Popkulturist's Revival pieces, newest first. Remakes, remasters and re-releases, and the question of what you disturb when you dig an old thing back up.

Screens

‘Whisper of the Heart’ Returns in 4K, and It Still Belongs to Yoshifumi Kondō

Studio Ghibli has restored one of its loveliest films. It is also the only feature its director ever got to make.

Shizuku writes at her desk in Studio Ghibli’s ‘Whisper of the Heart’
Games

Nintendo’s Two Cancelled Virtual Boy Games Require a $25 Cardboard Visor

Europe never received Nintendo’s red 3D machine. Thirty years later, its lost games arrived with a subscription and some assembly required.

Nintendo’s red Virtual Boy cardboard accessory for Nintendo Switch, shown from the front at an angle
Screens

Spaceballs Found the Money

Rick Moranis came back, Mel Brooks found the money, and 'Spaceballs' arrived at Comic-Con with an eleven-phase cinematic universe. The flamethrower now looks restrained.

The blue 'Spaceballs: The New One' logo centred on a black background
Screens

Moana, Again, Already

Disney's live-action 'Moana' opened in July 2026, ten years after the original, to a mid-thirties Rotten Tomatoes score and collapsing tracking. Seen from a country where the film has only ever been called 'Vaiana', the fastest remake Disney has ever attempted looks stranger still.

The German one-sheet for Disney's 2026 live-action film, titled 'Vaiana'
Games

You Cannot Remake the Greatest Game of All Time

Nintendo closed its June Direct by announcing an 'Ocarina of Time' remake and calling it "reborn", the word you reach for when you would rather not say what you have built. A note on remaking the one game the whole medium agreed was the best, from a Nintendo kid who has a stake in it.

The 'Ocarina of Time' title logo, the Master Sword crossed over the Hylian Shield in gold, set against a deep red woven Hyrule tapestry