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The modern era of the live-action Disney remake began back in 2010 with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.1 A dark fantasy retelling of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale, the film made $1 billion worldwide and began a slew of similar remakes from Disney following its success.
Over the years, landmark films like Cinderella (2015; Kenneth Branagh) and lesser-known remakes like Pete’s Dragon (2016; David Lowery) have saturated the global box office. These films generally have a mixed to positive reception, at the start trying to do something different with the source material and updating certain aspects to appeal to older audiences.
In recent months, the concept of the live-action Disney remake has provided more negative than positive reactions. The recent remake of Snow White (2025; Marc Webb) has been subject to a number of controversies,2 along with the growing fatigue over the studio’s prioritization of remakes over original material.
This film’s commercial failure has even led to a halt on their live-action projects currently in development.3 Despite the many, many misses Disney has had over the years with their live-action adaptations of animated material, a diamond in the rough highlights when a live-action remake can do something truly compelling with its source material.
Cruella4 (2021; Craig Gillespie) takes the general idea of the villainous fashion designer from 101 Dalmatians (1961; Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman) and gives her an origin story unlike any prequel seen before. Emma Stone’s electric lead performance spearheads a determined and impressive cast, improving upon Disney’s past casting decisions.
Furthermore, the film saw significant financial success even in the midst of a global pandemic, grossing $233 million worldwide via ticket sales as well as Disney+ Premier Access. Cruella is a swan song for the live-action Disney remakes, blending a creative story with compelling visuals to craft one of the more entertaining live-action remakes Disney has had in recent memory.
Inside Emma Stone’s Bold Reinvention of Cruella de Vil In Cruella (2021)
The most important aspect of the Cruella film is the actress taking on the lead role. Initially announced in 2016,5 Emma Stone portrays the previously villainous Cruella De Vil in a far more compelling and sympathetic way.
Taking a character known only for her love of turning dalmatians into fur coats and updating her into a punk-rock fashion designer with a split personality is no easy task. Yet, Stone carries the film with a style and presence that only she can.
Currently, Stone is a two-time Academy Award winner, and at the time of the film’s release, she had already won her first for La La Land (2016; Damien Chazelle). These accolades cement Stone as a force to be reckoned with, and in Cruella, she proves herself.
In both her performance in the film as well as interviews discussing her process as an actress, she shows dedication to the role and is determined to bring a different energy to the character beyond maniacal villain. In a Glamour UK interview from May 2021, Stone expresses how freeing the role was:
“It was so cathartic…It’s incredible when you let any social thoughts drop out of your head, when you think no one has to like me and in fact think, ‘I’d prefer if they didn’t.’”6
‘From Estella To Cruella’ — Performance Meets Character Evolution In Cruella (2021)
While audiences know that the main character of Cruella will become a notorious fashion designer by the end of the film, she does not start at that point. The central arc of Cruella focuses on her dealing with her rebellious streak in a world that seeks to subdue it. Through her rivalry with Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), Estella (the woman who becomes Cruella) destroys the elitist world of high fashion from the inside.
Estella’s transformation from orphaned thief with big dreams to a terrifyingly fabulous fashion designer mirrors Stone’s immersion into the role, further showing her dedication to the character and the impact of her performance.
Stone’s lead performance in Cruella is a definitive step-up from the other live-action Disney films of years prior. Her clear determination to bring forth a different side of the character and herself in the process speaks to her expertise as one of America’s greatest modern actresses.
Estella’s transformation is made real by Stone, but she is not the only piece in the puzzle that makes Cruella so memorable. The entire film speaks to Disney’s rare ability to tell unconventional stories in this day and age, with Cruella breaking the mold in the most significant way.
How Cruella (2021) Turns The Disney Formula Into A Punk Rock Heist
An origin story for a classic villain is not new for Disney. 2014’s Maleficent (Robert Stromberg) reimagines the evil fairy as a sympathetic character as well, one far more driven by revenge.
While similar to Cruella, Estella’s arc is much more about her finding herself in a world that seemed to cast her aside than simply getting revenge on the Baroness. Estella becomes Cruella not out of necessity or revenge, but because she begins to feel confident in herself.
Cruella’s structure and genre-bending capability also serve in its favor. The first half of the film would give the audience no inkling that this is a film about Cruella De Vil, save for the dalmatians and Estella’s peculiar yet iconic split-dye hairstyle.
