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Disney Dream Castings for 5 Upcoming Live Action Films

By Rachel Leishman

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In recent weeks, Disney has come out with their line up of ‘live-action’ Disney movies. Here is a list of the dream cast for each film.

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The Disney list of live action remakes of their Golden and Silver era cartoons has grown to feature eleven new movies. While some of these films have already been cast, we here at Culturess have our own opinions on who should play who, when turning these childhood cartoons of ours into ones starring real life actors. Below is a dream cast of five of the five biggest films coming out in the next couple of years.

Some of these films already have casts, it’s true. In those cases, this list is more of the actors we would rather see as those characters and/or additions that the movie has left out. And while each of these movies is important for their own rights, my all time favorite Disney movie will be left for last because I have a lot of opinions on the casting of the Beauty and the Beast movie and I want to talk about them all.

Here, we dream cast the bigger films coming out: Mulan, Peter Pan, Snow White, and my one correction to the cast of Beauty and the Beast.

Mulan: The One To Save Us All

There are lots of opportunities for casting in the live-action Mulan but the most important choice of all is who will be cast as Mulan herself. Many have speculated over who could be her in the upcoming live action film and while popular names like Scarlett Johansson have been dropped, they lack one important attribute: Actually being Chinese.

The story of Mulan is important to girls, but more importantly, it’s a tale of one girl breaking free from the strict rules of China during a reign of oppression. In the fictional land of the film, Shan Yu (who’s idea came from Genghis Khan and Attilia the Hun) plans to conquer China and take it for himself but Li Shang and his rag-tag group of military men (and Mulan) stop him. But what’s important about Mulan is that she is unknown, which is why my dream casting of Mulan is an actress not really known to American audiences: Li Xiaolu.

BEIJING, CHINA – SEPTEMBER 22: (CHINA OUT) Actress Li Xiaolu poses on the red carpet during the Zhang Shuai 2016 S/S Collection

She is a Chinese actress best known for her role in Joan Chen’s directorial debut Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl. She is not too noticeable but has won a Golden Horse award for her acting and, more importantly, she is actually of Chinese decent (Li was born in Bejing) making her a great candidate for Mulan.

He Can Fly, He Can Fly, He Can Fly!

Peter Pan taught children that they can remain children at heart for as long as they live. Or at least, that’s one take away from the beloved film. While many have taken on the role of Peter Pan, no one has truly mastered the art of the leader of the Lost Boys.

Of equally important casting is Wendy and Hook. In almost every version of Peter Pan, a bad Wendy or a bad Hook (no matter how incredible your Peter may be) means a lackluster Peter Pan story.

So for Peter, my dream casting would be none other than Spiderman himself, Tom Holland.

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 23: Actor Tom Holland from Marvel Studios’ ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming” attends the San Diego Comic-Con International 2016 Marvel Panel in Hall H on July 23, 2016 in San Diego, California. ©Marvel Studios 2016. ©2016 CTMG. All Rights Reserved. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Coming from a dancing background (he made his breakthrough as Billy Elliot in the London production of the same name), Tom has proven agile and ageless as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War making him a great fit for Peter.

Now Wendy and Hook are easy choices for me. Wendy should be the lovely Holliday Grainger with Sir Patrick Stewart as the villainous Hook.

Skin As White As Snow

Snow White is a beloved princess, one that has had many reincarnations herself, but no one has truly mastered the innocence and joy behind her character. Though her eyes may be the wrong color (something easily fixed) I believe that the best fit for the role would be Hollywood sweetheart Hailee Steinfeld.

Hailee came into our screens in the remake of True Grit, showing her star power against the brilliance of Jeff Bridges and proving that she could hold her own. I think she’d be an amazing addition to the Snow White list and would give the character that sense of caring and open-heartedness that she has been lacking.

GLENDALE, CA – AUGUST 27: Actress and singer Hailee Steinfeld attends the Cotton Inc ‘Find Your Favorite’ event at Glendale Galleria on August 27, 2016 in Glendale, California. (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Cotton Incorporated )

A Tale As Old As Time

The cast of the upcoming Beauty and the Beast is all but perfect. The one exception is that of Prince Adam. While I am biased since it is my favorite Disney movie, the casting of the Beast leaves something to be desired. I enjoyed Dan Stevens in Downton Abbey but the Beast/Prince Adam is meant to be a young confused boy who was eleven when the curse was placed upon him.

Which makes Dan a little too old. Especially for Emma Watson’s Belle. So, my ideal choice for the Beast would be that of the ever-charming Emory Cohen. As the love-interest to Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn, he showed his charm and ability to make an audience fall in love with him.

Sadly though, Dan Stevens is who I’ll have to love as I finally get to see my beloved film brought to life.

Next: How Conventional Genre Movies Can Save Hollywood

And that’s my dream casts for the upcoming Disney films! Comment below with your choices!

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