Everyone has that childhood movie they'd legitimately go to war to defend. If you're a true kid at heart, you probably have a few. When you give so many effs about a super nostalgic movie, it can be a wee bit stresso when news of a remake/sequel/prequel comes along.
Seeing your fave characters brought back to life in 2022 can be confronting, exciting, and make you strangely hungry for chicken nuggets or a bowl of cheerios like you used to get at sleepovers.
But ready or not, here they come. Disney has revealed a whole bunch of reimaginings are coming to our screens starting now and spanning the next couple of years - we're talking everything from The Lion King to The Little Mermaid, to Hocus Pocus.
The Edge was - humble brag - invited to head along to this year's D23 Expo in California, where we got to hear all about what's on the way, often from the stars themselves.
The Little Mermaid
By now you definitely will have seen the teaser for the new 'Little Mermaid', and unfortunately, you probably saw the backlash from those silly racists that can't handle the fact that Ariel is being played by Halle Bailey. Having seen Halle in the flesh at D23 (and getting to see a sneak peek of the entire 'Part of Your World' song) I can confirm that's amazing.
"I’m sure all of you in here can relate to Ariel and how special she is to all of us,” she said at the event.
"Being a little girl swimming in the pool, imagining I was a mermaid, I never imagined that would come to life like this."
'The Little Mermaid' comes out May 26, 2023.
Hocus Pocus 2
Nearly 3 decades on from the original, the Sanderson sisters have been resurrected by the Black Flame Candle again and are out for revenge. This sequel has hit Disney+ just in time for a Halloween movie night where you can marvel at how fire Sarah Jessica Parker still looks all these years later.
Mufasa: The Lion King
Okay, so everybody loves 'The Lion King', right? But I REEEALLY love 'The Lion King'. When other gals were playing princesses at school I was hooning around pretending to be Mufasa. So you can imagine my excitement when Barry Jenkins (who directed the Oscar-winning flick 'Moonlight', BTW), took to the stage to tell us about 'Mufasa', which follows the OG King of Pride Rock's origin story.
We also got to see a teaser clip - which hasn't been released yet, sorry - and goosebumps doesn't even begin to cover it.
Director Barry Jenkins told us that the story is told "over two time frames" and said the reason he was so keen to make the film is because he watched the videotape of the original 1994 'Lion King' "about 97 times" and honestly? Same.
'Mufasa: The Lion King' comes out 5 July 2024
Disenchanted
Maya Rudolph and Amy Adams were freaking hilarious when they stormed the stage at D23, kitted out in all their merch from a morning at Disneyland next door. 'Disenchanted' is the long-awaited sequel to the 2007 flick 'Enchanted', which checks back in with the happily ever after story 10 years later.
Maya Rudolph said she loved her role as the villain, but admitted: "It's not easy being mean to Amy Adams". They definitely said some other stuff too, but once Patrick Dempsey arrived on stage with his peroxide blonde hair, I got a bit distracted.
'Disenchanted' comes out 24 November 2022
Peter Pan & Wendy
Maybe you remember loving the magic of Neverland as a kid, or maybe you recall dressing up as a kind of slutty Tinkerbell for Halloween as a teenager - either way, 'Peter Pan' is iconic.
Next year it's coming back and possibly better than ever, with Jude Law looking basically unrecognisable in his role as Captain Hook. Happy to confirm he still looks fire IRL, but more importantly, Ever Anderson, who plays Wendy, assured us that "Peter Pan and Wendy are equals in this film" which we definitely like the sound of.
'Peter Pan and Wendy' will begin streaming on Disney+ next year.
Snow White
One doesn't necessarily think of 'badass female empowerment' vibes when recalling 'Snow White', but I have a feeling Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot could be about to change that with their takes on the OG Disney princess and the Evil Queen, respectively.
"Snow White is the girl you remember, but she’s definitely made for the modern age," Zegler told the crowd. "There’s something of an emphasis for being the ‘fairest of them'."
Meanwhile, Gal Gadot has made the switch from super hero to super evil, and seeing her play "the first and most iconic villain in the world" as she put it, is not something we're gonna miss.
'Snow White' comes out on March 22, 2024
