Oh, God, it's happening: Disney announces live action (...ish?) 'Robin Hood' remake

Disney has announced that it will be producing a new Robin Hood movie.

Yes, that Robin Hood.

As of right now, Disney has announced only that it will be a musical featuring realistic rather than cartoon style animal characters, that Carlos López Estrada will be directing, and that it may not get an actual theatrical release, but go straight to streaming on the Disney+ service. Kari Granlund, who wrote the similar Disney+ exclusive animation to live action remake of Lady and the Tramp, will be writing this movie as well. The movie will reportedly be using a similar style to the "live action" Lion King, so look forward to more debates on what constitutes "animation" if this goes big.

The original 1973 Robin Hood is very popular among furries ^{[citation not needed]}, but it hasn't always been the most appreciated Disney animated feature among non-furries, at one point considered by many animation fans as the worst one. Many considered its reuse, or tracing, of earlier animation a cardinal sin. However, as time as gone by, it has had a bit of a reappraisal, with it's double dose of odd decisions (retelling the Robin Hood story with animals on one hand, and with half the cast having distinctly regional American accents on the other hand) once thought of as further detriments, but now often cited examples of what makes the movie unique.

Tom Huddleston's blurb for Time Out: New York's 2016 list of the top 100 animated movies (where Robin Hood landed a respectable 81st place, all things considered) is typical of critical reappraisals:

Disney may be infamous for manhandling the world’s finest folktales into moralistic all-American parables (see also The Sword in the Stone, Aladdin, Mulan, etc.), but there are times when it really works. Robin Hood is a fine example: The Jungle Book director Wolfgang Reitherman’s decision to transplant hokey, cowpokey Western movie tropes to Ye Olde England should have led to disaster, but the resulting film is so sweet-natured, so casual, so doggone friendly that it becomes impossible to resist. The minuscule budget meant that entire sequences and characters were lifted wholesale from earlier Disney hits (just think of Little John as a brown Baloo), but somehow this only adds to the film’s unpretentious, shaggy-dog charm.

Despite its time in the running as the worst Disney animated feature, it's barely a footnote in the "worst Robin Hood cinematic adaptation" race. In fact, setting aside the 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn, Disney's Robin Hood is arguably the most successful adaptation of the character to film. Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights is fondly remembered, but was actually a box office flop during its original release; 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner was the last time a Robin Hood movie was financially successful, but is remembered chiefly for Costner's own distinctly regional American accent. Most other versions of the Robin Hood story have either faded from memory, or are remembered for being massive flops (YouTuber Patrick H. Willems' video essay on the subject is an entertaining take on the subject).

Back in 2017, CassidyTheCivet submitted a poll asking whether furries would prefer a "live action" remake of Robin Hood or a sequel to Zootopia. Though hardly scientific, responders were massively in favor of the Zootopia sequel, though a few commenters (including the submitter) had arguments for the remake.