Showing posts with label classic FT prince. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classic FT prince. Show all posts

Monday, August 10, 2015

Animated Musical Comedy "Charming" Gets Pop Divas (x4) to Voice Their Princesses


Apparently the new trend is focusing on Prince Charming.

No, I'm not repeating news - this is NOT about the Disney live-action "Charming". This is a new and different project: an animated musical comedy, also titled "Charming",  coming from 3QU Media.

From Playbill and iAfrica:
Avril Lavigne and Ashley Tisdale and G.E.M. will join Demi Lovato in voicing fairy-tale heroines for the animated musical comedy Charming.
...In the film, Lavigne will voice Snow White, Tisdale will play Cinderella and (Chinese pop-star) G.E.M. Sleeping Beauty. Lovato will play the female lead, Lenore.
...In the film, a cursed Prince Philip Charming must find his true love before his 21st birthday or risk losing all claim to the throne.
The film is produced by John H. Williams who was behind Shrek, and will be written and directed by Ross Venokur.
Charming is set to be released next year.
No word on who Charming will be voiced by yet but 'next year' is ridiculously soon. 
I'm also just confused by this news. Where is all this 'charming' business coming from? Even OUAT will be focusing on Charming and King Arthur as the other story-draw in the Dark Swan season, complete with buddy stories and 'a different kind of 'bromance' being teased by the Producers. Between Charmings and Arthurs there's a definite bizarre trend happening. While I'm a fan of great stories for boys coming back into fantasy, (especially after all the princess culture' we've been drowning in), I'm not sure I like it.
Thoughts? 
Concept art for 3QU Media's "Charming"

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Disney's Prince Charming Movie Update

A quick update on the "Disney Prince gets a live action movie of his own", story from yesterday.

Variety has since reported that (emphasis in bold is mine):
Sources tell Variety that the studio has acquired the spec “Prince Charming,” a live-action comedy revolving around the iconic character with Mandeville Films and Tripp Vinson producing. 

Matt Fogel penned the script and while plot details are vague, sources say the point of view isn’t that of the prince himself but of his brother who never lived up to the family name. Alex Young is exec producing.

Yep. I can see how that would be a lot easier to write.

I confess a disappointment. I wanted to see how they would make an interesting film about 'the perfect guy' (because no one is, even though you may have a lot of layer peeling to do before you figure out why).

Bother.

I was hoping some stellar and unique writing would put the concept on track and perhaps delve into some lesser known, more multicultural prince tales from other lands. (I always try and hope for the best.)

Now it looks like it's just going to be Cinderella with pants.

And probably a trusty horse.

Pfft.

Please let me be wrong.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Disney Plans On Taking Prince Charming To the Movies

Here's a headline that says a lot:
A fairy tale archetype gets his own film as Disney plan a Prince Charming movie

My reaction: ?!!

Oh yes - and, it's staying with the current live action trend, of course.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney is continuing its push into live-action fairy tales, closing a deal for a feature project centering on Prince Charming. Matt Fogel wrote the script, while David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman of Mandeville Films/TV as well as Tripp Vinson are on board to produce. 
Disney pioneered the recent and lucrative trend of taking either old animated classics or fairy tales and spinning them into live-action features.And since no other studio has done more to ensconce the idea of Prince Charming into the public mind — with movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella — it is most appropriate the studio take a close look at the man as well. 
Details are being kept behind a moat, but the script is described as a revisionist take on the fairy tales.

I get the whole, "let's tell the antagonist's story", deal, I do. Usually that's a specific character who, while often using a recognizable archetype aspect, is generally not a flat character. In fact, it's the villain who usually does have the (hopefully second) most interesting story. (One would hope the protagonist is drawn well enough that you do care more about their story... but that's another discussion.)

However, if there's one accusation that's been leveled at (most) Disney princes (particularly the classic ones) it's this: they are made of cardboard. They are flat, dull, uninteresting, replaceable, forgettable, stand-ins to help the girls achieve their goals/dreams.

In fact I've heard it argued that princes in fairy tales - and particularly Disney ones - perhaps should be considered the prize to be won. The girl has to get so far in her story, overcoming obstacles, staying strong etc, to "activate" the prince - in whatever capacity he is needed - wherein his main function is, really, to be the girl's happily ever after pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Retelling one of these prince's stories sounds beyond yawn-worthy*, and then you read that magical little Hollywood phrase: "revisionist take", which basically means, an attempt to erase all previous notions of this idea you ever had. From that angle, I can see why they might want to flip-the-script and write a Prince who is... 'more'.

Possibly the most interesting Princes we've seen from Disney have made their way onto the screen in the last year; Richard Madden's "Kit" (I still can't get on board with that name), from Cinderella, goes against the system while working within it to achieve his goal, and the dueling duet of "Agony" by Rapunzel's and Cinderella's princes in Into the Woods remains one of the best, and funniest, live action "prince sequences" brought to the screen ever. I have to wonder if the latter isn't what spurred the sudden interest in cashing in on the (according to Tumblr) drool-worthy Agony-Prince-vibe.

I'm still not certain I'm up for a whole movie worth of it, though I'll be very interested to see the discussions coming out of this marketing, er, story. Crown prince versus "real" prince (whether or not there's a princess involved) is something it wouldn't hurt our society to consider a little more.


So you ready for the Disney-live-action line-up tally to date?

  • Jungle Book
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Dumbo
  • Winnie the Pooh
  • Pete's Dragon
  • Mulan
  • Pinocchio
  • Alice: Through the Looking Glass
  • Tink (a Peter Pan spin-off)
  • Unnamed Prince Charming movie

Yep, we're set for live action Disney - some of them fairy tales (or Disney's version of a fairy tale) - through till 2018 at least.

Animation movies are still in development and production too, don't forget (Giants, Frozen II, Moana) but they're definitely second at best on the priority list for Disney right now.

* Though the "Disney confession" above isn't mine, I pretty much agree with it. Surprisingly, Prince Philip is the exception among the princes - if you watch Sleeping Beauty with an eye to the Prince's story, you'll see the bulk of the film IS HIS STORY - and it's pretty great - goes against tradition, defies great odds, goes for his dreams, defeats the dragon, etc. It's also exciting, he makes mistakes, there's character growth,  he has a great sidekick, he faces off with the forces of evil and fights both a curse and physical dangers and he proves he'll be a great leader when it's his turn to become king. If you edited the beginning to be more Philip-centric and get rid of most of the ridiculous fairies-can't-do-anything domestic antics, the film is a great adventure movie and both girls and boys love it. #triedthisanditworkseverytime