Disney Princess Watch

By Sarah Sluis

Continuing my Disney theme from yesterday, the studio made several announcements about its upcoming movies, including three princess-themed projects, each planned for a December release over the next three years: The Princess and the Frog, Rapunzel, and The Bear and the Bow.

Disney had the stroke of genius several years ago to group all their princesses together into one marketing line of "Disney Princesses," and with the December release of The Princess and the Frog, they've added one more to the group and put its protagonist, Tiana, front and center.

The Princess and the Frog will be a return to Disney's hand-drawn animation (which makes me nostalgic for my youth), and feature its first black princess. Because there's never been a black princess before, Disney is under

much more pressure to come up with an unequivocally positive role model. The full trailer for the movie, as well as the teaser that released awhile ago, has made many uncomfortable. I think part of this has to do with the characters' New Orleans accents, which seem to differ by race, as the black and white princesses in the trailer talk differently. Knowing Disney, this has been extensively researched and is historically accurate, but it can be uncomfortable to hear because these accents have been so frequently lampooned in other contexts. There's also some voodoo/black magic references that could generate mild controversy. The credits say the movie comes from the directing team that did Aladdin, which also faced criticism from Arab-American groups for the lyric "Oh, I come from a land.../Where they cut off your ear/ If they don't like your face/ It's

barbaric, but hey, it's home." After protests from the group, they changed the rhyme to "Where it's flat and immense / And the heat is intense" in the home-video version.

'Princess and the Frog' Teaser Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Rapunzel, which is scheduled for a Christmas 2010 release, has cast its main roles. Mandy Moore will voice the lead and sing Rapunzel's songs, and Zachary Levi of "Chuck" will play the male lead. Moore is definitely more talented than her debut as a 15-year-old pop singer revealed, so I am thrilled to see her take on this role. The plot, too, has been expanded and changed from the original fairy tale. When Disney announced an adaptation of Rapunzel, many were disappointed, since the female is especially passive in the fairy tale. According to the presentation, Rapunzel will be much more of a female hero. Her hair still "comes to the rescue," but this time she uses it as a weapon to defeat their enemies.

Finally, artwork for Pixar's The Bear and the Bow, planned for a December 2011 release, was unveiled. The character sketches look much different than the bubbly CGI animation that has characterized Pixar's work, so I am curious to see how this visual look develops. It appears that Pixar is trying to emulate the style of Medieval artwork that was popular during the time period of the film, which takes place in 10th century Scotland (French animated film Azur et Asmar did similar work incorporating Middle Eastern-inspired artwork into its animation). They also revealed that the plot will be less about the princess (Reese Witherspoon) finding love, and more about her relationship with her mother (Emma Thompson). There's also a witch, par for the course, who will be voiced by Julie Walters.

Each of these films has tried to "twist" typical Disney plotlines towards the empowerment of young girls, a move that I applaud. In the end, Disney will have three more princesses to add to its line, and three more stories to enchant young and old audiences. Sounds like a win-win.

Disney opens up their archives at D23 Expo

By Sarah Sluis

This weekend, Disney will exhibit 92 items from their archives, including Walt Disney's old traveling trunks, the storybook used in the opening scene of Sleeping Beauty, and Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana wig. The move marks a departure from the company's usual secrecy. The context in which it occurs, the D23 expo, the inaugural Disney-themed trade show in the style of Comic-Con, is just as revealing of Disney's changing strategy.

