Nutcracker Screenwriter to Adapt 'The Hazel Wood' For The Big Screen

One of the season's hottest 'fairy tale novels' is heading for the big screen. You've probably heard of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert. This very recent YA release (January 30, 2018) quickly became a best-seller and had high praise from many quarters, including fairy tale aficionados. Here's a fairly concise description that we think summarizes the feel of the story and introduces the synopsis well:

The Hazel Wood is a grounded YA fantasy novel that reads as Pan’s Labyrinth meets Alice in Wonderland. Opening in modern day, the story follows teenage Alice, who lives a life on the road with her mother, incessantly pursued by bad luck. Alice’s mother has always forbidden her from having any contact with her grandmother — even banning Alice from reading her grandmother’s mysterious classic book of pitch black fairy tales, “Tales from the Hinterland.” But when Alice’s mother is kidnapped, Alice discovers that the Hinterland is not just a story, and that its strange supernatural forces lie behind her mother’s disappearance. To save her mother, Alice must journey into the Hinterland where she discovers how her own story went so wrong. (TheWrap)

Ashleigh Powell (left) and the best-selling YA novel The Hazel Wood hardcover

Ashleigh Powell, the "promising new screenwriter" who previously wrote Nutcracker and the Four Realms for Disney's upcoming movie has been attached to adapt The Hazel Wood, this time for Sony's Columbia Pictures, and looks set to spark a new wave of this genre of fantasy movies heading for the big screen. (Powell is also working on adapting the first book of The Paper Magician trilogy for Disney.) Interesting, the book caused so much buzz that the film rights were acquired even before it was released at the end of January.

The Hazel Wood does not currently have a release date.

Source: Screenrant

Glen Keane To Direct Chinese Folktale-Inspired Feature, 'Over The Moon'

Glen Keane with his early character drawings of the film's "spunky protagonist"

Note: Karlan Tam's series of paintings for 'The Jade Rabbit of the Moon', shown throughout this post (with credits added below each), are NOT related to the animation project. We're spotlighting them since they give a lovely visual overview of one of the story variations. Enjoy!

Though it's not clear which version of the Chinese tale, 'Lady of the Moon', inspired the new film-to-be Over The Moon (to be directed by the well-loved Disney veteran*), there's a good chance there will be a rabbit - or hare - in the story. There are a number of versions of the Lady of the Moon folktale, some of which have the rabbit, with its jade mortar and pestle, as the central character, rather than a colorful detail. The Moon Rabbit, or Jade Hare, legend is widely spread through much of Asia, not just China, and even has a mid-Autumn festival based on it.

From The Jade Rabbit of the Moon series by Karlan Tam

We recommend visiting HERE to check out the variations on the Moon Rabbit. The article has simple, clear summaries with bonus images to give you an overview.

From The Jade Rabbit of the Moon series by Karlan Tam

But back to Glen Keane's new project. The animated film, 'Over The Moon' is described as:

"...a musical adventure feature film about a girl who builds a rocket ship and blasts off to the moon in hopes of meeting a legendary Moon Goddess."

Keane, sounding very enthusiastic about the project, had this to say:

“I am powerfully drawn to characters who believe the impossible is possible. ‘Over the Moon’ has just such a heroine as its centerpiece. The compelling script by Audrey Wells has tremendous heart and humor that called to me and I had to respond. I’m honored to bring this story to life alongside my producer Gennie Rim. We are both looking forward to creating a wonderful film and partnership with Melissa Cobb at Netflix and Peilin Chou at Pearl Studio.”

Keane’s early drawings of the main character, Fei Fei

Pearl Studio looks to be one to keep an eye on. Here are some details from Slashfilm that will interest fairy tale and folklore people too:

The film will be an intriguing first test for Pearl Studio, which is mostly known for its work co-producing Kung Fu Panda 3. The burgeoning studio has yet to produce its own full-length feature, but it has several films planned aside from Over the Moon, including the Yeti-themed Everest and The Monkey King. With the hole left by Studio Ghibli, Pearl Studio is one of the many animation studios tussling for its top spot. And by collaborating with Keane, they’ve just raised their profile significantly. 

From The Jade Rabbit of the Moon series by Karlan Tam

From Cartoon Brew:

“We are thrilled to partner with the brilliant Glen Keane, one of the most creative and visionary directors working in animation, and the team at Pearl Studio on the magical Over the Moon,” said Netflix’s Melissa Cobb. “Full of imagination and adventure, and set against a visually stunning backdrop that only Keane and writer Audrey Wells and their teams could create, we know Over the Moon will fascinate and inspire our Netflix members around the world.”

From The Jade Rabbit of the Moon series by Karlan Tam

From The Jade Rabbit of the Moon series by Karlan Tam

Color us intrigued!

Over The Moon will be released in 2020 theatrically in China and around the world by Netflix.

Sources: Variety, GeekTyrant, CartoonBrew, Slashfilm

*Glen Keane is most known for creating the title characters of Disney animated classic films The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Aladdin, Tarzan and Rapunzel in Tangled.

'Paddington's Director Signed On To Bring Disney's 'Pinocchio' To Life

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Paul King, helmer of the whimsical and acclaimed Paddington movies, has been chosen to direct the movie, with the studio hoping to being production this fall.  

Chris Weitz and his Depth of Field partner Andrew Miano are producing. Jack Thorne, who penned the surprise hit Wonder, is rewriting the script.

We also liked this gem of 'commentary', buried in the short article:

Disney... is currently in the midst of bringing to life, Blue Fairy style, its animation library...

