In the book Post-Cinema: Theorizing 21st Century Film, philosopher Steven Shaviro introduces the role of index in cinema, a concept where film itself is a “footprint” or a reflection of actions that were documented while they occurred in reality. However, Shaviro points out how this idea of an index has been lost overtime with the continuous development of new media technology as it is now possible to “stretch and stitch digitized film images into something which has perfect photographic capability but was never actually filmed” (Shaviro, 22). This new post-cinematic form that is dominated by CGI and special effects has been viewed negatively by some film critics who believe movies have lost their sense of realism.

Credit: “My Cinderella Glass Slippers Didn’t Fit Me” in Time & “In ‘Cinderella’ Disney Polishes its Glass Slippers” in New York Times

In 2015, Disney started to release multiple live-action reboots of their animated classics, and Cinderella was one of the first to be made. The story itself of Cinderella contains a minimal amount of fantasy elements in comparison to other Disney properties, and the live-action film is a reflection of that as it relies on elaborate set designs and costumes that were used during the filming process, creating an old-timey aesthetic. However, The Lion King (2019) was created entirely using CGI and while the story of The Lion King makes it hard to incorporate realism as all the characters are talking and singing wild animals, there has been a debate on whether the movie should even be classified as “live-action” when there was no genuine filming process prior to editing. When comparing the reception of both films, Cinderella received an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic consensus of being “refreshingly traditionalist in a revisionist era”, performing better than The Lion King with a score of only 52% as reviews claiming the film “lacks the energy and heart that makes the original so beloved” (Rotten Tomatoes Staff). It is highly possible that this lack of energy being described is due to the film’s complete dismissal of the index, making the audience feel disconnected from the film when watching it.

Credit: “The Circle of Life – Song – Lion King 2019” by Movie Clips

-Olivia Arenburg

References: Steven Shaviro, ‘Post-Continuity: An introduction’, Post-Cinema: Theorising 21^st Century Film, 51-64

Rotten Tomatoes Staff, “All 21 Disney Live-Action Remakes Ranked”, https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/all-disney-live-action-remakes-ranked/