While the critic's consensus of "The Lion King" wasn't exactly glowing, it's clear that Disney has managed to find an innovative, and lucrative, way of retelling its 1994 animated classic.

The visually lush film earned $543.6 million in its first 10 days and is expected to pass the $1 billion mark in August. "Aladdin," which debuted Memorial Day weekend — also to lukewarm reviews — has had staying power this summer. On Friday, the film crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office.

"The Lion King" and "Aladdin," like many of Disney's recent remakes, cater both to fans raised in the '90s and to younger audiences that may have been unfamiliar with the 2D-animated features.

This string of remakes seems to have started with "Alice in Wonderland" in 2010, although there were two live-action films based on "101 Dalmatians" in 1996 and 2000. Since "Alice," Disney has a number of other remakes including: "Maleficent," "Cinderella," "The Jungle Book," "Beauty and the Beast," "Alice Through the Looking Glass," and "Dumbo."

As Disney has adapted these classic animated films into live-action features, it has not been uncommon for them to update the script to reflect modern storytelling and to expand the scope of the world in which the film is set. Not to mention the original "Dumbo" was only 63 minutes long, while the new iteration clocks in at over two hours.

In some cases, Disney has even turned the narrative on its head, as was the case with 2014′s "Maleficent."

Including the first week of "Lion King's" box office run, Disney has made more than $7 billion in the last nine years from its reimaginings of its classic tales. Still to come is a sequel to "Maleficent" in October as well as a "Mulan" film in 2020.

These remakes, released in the last decade, have far exceeded the box office success of their predecessors.

For instance, in 1991 "Beauty and the Beast" earned $424.9 million globally. In 2019, the remake earned $1.2 billion.