I zipped around a couple of floors of the hat building today. And artists related:
"A few of us are still doing story work on Rapunzel, but the feature's really made a big jump in coming together. The screening last month was way better ..." [I've heard this before. -SH] "A couple of sequences are going into production, and they're still hiring people to work on it ..."
"..."We're retooling King of the Elves ..."
"Joe Jump is back in work ..."
I hadn't heard that Mr. Jump had returned to the boards, but it isn't surprising; what I saw of the piece when it was in development looked pretty good. (We mentioned it way back when (I think), Variety listed JJ as a project here, and Animated News has a one-sentence synopsis for the feature here.)
A while ago, Disney artists had clued me that development on Joe Jump had stopped, but nothing ever completely dies in Animationland. Peter Pan was in development thirteen years prior to its successful appearance in theaters, Beauty and the Beast was briefly considered for development in the early 1980s, and Treasure Island/Planet got pitched in 1985.
Like I say. Nothing ever dies; it just goes into a suspended half-life until bobbing back to the surface once more. (This book has been in and out of development at the House of Mouse for well over twenty years ... part of the "development graveyard" that is part of every studio's production operation.)
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" The screening last month was way better ..." [I've heard this before. -SH]"
Except that the screening before this one was worse than the one before it.
Remember THIS ONE?
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Catfish-Bend-Water-Seven/dp/B0006BQDNG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256873223&sr=1-3
Ken Anderson did a ton of work on this in the early '70's.
It's hard for me to keep track of all the ups and downs.
The various folks I've talked to in the last few weeks think Rapunzel is coming along smartly. Obviously, they might be wrong in their assessment, too close to the trees to see the forest, etc.
I was around when Lion King was an unfolding disaster, when Katzenberg directed that the second act of Aladdin be reworked from the ground up. When Toy Story's story got restructured.
I guess what I'm saying is: the boys and girls are still toiling over Rapunzel's sequences, so whether the forthcoming feature ends up dazzling the public or not remains to be seen. (Crew on the hand-drawn Spirit spent two years telling me the picture wasn't very good, then changed their positions just before it was released.
So let's just wait and SEE how the movie comes out, shall we? (Might be great, yes?)
Remember THIS ONE? ["Catfish Bend"]
I spent eight months of my life working with Ken Anderson on this property. At the end of it I had learned:
A) Ken Anderson was a hard-working and talented artist.
B) Ken Anderson was a dick.
But many had found this out long before I did.
LOL! Yes, indeed, he was, and he was.. I read the books, and could honestly hardly extract a usable filmic narrative from it, short of using some of the characters and setting and starting from scratch. Was this your experience as well?
I've read a couple of the Catfish Bend books, and I remember reading somewhere that Disney was working on a Catfish film. Then it went bye-bye. Kinda too bad. The books were like a cross between Uncle Remus and Pogo. I'm not sure how good a film could be derived from them though. A little too parochial, from my way of thinking.
I could ...hardly extract a usable filmic narrative from "Catfish Bend" ...
Ken actually had a lot of pretty good stuff strung together, but he wouldn't let anybody tamper with it, which was the problem.
He created moments. He didn't create anything resembling a coherent whole.
I write about it here:
http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/and-then-there-was-ken.html
(I wasn't using paragraph tags way back then, so the story is one big paragraph. For which I extend profuse apologies.)
Any news about the unconfirmed but rumored Snow Queen???
"Any news about the unconfirmed but rumored Snow Queen???"
Only that you asked about it Ally.
So with Joe Jump heading back on the schedule, that's two more CG films (Elves being the other). Have they mentioned anymore hand drawn films in development after Pooh? I know you can't give us a lot of details Steve, just wondering if they've got some ideas on the radar.
Your example about SPIRIT is not a logical one. The difference is very clear... those who bragged about SPIRIT worked on ROAD TO EL DORADO & PRINCE OF EGYPT... arguably not the best movies. The track record was not there to take them seriously. The Rapunzel crew that is saying good things just finished the solid and critically praised BOLT.
I hope SNOW QUEEN (confirmed by alan Menken as composer) like a 2D film for 2013 or 2014!!!!
Or retomed of some proyects like: AIDA, FRAIDY CAT, DON QUIJOTE, LADY OF THE LAKE, SWAN LAKE, SELKIES...
Great Stories, but i want NOW a SNOW QUEEN. The first villain in a Disney title.
I wonder if Glen will have anything to do with Snow Queen if it gets greenlit. Wasnt that his project before? Makes sense for him to go back to 2D anyway after Rapunzel.
Or maybe he'll retire.
Or maybe Disney will close if PATF and Rapunzel stink it up. (here's to hoping they both do well)
All real possibilities at this point, no?
Hahaha! Nice flame-bait. I applaud you.
You're wrong, of course, but definitely funny.
I think SNOW QUEEN is the best project for a future green-light project by Disney fans, so AIDA.
Great stories for the future Disney filmography.
* The Princess And The Frog: "Fairy Tale" + folklore New Orlenas
* Rapunzel: claasic European fairy tale ala Beauty and the Beast + Sleeping Beauty.
