What fairy tales are left for Disney films?

[Jennasis]

I don't think the story of Goldilocks could be lengthened to an hour and a half.... So what's left?

Romeo and Juliet?
The Ugly Duckling?
Moby Dick?
Little Red Riding Hood?
The 3 Musketeers?

ANy thoughts? Whose been to MGM lately...what are they working on? When I was there last year they were working on a "John Henry" type story.

:wave:

[scanne]

Thumbelina
Rapunzel

I think Disney needs to go back to the "musical" form of animated films. As much as I like Dinosaur and Tarzan, I miss the signature songs sung by the characters. Hercules was the last one like that. Even though there was great music in Tarzan and Toy Story, I love it when Belle, Ariel and Megara sang their ballads. You know???

[YoHo]

Romeo & Juliet is an interesting choice. If I were in charge. I personally would try to move in a different direction. I would look at classic tales and stories and try to make Disney pictures out of them. They did this somewhat successfully with the likes of Oliver and Company. Why not look at moby Dick, and such and weave a Disney story out of it? The key would be to use the themes and plots while avoiding the pitfalls of sad endings and such. Hunchback was ridiculed, because everyone new it was Hunchback. What If you took a story, or section of a story (I want Steinbeck, but I can't get a handle of which and what parts) spin a new tale using the plots and characterizations.

It could work.

[Jennasis]

If you think about it...the Lion King is very much like Hamlet. Some guy kills his brother the king so HE can take over...shacks up with his sister-in-law, and tries to off his nephew-the rightful heir to the throne.

I keep saying they should really do a "Black Stallion/Black Beauty" type film. There isn't a little girl alive who isn't nuts about horses. :wave:

[hopemax]

I have a personal theory that the best material for making sucessful animated movies are

Short Stories, fairy tales, etc
Stories most people don't know about

The reason is that those types of stories are more forgiving when Disney plays with them. I don't mean that in a bad way, but by the time you take a long story that people are very familiar with, and edit it to make it fit the 70-90 minutes, add songs, flesh out the characters, etc somebody's favorite part got left out, their favorite character wasn't presented as the way it was developed in their mind, etc. 5 page stories like the fairy tales are easier to add in songs and develop
characters because they were never much more than shadows in the first place.

This is the reason why I don't think Alice in Wonderland, Hunchback or even real history like Pocahontas worked as well as something like Snow White or Dumbo or Beauty and the Beast.

If I worked in Disney animation, I would lots of time in the beginning readers part of the children's section, and leave the chapter books and adult books alone for the time being.

[Jennasis]

I dunno...I don't think ,most people know how the book version of the hunchback goes. Whereas most people DO know the fairry tale of Beauty and the Beast.

My dad used to tell me the "ant and the grasshopper" stories. That might be something to build on.

I think they need to lay off the rags to riches stories for a while. :wave:

[JeffJewell]

My dad used to tell me the "ant and the grasshopper" stories. That might be something to build on. Maybe Disney could get Pixar to make this one.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Jeff

[YoHo]

Yeah, A bugs life was pretty much the Ant and the Grashopper. BUT it also illustrates my point very very very well.

It seems like Pixar is moving in the right direction. Hopefully Disney will secure there services. That having been said, I think Atlantis was an Awsome Idea. Having not actually seen it, I can't really judge, but they probably could have done a heck of a lot to make this more CLassic Disney while still branching out.

[DuncanLL]

I haven't had that "magic" feeling at a Disney animated movie since Mulan. I wish they'd get back to some nice story lines.

LD

[Disnsyncey]

just to be picky, but ever since I was a little kid, my parents have taped like EVERYTHING..I even had Donald Duck's B-Day party on tape.......and they did a version of the Ant and Grasshopper waaayyy back...I think...and it was like a short cartoon......:bounce:
Later!
Kat

[SpaceMountain_uk]

How about Jack and the Beanstalk (spelling) or Hanzel and Gretel?

[Banzai]

They did do jack and the beanstalk, wtih mickey!

[mrgoofy]

I personally thought that Tarzan was one of the best animated films in recent memory. Not only was the film visually stunning, but the story was well known, and the Phil Collins soundtrack was amazing.

It shows that disney doesn't have to be the first to do something (there are soooo many tarzan movies) but they can still do it better.

