Although Disney tried its hand at live-action remakes/re-imaginings in the 1990s, the studio’s been releasing a steady stream of these kinds of movies since Maleficent put a new spin on Sleeping Beauty. This formula has worked more often than not for the Mouse House, with both Snow White and Lilo & Stitch being released on the 2025 movies schedule, and Moana, Hercules and various others lined up for the coming years. However, the live-action version of The Aristocats is no longer on that list, though I can’t say I’m disappointed by this.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who’d been tapped to direct the remake in 2023, shared this information during his appearance on the Score: The Podcast., and Variety confirmed its cancellation. Per Questlove, who most recently directed the documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (which can be streamed with both a Hulu subscription and Disney+ subscription), administration shuffles were the cause of The Aristocats being taken off the list of upcoming Disney movies, just like Tangled was back in April. It eventually got to a point where Questlove was tired of waiting around and wanted to work on other projects. In his words:
