movies on the disney channel

The difference between Freaky Friday (1976, remake 2003) and The Parent Trap (1961, remake 1998) is that, with Freaky Friday it's the remake which is smartly and wittily made while the original is stiff and awkward, while with The Parent Trap it's the original which is still charming and watchable while the remake is a bland copy.

The difference between Aladdin (1992) and The Lion King (1994) is that, while both have a villain who might as well be carrying around a big sign reading, "Hey! I'm the villain!", The Lion King has nothing else. Aladdin at least has Robin Williams and Gilbert Gottfried to keep things amusing, while the main characters in The Lion King are all drips. I turned it off after not too long, and actually should have done so upon encountering the opening scene, which was a case of royalty-gushing so garish I thought it was 1894, not 1994. A retainer holds up the newborn lion cub, heir to the throne (is there only one lion at a time? no wonder Scar is PO'd), and all the animals, predators and prey, who have gathered from miles around just for this purpose, literally bow in homage. This movie deserved the pre-screen warning that they put on Aladdin for song lyrics like "It's barbaric, but hey it's home."