[Testtrack321]

Jim Hill reported a while ago that there are two new Disney movies in the works for summer release.

2002- I can't remember the name but the movie is about a hiwian girl who adopts a dog. But the dog is actulaly a alien murdurer who is disguised as a dog!

2003- Treasure Planet- a remake of Tresure Islant, only more sci-fi...

[ContempoSMT]

they always think of something nw...don't worry!

[ARBN]

The tried and true Disney ones are love stories with good vs. evil thrown in for drama. --

More fairy tales they could rewrite:
The Princess and the Pea
The Pearl Princess
The Golden Goose
anything by Hans Christian Andersen

I am waiting for more musicals like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc. Those are the best!!!

[Jasmine1237]

I agree ARBN, I think the Princess and the Pea would be great if they could branch that out somewhat and expand it. The Goose Girl and the Princess on the Glass Hill would also be a good choice. I have never heard of the Pearl Princess. They desperately need their fairytales back in the game, that is arguably one of the things that made them so popular.

[bevgray]

It was a long haul between the last classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty, to the next classic fairy tale, Little Mermaid. Hopefully, we won't have to wait 30 years for the next one.

Another good fairy tale is THE WILD SWANS (no, it isn't the same story as Swan Lake).

[LisaT]

I would like to see more "ethic" movies. There are many wonderful stories out there from all over the world! It might be nice to see some remakes of our favorite older movies (like Robinhood?) But some people might see that as sacriligious!

More musicals definetly! Sequels usually go straight to video with Disney (more cost effective, already established an audience, etc) but I think it would be nice to see a really GRAND sequel on screen.

Im looking forward to Atlantis with SUCH glee!

Did I just say "glee"? :blush:

Lisa

[Douglas Dubh]

I'd love to see the "Matter of Britain", i.e. King Arthur et al., handled a little more seriously than was done in Sword in the Stone or WB's Quest for Camelot. While most of the story doesn't lend itself well to a classic Disney film, I think a film centered on the Quest for the Grail could work. The trick would be to ambiguous enough about the nature of the Grail to not upset either Christians or non-Christians.

[zachsmomie]

I think they should do the Paperbag Princess by Munsch.

My class loves this story!

Sandy

[Tracy0315]

What about "Puss and Boots"? That could easily be turned into a 90 min. movie. :)


Tracy

[Realgrumpy]

King Midas

[wdwguide]

Here is an unofficial list of concepts Disney may or may not be considering. Half of them are probably made up out of thin air, but still...

Atlantis - The Lost Empire (2001)
Monsters Inc (Pixar, 2001)
Lilo and Stitch (2002)
Treasure Planet (FINALLY in 2002/2003)
Finding Nemo (Pixar, 2003)
Sweatin Bullets (2004)
Brother Bear (2005)
Fantasia III (2006)
Don Quixote (2007)
50th animated classic (2012)

[Sarangel]

Another interesting one could be East of the Sun, West of the Moon.

As for John Henry, it was released (on a *very* limited basis) sometime last year. I'm really annoyed at how they handled it, since I was looking forward to seeing it. It isn't a full length film, more like 25 minutes. I'm hoping that they release it to DVD sometime, but given how much they've downplayed it, I'm not holding my breath.

Sarangel

[Safari Steve]

John Henry is approx. 10 minutes long, and is currently playing the film festival circuit. It is scheduled to have two showings at the Florida Film Festival this week and next here in Orlando. They opted not to release it nationally with a feature, because doing so would (as far as I've been told) disqualify it for Academy Award nominations. I hope to see it next Saturday morning and I'll try to post my thoughts shortly thereafter.

[CapHook]

What about a animated Disney western?

[Mulan]

I agree with LisaT. I'm sure there are many wonderful stories from different cultures all over the world. I had never heard of Mulan until the Disney film. And, as you can tell, it's now one of my favorites. I also love Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid and Aladdin. To me, Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Lion King are a notch down from there, and the rest (of the recent films) are way down from there. I'd really like to see more of the "good stuff."

[Safari Steve]

'Sweatin' Bullets' is an animated Western musical that's been in production for the last few years. I first read about it on the now-defunct Unofficial Disney Animation Archive, and Landbaron just posted a link to an article that mentions it as well. It should be fun.... Singin' Cartoon Cowboys, Yeee-Hawww! (plus it could have tie-ins in Frontierland... Who knows?)