* Winnie the Pooh: a new "Disney animals" since BOLT in 2D.
* King of the Elves: a drama/philosophical set in Mississippi 50's
* Joe Jump: film about video-game 80's vs. 00's.
* Snow Queen: European classic fable by andersen. His best fable for the literary critics. A ideal project for Glen Keane and Dean Wellins or Wellins in "solo".
* Ramayana??? A rumor since last-2007. A hindi and romantic story?
Others for example:
* Musicana: A new Fantasia with the Disney animation + Pixar + ImageMovers talents with new classical pieces from old european composers with story from never green-light disney projects... for example... Verdi's AIDA, or Tchaikovski's SWAN LAKE.
* Don Quixote by Dean Wellins. Very ideal and epic like "Hunckback"!!
Snow queen and Quixote are stories considered by Walt Disney in the 40-50-60's.
"Snow Queen" sounds wonderful to me too. The production design could be fantastic - ice palaces, Gothic German architecture, snowy weather, and the Queen herself.
But only in 2D!!!!
Steve , Kevin, and Jeff , it's your blog but honestly can't you guys moderate the comments just a little bit ?
Some lil' troll comes on for a hit and run posting like
"Bolt sucked !"
Does that sort of thing have to be allowed ? That's not contributing to a conversation, it's just trolling.
It brings down the quality level of this blog.
Bolt wasn't the best movie ever released by Disney , but it was pretty good. I can't see how any honest person (without an ax to grind) would say that it "sucked" .
Somebody wrote something disparaging about White Doggie?
I can't find the comment.
(But if somebody writes something mean that you don't like, I suggest you avert your eyes.
I don't moderate comments 24.7 because A) I have this day job, and B) I want to have a ... whatchyacallit? ... a LIFE.)
Steve,
Jeff or Kevin must have deleted the earlier comment about "Bolt".
It was a hit and run, one line post that said "Bolt sucks". (real wit , eh ?)
Thanks to whoever deleted it .
Ramayana. Snow Queen?
Are these projects that were ever at Disney or is this just fanboy dream stuff?
Snow Queen?
Are these projects that were ever at Disney or is this just fanboy dream stuff?
If you have to ask, guess what?
YOU are the fanboy.
Virtually anyone in the So CA animation industry knows the answers including yours truly. But since I have an issue with these boards being not only open to but sometimes dominated by NON-PROS, we always get comments like this. Over & over.
Sigh.
those who bragged about SPIRIT worked on ROAD TO EL DORADO & PRINCE OF EGYPT... arguably not the best movies. The track record was not there to take them seriously. The Rapunzel crew that is saying good things just finished the solid and critically praised BOLT.
Nice try. If you correct for inflation, the $101.3 million POE made in 1998 would be worth $133 million in 2008, while Bolt made only $114 million in that year. And a quick look at Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic shows the reviews for the two films were about equally positive.
And, a lot of the Bolt crew were jettisoned or quit when the film finished, so it's hardly the same crew still at Disney.
But then, you're making the assumption that a crew that worked on a successful film is a better judge than a crew that worked on a less successful film. Anyone in the industry knows that's silly. Most of us working in this biz know when we're working on a turkey, and when were working on something special.
And, a lot of the Bolt crew were jettisoned or quit when the film finished, so it's hardly the same crew still at Disney.
A lot, yes. But the 35 animators or so that remained are a pretty core group, and likely the most qualified to make the call whether or not Rapunzel is shaping up.
Ive heard from several Disney people that several screenings ago, Rapz was a pile, and they were all too happy to admit it. Then Disney threw everyone on it to fix it, and finally did it. I believe them, but thats me.
Then Disney threw everyone on it to fix it, and finally did it
This is pretty much what I've been hearing. Of course, the proof is in the final release print, no?
Sorry to piss you off, Anonymous but I ain't no fanboy. I don't work for Disney but I'm in the business and I don't keep track of all the projects of competitors.
Excuse me for being curious.
Of course, the proof is in the final release print, no?
Yep
Not for nothing, and you guys probably know loads more about this than I, but Don Hahn showed some art from Snow Queen during one of his talks at D23. It was weirdly offhand, like "Here's something from Snow Queen, which is something we're working on..."
Anyway, I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on that.
Michael, is true??
Snow Queen by Don Hahn? OHHHHHHH!!!Or maybe Snow Queen with Hahn as producer since Hunchback or Atlantis.
I'm sure he just meant "we" as in "Disney"...
Oh very thanks for the new.
Now... some Ken Harsha's arts from GOOSE CHASE!!!!!:
http://kenharsha.blogspot.com/
Very beautiful, but cancelled by Lasseter in 2008, i believe.
Is true... look a Snow queen castle concept art release in the Don Hahn interview in the D23 Expo:
http://progresscityusa.com/2009/11/06/back-to-the-sweatbox/
and
http://noticiasdisney.blogspot.com/2009/11/confirmada-la-reina-de-las-nieves-y-joe.html
Bolt is the best Animated Disney film of the decade. Its sweet, intelligent and sophisticated with complex, likable and stunningly well animated characters, if but with a bit weak story.
It still scored 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes which is almost Pixar standard.
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