How many live-action Disney movies are there?

❘ Published: 2023-05-17T13:55:12

A mash up of the live-action Mulan, Aladdin, and Cinderella movies

Disney

Ahead of the premiere of The Little Mermaid, here’s a round up of all the live-action Disney movies you can watch right now.

The magic that Disney has been to bring to the big screen has been enjoyed by millions of fans for more than a century. From musicals to action movies, the House of Mouse has entertained families across the world.

Most of their movies have been in animated form, from 2D animation to their more recent computer-generated 3D animation. There have been a few live-action here and there, mostly found on their TV network, but their most profitable films, such as The Lion King and Aladdin, have been animated.

However, as of late, Disney has dabbled more in the realm of live-action as they’ve been remaking some of their classic animated movies for a modern audience. Their most recent venture, The Little Mermaid, is set to hit theaters on May 26, 2023, but some Disney fans have wondered how many live-action movies are out there.

Which live-action Disney movies are available to stream?

There are 15 live-action Disney movies available to stream right now.

At first, Disney seemed to be remaking their smaller titles before moving on to making live-action versions of some of their most classic films. Here’s a list of all 15 live-action Disney films in release order:

101 Dalmatians (1996)
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Maleficent (2014)
Cinderella (2015)
The Jungle Book (2016)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Christopher Robin (2018)
Lady and the Tramp (2019)
Aladdin (2019)
The Lion King (2019)
Dumbo (2019)
Mulan (2020)
Cruella (2021)
Pinocchio (2022)
Peter Pan & Wendy (2023)

101 Dalmatians kicked off Disney’s live-action films and was a huge hit as it grossed over $320 million in box office sales against its $67 million budget, which made it the sixth high-grossing movie of 1996.

Glenn Close as Cruella in 101 Dalmatians

Fans have wondered for years why Disney has chosen to remake their classic movies and the answer is pretty simple. According to Insider, the studio has made the decision to remake their animated movies into live-action versions they’re “sure-fire wins that allow the company to take risks on new potential franchises.”

Most of their live-action films have grossed over $1 billion at the box office with the lowest movie, Christopher Robin, still making almost $200 million. This type of financial success allows Disney to take on more original projects, such as their upcoming movies Wish and Elemental.

What Disney movies were the live-action remakes based on?

Each of the live-action Disney movies is based on a 2D animated film released by Disney during the 20th century.

While none of the live-action Disney movies are connected when it comes to their plots, you can watch them in the order in which their original movies were released. There’s no strict viewing lineup if you choose to watch them in this order, but it’s still a fun way to consume these films.

Here are all the original movies that the live-action Disney remakes are based on.

Pinocchio (1940)
Dumbo (1941)
Cinderella (1950)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Peter Pan (1953)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Sleeping Beauty for Maleficent (1959)
101 Dalmatians (1961)
The Jungle Book (1967)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Aladdin (1992)
The Lion King (1994)
Mulan (1998)

Out of all the originals, the top two highest-grossing films come from the Disney Renaissance, which was a period from the late 1980s to the late 1990s where the studio saw incredible success with their animated films. The films in this time period are seen by fans as the Golden Age of Disney movies.

A mash up of the live-action The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast

The Lion King is the live-action that’s made the most box office sales, so far, when it made over $1.6 billion dollars overall. Coming up as a close second was Beauty and the Beast with a total of over $1.2 billion dollars in sales. Though these films didn’t originate from original screenplays, there’s no doubt that Disney live-action films are always a success for the studio.

Are there any upcoming live-action Disney movies?

There are quite a few live-action Disney movies either releasing soon, in pre-production, or in development.

The next live-action Disney movie to hit the big screen will be The Little Mermaid, which is set to premiere at the end of May 2023. Starring Halle Bailey, Melissa McCartney, and Jonah Hauer-King, the film has already received a tremendous amount of praises from critics, especially when it comes to Bailey’s performance.

Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid

According to Screen Rant, there’s quite a few live-action Disney movies either being released soon or starting their journey to production. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is set to hit theaters on March 22, 2024 and stars West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.

A sequel to the box office hit The Lion King is already in production with Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins taking over directorial duties from Jon Favreau while Lilo & Stitch, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Bambi are currently in development with little known about their plots or casts. Disney doesn’t seem to be slowing down on remaking their animated classic films and, with the inevitable success of The Little Mermaid, it shouldn’t come as a surprise at all.

You can check out our other upcoming TV and movie hubs below: