New Trailer: "Once Upon A (Creepy) Dream" (sung by Lana Del Ray)

Released for Grammy night (last night, January 26th), the new Lana Del Ray version of Disney/Tchaikovsky's Once Upon A Dream also brings us new Maleficent footage  - and quickly gets rid of any warm fuzzy feelings about by amping the creep-factor by a ton.

Here's the trailer, with Lana Del Rey's new version of "Dream" featuring prominently:

Maleficent isn't looking quite as cuddly anymore.

It reminds me of those twisted versions of "what if this kid/family movie was really a horror.." you see remixed on YouTube, complete with reedited footage that tell a very different story from the happy, shiny, bunnies-&-rainbows impressions we've always had. You know, those haunting, no, haunted lullaby songs you really don't want to hear last thing before going to sleep...

It's kind of brilliant.

Although I'm not completely sure this is how I want to be hearing one of my favorite pieces of music (I knew Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty very well before I knew the Disney versions), I do like that pitching the tones and pacing this way adds a few different layers of possibilities regarding the lyrics: who's dream are we really talking about? I do like that this is causing people to ask more of the sorts of questions fairy tale folk tend to think about all the time.

The land creatures/dryads/Ents? war footage feels a bit confusing to me - maybe because I always associated that with very different faerie stories and, well, Middle Earth. Maybe because it's all quite colorful and bright daylight. But the logic fits. You just need to remember that Maleficent is actually a fairy - perhaps not quite the usual breed, but a fairy nonetheless.

Re "why Lana" for the song, for those interested, here's some behind-the-scenes info.

Angelina Jolie has handpicked Grammy Award winner Lana Del Rey to perform the title song for her new film Maleficent.  

Hollywood superstar Jolie, 38, plays the villainous female lead in a new take on the 1959 Disney classic Sleeping Beauty, and she had no hesitation in suggesting that the sultry 27-year-old sing the main track, Once Upon A Dream. The song also featured  in the original Sleeping Beauty film.‘ 

Angelina has been incredibly active in all aspects of the movie, even bagging a role for her daughter Vivienne, so it’s  no surprise that she helped choose who would sing the song,’ says a source.

You can currently download the whole song (minus trailer sound effects) from GooglePlay for free HERE. Although I'm fairly sure that will be a limited opportunity,it should be available until February 3rd as an individual download at least.

When we eventually see Lana Del Ray's full music video for Dream there will likely be more footage still, and perhaps it will answer the questions about who's dreams are who's.

Sources: HERE & HERE