The nation has traveled back in time to decades of the past using screens across America as their time-machines. Across the nation movies and television shows have been brought back for reboots, sequels, “live-action” versions, and spin offs. Has Hollywood run out of new ideas or are these “reboots” just to appease viewers?

This year marks the centennial anniversary of the “movie sequel”. In 1916, The Fall of a Nation followed silent film, The Birth of a Nation in 1915. Fast forward 100 years later, and producers and directors are still making sequels and spin offs to movies.

These shows and movies have almost always come to screens across the globe within a few years of each other, for example Star Wars, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Back to the Future, and so many more. However, recently producers have been trying to recreate these “originals” to appeal to newer audiences and younger generations. This year alone will be huge for these types of movies. Not only will they continue the spin off and sequel trend, but “live action” movies will make a huge appearance on the silver screen.

“Hollywood has been telling the same few stories since the very beginning so it’s very hard to come up with original content that no one has ever seen before. There are only so many stories to be told that also give valuable lessons that everyone can learn from,” says Trinity Day, a senior at Saint John Vianney.

Back in 2002, My Big Fat Greek Wedding was released, instantly the movie was a hit. On March 25, 2016, the sequel hit theaters and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 became a hot ticket in the box office. There was a twelve year difference between the two movies as opposed to the usual 1-3 year wait. Ice Age, an animated movie big for children in 2002 is getting its fifth sequel. Ice Age: Collision Course. This new addition comes four years after the previous sequel. Zoolander (2001) is also getting its second wind in Zoolander 2, a full 15 years after its original release.

Disney has become notorious for making sequels, including, but not limited to, Disney Princess spin offs, The Lion King II, Tarzan II, Lilo and Stitch 2, and the Tinkerbell franchise. This year will be no exception to this pattern. With the announcement of High School Musical 4, and Alice through the Looking Glass, Disney plans to continue their franchise, extending the stories of their characters and settings. Another Disney film releasing the fourth movie in their series is Toy Story 4, coming in 2018. The new Toy Story movie, originally released in 1995, will come 23 years after the original movie. Disney-Pixar isn’t only releasing this sequel to the Toy Story franchise. Coming this June, Finding Dory will accompany the 2002 hit Finding Nemo, and in 2019 The Incredibles 2 will grace the silver screen after 15 years.

In 2012, the company bought Star Wars and three years later they produced the seventh movie in the series continuing the trend of bringing 80s movies back. This was already done once in 1999 to bring the movie back to screens across the globe. However this past year Disney created the seventh episode, and will release a spin off, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, December of this year.

Disney has also began creating “live-action” versions of their classic animations to reimagine the magic and beauty of these fantasy worlds. In 2015, Disney created Cinderella, following the story of the original princess. On April 15, Disney plans on releasing a “live-action” version of the 1967 animated film, The Jungle Book. In the following years Disney will release 1994’s Beauty and the Beast in “live-action” form, as well as 1998’s Mulan.

A new studio, MVP Studios, is making their debut with a “live action” version of The Little Mermaid. Live-action movies are just the beginning of what will be released in the coming years.

Films are also getting reimagined with modern takes. American classics like The Birds, originally released in 1963 will be getting a 21st century upgrade with modern actors and actresses, release TBD. Other movies, like the 80s hit, Ghostbusters, will return to the big screen starring four ladies as the Busters. The classic will be directed by Paul Feig as he puts his spin on the original story of the New York team dedicated to finding and capturing the supernatural. Other new spins include Jumanji (1995), originally starring the late Robin Williams, She’s All That (1999), and Pete’s Dragon (1977).

“Some reboots I have higher expectations [for] than others, but the smart thing to do is come in with an open mind and not to compare it to the older version. That is what kills reboots the most!” says Nick LaRosa.

The revivals don’t stop with the silver screen. They continue on our television screens at home. A few years ago, the channel Nickelodeon brought back popular episodes of their 90s shows in a time slot called “90s are All That”, since then other channels have created their own way of bringing back favorites from past generations.

Disney Channel took the same idea creating Throwback Thursdays where they aired shows popular in 2000. Some shows that were featured included Kim Possible and That’s so Raven. The slot aired from Midnight to three. Disney Channel also created a spin off in 2014 called Girl Meets World which graced the screens of homes following the 1993-2000 series Boy Meets World. “[Boy Meets World] inspired me as a kid and spoke of real issues of growing up. This new show has been very watered down by Disney Channel and will overshadow growing up and the problems that we face with that,” says SJV junior Christina McLaughlin. This show joined old spin offs like Private Practice, following Grey’s Anatomy, Better Call Saul, after Breaking Bad, Joey following the finale of FRIENDS and the CSI franchise.

In addition, Cartoon Network recreated the popular cartoon The PowerPuff Girls that ended in 2005. On April 4, they aired new episodes on their channel and plan on airing a total of 30 eleven-minute mini episodes.

Netflix, a popular internet “On-Demand” service, has began making spin-offs of American icon shows like Full House (1987-1995), creating the spin-off Fuller House. Netflix is also picking up shows that have been off air for years in the cases of Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) and Arrested Development (2003-2006). These revivals are becoming more and more popular among the site becoming “Netflix Originals”. Netflix also continued teen drama, Degrassi, calling it the “Next Class”. These “rebooted” shows are highly talked about and have created a lot of media attention over the past few months. Shows like these were very popular in the time of their release, making these new seasons and episodes highly anticipated.

“I think that one reason (the remakes don’t flop) is because they don’t have to do a whole season of a TV show and then try to get picked up for another season and another season,” Pat Saperstein, deputy editor at Variety tells Fox News.

Tom Howley, a senior at SJV, agrees with Saperstein, “I don’t think they have run out of ideas, I just think this is easier and more cost effective. They are guaranteed that they will get good ratings and views off of the nostalgia alone.”

While the movie industry continues to thrive, audiences hope that they continue to come up with new ideas.  But for now, people are enjoying their favorite childhood memories reimagined. “I think it’s great for children to relate to the same shows that their parents did. It makes kids realize they’re not all the different from their parents and it gives them something to bond over,” says SJV senior, Julia Aleo, “I think it’s good for viewers, especially because the movie now will be in much better quality than before due to the technology we have now.”