Between the official reports and some "insider rumors" we collected on
the Inside Animation tour today, we understand that Disney Feature
Animation is now working on:
"Fantasia Continued"  The musical pieces selected are as previously
reported here. Much work is being done in Japan, where talented
animators can be hired, but as they don't speak English, their abilities
to animate speaking characters are limited. Working on Fantasia looks
like a good match. Somebody needs to explain to me how you get from
Saint-Saens to whales flying through the skyscrapers of Manhattan,
though...
"Hercules"  The trailers are already in the theaters, "Zero to Hero"
shows the comic and musical style of the work, and the additional
animation we were shown (in pencil sketch) make this look like the
funniest Disney film since Aladdin. Danny DeVito as a satyr named Phil
is just too good to be true. Watch for this one!
"Tarzan"  Is in progress, mostly at Burbank. Little to show yet, except
for some concept drawings that are even more realistic than Pocohontas.
I can't wait to see what the PC Police will do with, "Me Tarzan, You
Jane." With any luck, Disney will dig back to the original Edgar Rice
Burrows texts for inspiration.
"Dinosaurs"  The next all-digital release expected from Pixar is
expected to one-up Stephen (Jurrasic Pork) Spielberg. Again, only a
couple of stills available, but they are detailed enough to make both
Harryhausen and Gould weep with joy. Let's just hope they have a story
as good as TS and don't turn it into a cautionary ecology rant.
A couple of sequils have advanced at least to the script stage:
Untitled sequil to Pocohontas--no further details, appears to be on hold
for a more "auspicious" release date. I suspect story trouble, myself.
Untitled sequil to Toy Story--in which Woody is accdentally sold in a
garage sale to a rare toy collector who recognizes him as a rare
collectable (yeah, kinda far fetched, I know). Woody lives the life of
Riley in the collector's display case while friends and family try to
rescue him--while Woody tries to decide if he wants to be rescued. Oh
Mr. Neuman, could we speak to you for a minuet? By the piano?
BTW, the soon-out "George of the Jungle" is to be live-action, not
animation. "Sorry, old man. Couldn't afford it, don't you know." Open
question: Is this recent trend to live-action remakes of animated films
a good thing, a bad thing, or just life in the big city? Your opinions
please.
If you know any further news about these, or any other Disney films, I'd
love to hear it.
()_()
 (_)  Bruce (Scoop) Metcalf
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