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| Image from presentation at D23 2017 |
From movie web:
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| Rip Van Winkle by Mike Ploog |
According to Scanlon, who lost his father at a very young age, the movie is inspired by the question he's always asked: 'Who was my father?' The story is set in a world with no humans, only elves, trolls and sprites... Scanlon went on to give a brief synopsis of the untitled animated movie that will fit right in with the tears that Pixar is so famous for. He explains this.
"In the film, we're going to tell the story of two teenage elf brothers whose father died when they were too young to remember him. But thanks to the little magic still left in the world, the boys embark on a quest that will allow them a chance to spend one last magical day with their father."
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| Bruce Pennington |
(Additional quote via MTV): "The story takes place in a modern fantasy world where there once was magic — real magic — but it was hard to do and complicated to learn, so people just lost interest. In this world, a mix of "the fantastical and the everyday," humans don't exist. There are only elves, trolls, and sprites — or "anything that would be on the side of a van in the '70s," the director said. Oh, and unicorns are everywhere. They roam the streets of this modern, magical suburbia like rodents."
(Emphasis in bold by OUABlog - because that looks like the style you can expect to see, sort of like 'The Night Begins To Shine' special event beginning August 1st, on the Teen Titans Go series, which albeit leaning more toward 80's than 70s, taps the same nostalgic vein.)
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| One of the more family friendly 70s van art images found via google (no credit given for the photo) |
The homes on the street are apparently going to be Mushroom houses much like the Smurfs, but set in a modern time where there are satellite dishes sticking out of the roofs. Magical and majestic unicorns will be seen digging through the garbage much like a possum or raccoon. No release date has been set for the untitled movie, but it certainly does sound like a very Pixar affair, balancing the absurd with the heartbreakingly realistic portrayals of life even if the lives are those of troll, sprites, and elves that live in mushroom houses surrounded by magic.Also - according to the D23 image - there will be dragons. We approve. Always good to remind heroes of how crunchy they can be.
Assuming the Pixar powers-that-be and associated creatives are accessing their childlike, nostalgic sides more than anything else though, it's likely we can expect an adventurous and humorous romp through Lord of the Rings-meets-D&D-in-suburbia, (or Stranger Things for kids), along with some heart-wrenching, family/origin story threads, designed to have us muttering about something in our eyes.
In other words: bring it on.
What do you think? Are you intrigued? What do you think the potential is for a contemporary fairy tale-type story here? What troll, elf and sprite tropes (or lore) do you think Pixar will tap, if any?
For young children and young teens, there are a number of stories on children - sons - and parents, but this story of two elf brothers searching for a magic that will give them an answer. Children lose parents, fathers many years ago in the USA around 1949 fathers some times had a very time getting custody of their children having divorced the mother. Some lost contact with the father, where he would place the children with care and economy, learn his life of the past as a son, how he grew into the man he became. So this magical story of the two elf sons on a journey of looking for magic, very touching. And the setting of magical animals and homes quite beautiful. Almost Tolkien's Hobbit? Very good article thanks. Mrs. Arthur L Keith III (Annette)
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