What Makes a Good Remake?

The past decade or two has seen a slew of remakes of classic cartoon shows. While I don’t keep track of every revival, I did enjoy Nickelodeon’s 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Although clearly respectful, and mindful, of the 1987 cartoon, it added enough worthwhile updates to justify its existence; it managed to remain true to the original show’s spirit while still being distinct and different.

Kevin Smith’s He-Man reboot—Masters of the Universe: Revelation—was not so effective. Rather than add to the He-Man canon and properly build on its established mythos, it felt more like a subversion, flushing away much of what fans loved in the original 1980s show. Instead of the brawny barbarian and his gallant band of warriors clashing against the foul Skeletor and his evil forces, viewers got virtually no He-Man at all. Heck, they barely got any men. Rather, a predominately female-led force took charge, replacing most of the heroes fans expected to see. This…was not a good remake.

And then there’s the 2017 Ducktales reboot. If taken in a vacuum, the show’s good…but it does betray the original series in multiple ways. Most egregious of these “tweaks” is with the show’s characters. Scrooge, Launchpad, Donald—they return as reasonable approximations of their original personas. But Huey, Dewey, and Louie? Webby? Mrs. Beakley? Doofus? They’ve been repurposed so drastically, redefined so utterly, they might as well be new characters entirely. Indeed, why bring them back at all if they’re going to be so fundamentally changed?

Remakes are not supposed to disrespect the source from which they spring. It’d make no sense to, say, redo TMNT and make Michelangelo a sophisticated intellectual or a dour scallywag. It would be an inherent contradiction to his fundamental essence, his reason for being. It would be an affront. It wouldn’t make sense. Because it wouldn’t really be Michelangelo, just an imposter using his name.

And this is the mistake Ducktales makes. It’s still fun, but it’s not so much a remake as it is a data wipe. Forget what these characters were before! Forget their legacy and the hard work of Carl Barks, the characters’ original creator! We know best! This is how these characters really are!

And that, simply, is pure arrogance.--D