that comes with pre-existing fans and a guaranteed audience, relying solely on nostalgia.
This seems to be a recurring pattern with Disney films, heavily dominating the past two decades with the likes of sequels, from their most successful films, and live action remakes of Disney classics. This is especially prominent with Disney princesses, with these remakes offering the same narrative and storyline, yet drawing viewers in with well known actors and actresses to take on the major roles, like Emma Watson as Belle, or Rachel Zegler as Snow White. As a result of this, viewers may feel that current films are lacking originality, and there seems to be a gap in the current film production for more creative and original concepts. Perhaps this is simply a response to today’s viewers, with people choosing to re watch shows and movies that remain a comfort to them, and with the unpredictability of people’s everyday lives, they want to be able to return to a familiarity, and may be less likely to try something new if they already know what they enjoy.
However, despite the complaints surrounding a lack of originality, there has also been a backlash of recent original films. The manner in which they are being received, specifically Disney films once again, like “Soul” and “Elementals” with its ‘undercooked concept’ (Vulture) and ‘overly familiar’ storyline (Los Angeles Times) were not exceptionally received. This is perhaps partially down to marketing, as it did not receive the same excitement as other, bigger films, like “Inside Out 2”. The release of this film over the summer, another sequel to an arguably stand-alone film, was extremely popular in cinemas and widely discussed on social media.
It’s not just the amount of sequels and remakes that have increased, criticism has also increased in both quantities and harshness, especially towards newer films and TV shows. With the firm grasp that platforms like TikTok have on multiple generations, it allows anyone and everyone to chip in and share their opinion. It’s become a normality, and has the power to sway the general opinion, or even shut down productions, like the live-action ‘PowerPuff Girls’ reboot and the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ film, simply due to the public’s reaction during filming.
It seems that viewers continue to return to the same things seasonally, year after year, with the likes of films and shows that fit in with the tone of the season. Are people able to get less attached to new films or ideas because they don’t feel the need to find anything new? Or because there is a lack of the ‘new’?
LILIANNA HUGHES-GREEN
Featured image courtesy of viciki via Flickr. Image use license found here . No changes were made to this image.
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