Top 10 live-action Disney films (that prove Star Wars is in safe hands)

4. ALL THE MUPPET FILMS

If you want proof that Disney can turn its hand to any genre, watch any one of the Muppet films. There’s a huge list to choose from: although officially Disney only handled Treasure Island, Christmas Carol and last years Muppets Movie, the same production team also worked on Muppets from Space, Muppets take Manhattan and the Muppets’ Wizard of Oz. All vastly different genres, all fantastic films.

With a production team like the Jim Henson company at the helm, you could be sure of a fine balance between comedy, action and drama, plus all the creature effects would be handled with care, rather than generated on computers and thrown into the background at the whim of the director.

We aren’t the first to think an unholy crossover like this might actually work…

Now that we think about it, a Muppets/Star Wars crossover could work – with Kermit as Han, Miss Piggie as Leia, Gonzo as Luke, Fozzie as Chewie and Bunsen and Beaker as C3P0 and R2D2, what’s not to like?

3. ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN

Released two years before the original Star Wars film, Escape to Witch Mountain was a rather dark adventure with a paranormal twist that explored the themes of space travel before the sci-fi boom brought about by A New Hope.

With two young actors in prominent roles, Witch Mountain could easily have been a rather hateful film, but it worked incredibly well – unlike Jake Lloyd’s awful performance as Anakin Skywalker in the Phantom Menace. We’re just grateful the field of special effects saw such progress between ’75 and ’77, as Star Wars could have been a completely different film – just look at the flying campervan in the Witch Mountain trailer.