Disney News: Wind in the Willows to be Remade
By Nicholas Moreau
Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Animation both have extensive line-ups of family features in development, much like any major studio these days. This article features news on just some of the major productions in the works at the House of Mouse.
The Wind in the Willows to be remade
Alumni of Pasadena's world famous Art Center College Of Design have created Snaut Entertainment, an LA-based company providing extensive creative services for the industry. Among these services are film development, and Disney has hired the company to develop CG films based on The Wind In The Willows.
This film, to be directed by Guillermo Del-Toro (Hellboy), will actually be the second Disney feature to be based on the tale. A featurette based on the tale was made in the 1940s, and included in the feature Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Snaut is also developing The Little Prince for a movie company called Pathe Distribution.
Trailer for Twice Upon A Christmas released
A trailer for Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas is on the DVD for Mickey, Donald and Goofy's The Three Musketeers, released this last Tuesday. It's rather stiff compared to most 2D Disney productions, but such is the price one pays for direct-to-video CG productions.
The internet's animation communities have been rather antzy about the project since the beginning. As Cogsworth said, "If its not Baroque, don't fix it!"
American Dog looks promising
Headed by Lilo and Stitch's creator Chris Sanders, Ain't It Cool News has described it as "twisted story of a canine TV star who finds himself stranded in the most forsaken hundred miles of Nevada with an oversized bunny and a testy cat." Check out the concept art and character designs at AICN. The mandate for theatrically released features at Disney is that they must be made in CG, hopefully these designs will make the transition easily.
Chronicles of Narnia ahead of schedule
So that they don't have to compete at the box office with Peter Jackson's King Kong remake, Walt Disney Pictures has moved the release of their live action feature The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. According to IGN FilmForce, the film's release date is now set to be December 9, 2005. King Kong opens December 14, 2005.
A Day With Wilbur Robinson previewed
Based on a concept by the creator of Rolie Polie Olie, a preview of Wilbur Robinson is just up at Ain't It Cool News. Website Animated News commented that producers should be careful not to tread into Jimmy Neutron territory.
Mr. Robinson will be the third Wilbur in Disney's very animated history; along with Wilbur the albatross from The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under, Wilbur of Wilbur and Orville Wright appeared in a black and white war-time animated feature, Victory Through Air Power.
Rapunzel may be Unbraided, but still holding together
Glen Keane, animator of the Ariel and Beast, is making his directing debut with a modernized retelling of the classic fairy tale. A preview of the movie is available at Ain't It Cool News.
About the Author:
Canadian graphic designer Nick Moreau remains in touch with family entertainment, despite his demographic, which would skew to suggest elsewise.
From 2001 through to 2003, Nick actively maintained categories in the DMOZ web directory, including ones for Captain Kangaroo, Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street, American Dreams, Canadian flags, comedian/voice actor Louie Anderson, and independant US TV stations.
For a short time, Nick managed the Sesame Street, Sesame Park, and Play with Me Sesame listings on TV.com (then TV Tome).
He quickly moved on to Suite 101, where he wrote on Children's Television/Family Entertainment from April 2003 to September 2005, and the Academy Awards from October 2004 to August 2005.
During his time at Suite, he started writing for the Wikipedia Encyclopedia. In total he has contributed over 13,000 edits to the project, and acts as an administrator on the site. He is the Canadian press contact for the site, appearing in newspapers, magazines, and on television shows worldwide.
Article courtesy of http://www.suite101.com.
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