The news has been abuzz in recent weeks about the movie Beauty and the Beast, which will release next spring.

Why all the interest? Well, the lead actress is Emma Watson, of Harry Potter fame, and supporting actors include Luke Evans, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, and Ian McKellen. Also, there has been much discussion of how Emma has ‘feministed up’ (as coined by Zoe Williams in The Guardian) the role of Belle. But beyond that, what’s really interesting people is that this fairy tale movie by Disney is live action, not animated.

Why the shift from the animation that has made Disney so successful to live action? Because, initially, it made good business sense to take a movie that has already proved popular and re-release it in a new form; the formula is proven. As the New Statesman put it, ‘Disney is undertaking a deliberate and extensive strategy of live-action remakes of nostalgic animated successes.’

But when Disney began this venture, with the live-action remakes for The Jungle Book, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland, they could not have known just how well received the new style of movie would be; The Jungle Book, released in 2016, made over a million dollars in the US on the opening weekend alone. Now, with the trend proving so popular, more movies are in the pipeline, from Mulan and Aladdin to The Lion King, Dumbo and Snow White.

So what is it about live action that’s ‘clicking’ with movie-goers? Why are we keen to see real people enacting age-old fairy tales?

I think it comes down to a desire to shrink the gap between fantasy and reality – to really be able to believe in the fairy tale. Watching a cartoon Belle fall in love with a cartoon Beast is lovely, but somewhat surreal; watching a real Belle fell in love with a Beast who’s breathtakingly realistic creates a much stronger emotional connection.

In these Disney live-action fairy tales, fantasy is made vivid and tangible. The actors are immersed in startlingly realistic fantasy worlds created through CGI; it takes some effort on the part of the audience to disbelieve what the eyes see as real.

And why would we want to believe the story is not real? To believe, even if only for a little while, to be thoroughly immersed in the story, is the great pleasure and comfort of engaging with fantasy. No wonder so many fans visit the Harry Potter Studios to explore Diagon Alley; no wonder there was such interest in a new production of The Nutcracker ballet in London, in which the audience would be guests at the Act 1 Christmas party and wander through the Kingdom of the Sweets in Act 2. We don’t just want to witness a fairy tale world – we want to escape into it. It is so much easier to imagine oneself in a world inhabited by real people than one inhabited by cartoons.

Have you seen any of the live-action Disney films? If so, how would you compare them to the animated originals? Are you keen to see the upcoming Beauty and the Beast film? Are there any other fairy tales you’d love to see on film? I would love to hear your thoughts.

I will leave you with the Disney trailers for both Beauty and the Beast movies, and a question: which most appeals to you?