When Estella realizes the Baroness has a family heirloom of hers, the film shifts gears into a heist film that seamlessly introduces the alter ego of Cruella at the same time. Director Craig Gillespie captures a tension and suspense with the heist that is surprising for a Disney live-action film, but it is a welcome surprise and keeps the film interesting and unexpected for the audience.
While the plot veers into rivalry territory with Cruella and the Baroness, that is cartoonish at times, it is still an adaptation of a Disney cartoon, and its relationship to the original film is necessary. The film continuously plays with the fact that while the Baroness is attempting to hunt Cruella down and eliminate her competition, her target is staring her right in the face.
In a sense, this echoes superhero films in which the hero is often disguised as a civilian to eliminate suspicion. This makes Cruella De Vil an anti-hero in a way, as she stands up to the Baroness by shattering her empire and taking it for herself.
Sound, Style, & Rebellion — Cruella’s Aesthetic As Narrative Power
One of the most surprising aspects of Cruella that shifts the formula for Disney films is its use of 1970s music in its soundtrack. Tracks from Supertramp, Blondie, and The Rolling Stones are littered throughout the film, which immerses the viewer in the period the film is set.
Rather than feeling like a “Greatest Hits of the ’70s” playlist, the film uses tracks that make sense for each scene. A key scene before the third act of the film sees Cruella disrupt the Baroness’s fashion show with an outdoor punk-rock fashion show. Accompanied by a cover of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by John McCrea, the scene exemplifies the film’s core theme: A little rebellion never hurt anybody.
A final reason for Cruella‘s success is the exquisite costuming and makeup work throughout the film. Every look for both Estella and Cruella feels meticulously planned and crafted, using different textures and patterns to elevate simple black looks into high-fashion acts of defiance. Having won the Academy Award for best costuming in 2022, it is a true testament to the lengths Disney can and should go to for their live-action films.
The makeup is just as great, having also been nominated at the 2022 Academy Awards. The looks are more than just goth-inspired; they are rebellious and loud and make a statement as an art piece accompanying the costuming.
Cruella disrupts the Disney live-action tradition of no style and little substance by having incredible style and decent substance. It rebels against the remakes of Disney’s past and stands apart from what would come in the future by using compelling storytelling elements and a killer soundtrack.
Gillespie’s attention to detail with music, plot elements, and expertise in makeup and costuming solidify the film as one of Disney’s greatest works.
Cruella (2021) As A Rare Gem In Disney’s Live-Action Remake Machine
Disney’s current goal with live-action remakes seems to be one of boosting nostalgia and profit rather than updating classic stories for the modern day.
Certainly, some deserve more updating than others, but remaking any of these films to turn a profit instead of saying something as an art piece is disingenuous to the audience. Films like Cruella, ones that take bold risks as a Disney film while staying relatively tame for general audiences, are so beloved because of the break from tradition these films give the audience.
Cruella takes a classic Disney villain that has been a pop-culture icon for decades and revitalizes her for modern audiences. Emma Stone’s landmark performance as the titular character exudes confidence and style and maintains a place among her top performances as an actress.
The film’s dedication to its setting and rebellious themes contradicts Disney’s current streak of box-office blunders. With the release of the remake of Lilo and Stitch (2025; Dean Fleischer Camp) on the horizon, looking back on Cruella is a bittersweet reminder of what could be with Disney’s live-action films if they put more time and effort into them.
Footnotes
- “List of Disney live-action remakes and adaptations of Disney animated films.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 3 May. 2025. ↩︎
- Horton, Adrian. “How Did Snow White Become the Year’s Most Cursed Movie?” The Guardian, 21 Mar. 2025. Accessed 3 May 2025. ↩︎
- Galuppo, Mia and Borys Kit. “Disney’s ‘Tangled’ Live-Action Movie Hits the Pause Button (Exclusive).” The Hollywood Reporter, 3 April 2025. Accessed 29 April 2025. ↩︎
- Gillespie, Craig, director. Cruella, Walt Disney Pictures, 2021. ↩︎
- Kit, Borys. “Emma Stone in Talks to Play Cruella de Vil for Disney (Exclusive).” The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Jan. 2016. Accessed 29 April 2025. ↩︎
- Smith, Josh. “Emma Stone on becoming Cruella & overcoming self-doubt: ‘I put myself into boxes from being anxious & it limited me for a really long time’.” Glamour UK, 26 May 2021. Accessed 29 April 2025. ↩︎