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:
--> "Mulan" (aka "The Legend of Mulan", aka "The Legend of
Some-long-name- ending-in-Mulan") is the big noise at the Florida
studios, who are proud to be staffing up for it. Originally just a site
for sericel painting and public display, they handled some overflow work
from the main studios in Burbank so well that they have earned the name
Walt Disney Animation Florida. Their first feature is a Chinese folktale
about a family (father, mother, and daughter--gee, an intact nuclear
family!). War has been declared, and tradition requires the father to
provide military service, except that the eldest son can substitute if
the father is old or feeble. Mulan's father is both, so she cuts her
hair, dresses as a man, and reports for duty. Sort of a Yentl with
chopsticks. A story of war, family honor, the role of women in society,
and comming of age.
A number of animation staffers were spotted backstage wearing T-shirts
with the likeness of one of the characters. Mooshu is a somewhat
scrawney dragon who provides help to Mulan (and some comic relief). He
is to be voiced by Eddie Murphy. Hello, don't you guys remember the
trouble you had editing Robin Williams' voice track down to a G rating?
--> "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.
Several sequils have advanced at least to the script stage:
--> "Fantasia Continued" (aka Fantasia '99)  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...
--> 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 collection while his friends try to rescue him--while Woody
tries to decide if he wants to be rescued. Oh Mr. Newman, 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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