In Leandro Fulloso’s basement, there’s a stash of dusty VHS tapes, vinyl records and film rolls. Analogue media, with its timeless memories along with the joys of childhood brought to life through bulky screens and speakers, is a bittersweet feeling for Fulloso. It takes him back to simpler days, when he waited for the scheduled evening TV show to start.
Over the past decade, the entertainment industry has rekindled this nostalgia from TV series and movie reboots to the use of classic film and music formats. At the same time, this longing for the past represents a cultural shift in media creativity and consumerism.
“Watching these reboots from a new and mature perspective feels so refreshing. It’s kind of like an addictive yet comforting feeling,” says Fulloso. “I see it as something that allows me to reconnect with my inner child… someone who I haven’t seen in a while.”
TV and film reboots are largely the backbone of this new wave of nostalgia. The sitcom Full House followed by Fuller House and Boy Meets World to Girl Meets World are some of the TV hits of the ‘80s and ’90s that attracted large audiences. Viewers who grew up watching these classics, especially Millennials and Gen Xs, often have an emotional attachment to what was once a significant part of their entertainment and cultural world.
What makes these comebacks so appealing?
Born in the 2000s, Fulloso and his siblings loved watching Disney and Nickelodeon TV shows such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Wizards of Waverly Place. Now, as a twenty-year-old, he finds himself looking for reboots or spinoffs and even cast member updates on social media. Reflecting on the significance the past and present, it’s a reminder of how much he has both “grown” and “persevered” over the years.
Lin Young, an English literature professor at Mount Royal University, emphasizes that this personal connection is more of a “cultural” aspect of the media. Modern audiences are interested in nostalgia as an emotional trend. However, the longing for the familiar also serves as a marketing tool.
“I think that it’s a particular marketing strategy, which [sticks] to what we know works,” says Young. “The implications of that for new and original art are things that this era of film is actively trying to figure out because we’re in a streaming era of film.”
According to recent data, Disney+, the popular streaming service known for releasing major reboots, reached a 13 per cent revenue growth rate in 2023 which generated over eight billion dollars.
In 2023, Disney+ peaked with many anticipated releases, including the live-action of The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan & Wendy, and new seasons of classics like The Proud Family and The Muppets. These reboots and revivals indicate a dedicated fanbase while still attracting a younger and newer audience to the number of streams — part of a marketing strategy that’s been very successful for Disney+. While there’s certain generational gaps between the original and revived versions, these strategies continue to build bridges in the shared experience of watching continuous storytelling.
Similarly, stories of the past go beyond state-of-the-art LED screens as trends from previous decades have made a comeback allowing older generations to uncover a sense of familiarity with the return of music from the late 1900s, low-waisted jeans and the production values of film and early digital cameras.
But whether it’s film, fashion trends or traditional forms of music and media, Young says, “Stories are where we connect as human beings. That’s the positive side of nostalgia — it does have this power to unite people.”
“The past isn’t just this thing that existed before and is disconnected from us. It’s always with us in some way in the present through these cycles of nostalgia,” says Young. “Time is not just about then and now. It’s about how we, then and now, are always kind of connected.”
