I'm so bored of arguments about how people hate remakes. Almost everything Disney does is a remake, reimagining or adaptation.
Some of the classic 2d animated films weren't Walt's first pass at fairy tales, but technology advanced and the more he created, the more he wanted to explore. Could you imagine a world where Cinderella wasn't made because Walt had already done it in the 20s for Laugh O Grams?
The Lion King, too, isn't above interpretation and adaptation - being based on Hamlet to begin with. If Disney never did anything with its properties, they would - in fact, fade from public consciousness.
It's already started:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqtrjPGIZxY
Moreover, if they never experimented with their IP, we never would have things like Kingdom Hearts or the excellent, jaw-dropping broadway musical version of the Lion King which is, in my opinion, a master piece that shook me harder than the animated film did.
Moreover, this doesn't really have anything to do with Disney exploring new IP (Moana, Zootopia, Gigantic) or experimenting with animation. Hand-drawn isn't dead, it's just not lucrative or able to be innovated right now.