--- description: On the heels of "Jungle Book's" success, Disney's slate of movies through 2019 reflects a dedicated investment in live-action fairy tales. title: Disney Is Doubling Down on Live-Action Fairy Tales image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc2d51d7a4cc8bcd/698890b30b72e315da6e917d/emily-blunt-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Disney Is Doubling Down on Live-Action Fairy Tales  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 26, 2016 7:01 PM CUT  Emily Blunt arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere of "The Huntsman: Winter's War" on April 11, 2016 in Westwood, California. Emily Blunt arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere of "The Huntsman: Winter's War" on April 11, 2016 in Westwood, California.Jon Kopaloff—FilmMagic/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 26, 2016 7:01 PM CUT [_The Jungle Book_](http://time.com/4293583/review-jungle-book-jon-favreau/ "undefined") has been dominating the [box office](http://time.com/4296820/the-jungle-book-dominates-box-office-with-32m-friday/ "undefined") since its mid-April release, but it’s just the tip of the palm frond as far as Disney is concerned. Following the success not only of its most recent live-action/CGI adventure but also hits like _Cinderella_, _Alice in Wonderland_ and _Maleficent_, the studio is doubling down on the production of live-action fairy tales with highly bankable stars attached. Though Disney officials had previously discussed plans for _Jungle Book 2_ and a _Mary Poppins_ sequel starring [Emily Blunt](http://time.com/4230330/emily-blunt-mary-poppins/ "undefined") and _Hamilton_ creator Lin Manuel-Miranda, the company has unveiled further insight into its development pipeline. Among confirmed projects, according to [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2016/film/news/disney-claims-dates-for-several-new-movies-confirms-jungle-book-2-mary-poppins-sequel-1201760227/ "undefined"), are an adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s children’s book _A Wrinkle in Time_, to be directed by Ava DuVernay; a _Maleficent_ sequel, with Angelina Jolie returning to the title role; _Cruella_, a _101 Dalmatians_ spinoff starring Emma Stone; a Tinker Bell project starring Reese Witherspoon; _Jungle Cruise_ starring Dwayne Johnson; a Nutcracker movie and a Tim Burton-helmed _Dumbo_ remake. The announcement follows a series of projects already rumored to be in various stages of development (and in come cases, stasis), including live-action remakes or reboots of _Aladdin_ (reportedly shelved due to issues with Robin Williams’ estate), _Fantasia_, _Mulan_, _The Sword in the Stone_, _Winnie the Pooh_ and a Prince Charming vehicle. (There are also two live-action _Little Mermaid_ films in the works, though neither is connected to Disney.) The newly confirmed projects join an already full slate of live-action flicks planned for 2016 and 2017, including _Alice Through the Looking Glass_, _The BFG_ and _Pete’s Dragon_ this year and a live-action _Beauty and the Beast_ due next March. The studio has announced release dates for three untitled live-action fairy tales in July 2017, April 2018 and December 2019, as well as two untitled live-action films in August and December 2018, though it’s unclear at this stage which projects will be attached to which dates. Though it may appear at first glance like a change in direction for a studio most associated with animated classics, Disney has in fact maintained a high ratio of live-action to animated movies since the 1950s. After releasing between three and five animated films per decade from the ’50s through the 1980s, the studio dramatically increased its focus on animation in the 1990s and 2000s, during which 16 and 29 animated films were released, respectively. Still, this renewed focus on live-action, and in particular projects revisiting fairy tales the studio famously animated decades ago, reflects a confidence clearly rooted in the success of both reboots, remakes and sequels generally and of recent live-action tentpoles specifically at Disney. And if Abu, Lumiere and Eeyore are rendered as beautifully in CGI as Baloo and Shere Khan were under Jon Favreau’s direction, then there’s much to look forward to indeed. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4308042/disney-pipeline-live-action-fairy-tales/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4308042/disney-pipeline-live-action-fairy-tales/"},"headline":"Disney Is Doubling Down on Live-Action Fairy Tales","datePublished":"2016-04-26T19:01:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:02:43.622Z","description":"The studio's slate is replete with live-action reboots, remakes and sequels to animated classics","url":"https://time.com/4308042/disney-pipeline-live-action-fairy-tales/","keywords":["movies","Disney"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc2d51d7a4cc8bcd/698890b30b72e315da6e917d/emily-blunt-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc2d51d7a4cc8bcd/698890b30b72e315da6e917d/emily-blunt-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Emily Blunt arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere of \"The Huntsman: Winter's War\" on April 11, 2016 in Westwood, California.","caption":"Premiere Of Universal Pictures' \"The Huntsman: Winter's War\" - Arrivals","creditText":"Jon Kopaloff—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4308042/disney-pipeline-live-action-fairy-tales/","name":"Disney Is Doubling Down on Live-Action Fairy Tales"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trailer: Jungle Book: 2016 Super Bowl Ad","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/MZjKvuHv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-08T00:13:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MZjKvuHv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4308042/disney-pipeline-live-action-fairy-tales/","duration":"PT29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4308042/disney-pipeline-live-action-fairy-tales/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```