Those that have visited any of Disney's theme parks may recall the many "behind-the-scenes" books that are penned by and sold to Disney fanatics, with jam-packed titles like Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland, and The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. These types of books are testament to Disney's deep mythology, and the incredibly detail-oriented way their ideas are executed. They also show how people's curiosity can be piqued when a magician withholds his secret--apparently Disney's mantra was "We do not talk about how we make the magic." Today, that same fervor has been extended to over 1,000 blogs, a medium known for its tempestuous moods. To corral these fans, Disney's PR team created D23, a community for Disney's core followers, which includes a $75 yearly membership fee, a magazine, and discounted entry to Disney's debut convention, the D23 Expo. With the recent news of Disney's acquisition of Marvel, it will be interesting to see if the expo, which takes place this weekend, will eventually grow to incorporate this group of comic book characters, or if the world of Disney characters will be kept hermetically separate from that of Marvel. Will the majority of these fans defend the acquisition, or will they feel it's encroaching on the core Disney heritage? Disney is always coming up with new characters, and I doubt anyone's complaining about Pixar, which was also a Disney acquisition, so I think that offers a clue to the hard-core fans' response. It also appears that Disney will offer previews and special events extending to all its properties, such as ABC's "Lost," (convention-goers can check out a preview of an auction of series items) at the expo. Next year, it's possible D23 may grow to include Marvel brands, and become a rival to Comic-con itself.

Disney and IMAX sign deal; 3D popping up everywhere

By Sarah Sluis

Appending to yesterday's post about the 3D version of Monsters vs. Aliens, here's a recap of even more 3D news.

Disney signed a deal with IMAX to release five pictures in 3D on their screens on the same day of the film's general release.  Mimicking the five-picture deal that IMAX has with Warner Brothers, the deal will debut with next winter's A Christmas Carol, which features Jim Carrey in a number of roles.  2004's A Polar Express did extremely well in IMAX 3D, so Disney undoubtedly hopes that the format will make A Christmas Carol an event film, on par with a family's holiday trip to The Nutcracker, The Rockettes or the play version of A Christmas Carol.

Besides generating new 3D content, Disney/Pixar plans to reupholster its classics Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Toy Story (1995) with a 3D treatment.  Beauty and the Beast will release in 2009-2010.  Thanks to archived digital files, the process can be done with all the archived components, but will still take ten months to complete.  Toy Story, already in the midst of a 3D update, will release on October 2, 2009, and will not be part of the
IMAX deal.  Conveniently, Toy Story 3 will release a year later.  Just as the restored Star Wars films reintroduced young audiences to the classic films, the 3D update of Toy Story will introduce new children to Buzz and Woody.

Currently, most 3D films have fallen into the family/children category, with animation and kiddie concert subgenres leading the way (performance capture Beowulf and concert film U2: 3D are two adult-oriented exceptions).  Now that digital projectors number in the thousands (3D projection requires just a simple attachment onto a digital projector), demographics and genres underserved by the 3D experience will soon get the 3D treatment.  Disney's 2010 slate includes Touchstone release Step Up 3, a live action, teen-oriented dance picture.  Lionsgate plans to release horror picture My Bloody Valentine in 3D.  Along with these more niche 3D offerings, all-ages directors James Cameron (Avatar, 12/18/09) and  Tim Burton (Alice in Wonderland 3/5/2010) have films just a couple years away, giving 3D a turn in the spotlight.

Tween star Selena Gomez to produce two films

By Sarah Sluis

Hannah Montana, move over!  Selena Gomez, star of "Wizards of Waverly Place," a Disney show about
three wand-wielding siblings, has formed a production company and partnered with XYZ films to produce at least two films, drawing from XYZ's access to the Time, Inc. library.  Gomez is clearly the most charismatic star on her show, but I wonder why Disney wouldn't want to produce her films in-house.  With all of the effort Disney puts into creating and training their stable of stars, I would think they would try to attach her to an upcoming project.

There are signs that Disney is not as confident in her potential stardom--she may be the Hilary Duff to Lindsay Lohan.  After guest starring on "Hannah Montana" as a rival pop star, her spin-off show was rejected by Disney.  Her starring role in Another Cinderella Story (Hilary Duff starred in the first film) will release straight-to-DVD.  Nevertheless, Gomez, merely at her sweet sixteen, will have ample opportunity to refine her star image through this deal, which gives her all-important control over the production process.