Interesting metaphor and an intriguing line of thought to follow.

Stay tuned to Once Upon A Blog for an upcoming article on Fellini's wish to create a live-action Pinocchio, and some other fairy tales too.

Multiple Studios Vying for New 'Swan Lake' Movie with 'Rogue One's Felicity Jones Attached

It's Hollywood's 'hot pitch' of the (very hot, Fourth of July) week, and, even at this very early stage has multiple studios, including Universal, Paramount and TriStar among other known names, vying for the chance to be the ones to make it happen. The movie is said to be inspired by the classic ballet fairy tale Swan Lake but won't be a ballet or dance movie. This will be a story (dare we say fairy tale?) movie - and Felicity Jones is attached (the Star Wars film franchise's most recent star in Rogue One).

From The Hollywood Reporter:

The pitch, from Kristina Lauren Anderson (who wrote 'Catherine the Great'), is inspired by the classic ballet story Swan Lake. 

The project has Jones attached to star and 'Call Me by Your Name' helmer Luca Guadagnino attached to direct. 

Swan Lake, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, is one of the most popular ballets of all time. The story follows Odette, a princess that is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. Darren Aronofsky's 2010 thriller Black Swan used the play as inspiration for its story, but did not follow the storyline of the classic ballet. This new retelling would not be a ballet but would be a tentpole film based on the story told in the ballet. (Ed: emphasis in bold is by OUABlog.)

FYI the term 'tentpole' is Hollywood-speak for 'expensive to make' and 'expect lots of merchandise to be made for this film'.

We are very interested in this!

In the meantime, we can see Felicity Jones as SNL's Cursed Princess from February 2017 (mild adult humor):

Garrone's Live Action 'Pinocchio' Gets Harry Potter SFX Wizard

Pinocchio, which is currently being sold at Cannes, has signed one of the most sought after special effects folks in the business, Nick Dudman. We are guessing he is currently trying out a variety of noses for his new project...

We reported a while back on Italian Director Matteo Garrone (Tale of Tales) and his latest passion project, a live action, personal retelling of Pinocchio, which he is also writing. (You can find that earlier post HERE.)

Dudman told Variety that the new Italian-language “Pinocchio” will have a “flavor and look that’s quintessentially Italian” and will be different from what audiences are used to seeing in mainstream fantasy films. “It’s a very personal journey for Matteo,” Dudman said. “They are doing something very different from previous versions. It’s very dark.” 

“’Pinocchio’ is a dream of mine that goes back to when I was a child,” says Garrone. “On my desk I still have my own personal ‘Pinocchio’ story-board that I drew and colored in when I was a kid, and which is one of my most cherished mementos.” 

... Production is expected to begin in early 2018 in Sicily, Calabria and Tuscany. (Variety)

We're looking forward to see how this develops, if we can. Garrone was pretty strict with his closed sets on Tale of Tales, but this is, at last information, still supposed to be a family film and should be very different from everything Garrone has done to date. Either way - we won't have seen a Pinocchio like this one before.

In case you missed the note, it's been confirmed that unlike Tale of Tales, this film will be in Italian.

Portlandia's Carrie Brownstein to Direct 'Fairy Godmother'

We have to agree with the writers at iO9. This movie, that we had relegated to the don't-even-bother corner did just get way cooler!

Yes, that’s Carrie Brownstein of Portlandia fame, who in addition to being a comedy god is also an acclaimed author and a rock star. She could probably pick any project to make her feature-film directing debut, but something about Fairy Godmother must’ve appealed. According to Deadline, the script by blogger and playwright Chiara Atik sparked a bidding war last year, and it offers a spin on the classic fairy godmother story: 

'When sought after Fairy Godmother Faye is hired by a mind-bogglingly gorgeous teenage client, Kenzie, to find her true love with the hottest prince in the land, Faye finds herself facing an unfamiliar challenge when the prince starts falling for her instead.' (iO9)

Hm. Unless the description isn't disclosing some fabulous take on this, Carrie Brownstein really is the only thing keeping this movie from the 'likely to ignore' pile. We must have faith in the Brownstein and believe... (clap hard!)
                

'The Dark Crystal' Is Coming to Netflix. As A NEW Series

And it will have puppets and everything! We will admit, we are excited about this. We adore the film but it's pretty slow in places, and there's a lot of potential - and history - the film didn't explore that we'd love to see expanded on. In fact, this series will be a prequel, taking place in that world decades before it reached the crisis in which Gelflings Jen and Kira (and Fizzgig! And the Landstriders!), took #alltherisks and rescued everyone.

From the Henson Company Press Release:

HOLLYWOOD, CA (May 18, 2017) - A beloved classic from the 80s marks its return as Netflix, the world’s leading internet entertainment network, will bring The Jim Henson Company’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance  exclusively to members around the world. The 10-episode fantasy adventure series is a prequel to the groundbreaking 1982 fan favorite The Dark Crystal, and takes place many years before the events of the film. The series will be shot in the U.K., and will star an ensemble of fantastical, state-of-the-art creatures created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™ and Brian Froud, the original feature’s conceptual designer. 

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance returns to the world of Thra with an all new adventure. When three Gelfling discover the horrifying secret behind the Skeksis’ power, they set out on an epic journey to ignite the fires of rebellion and save their world. 

Feature film director Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me, The Incredible Hulk) will executive produce the series and direct. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance will be a Netflix original series produced by The Jim Henson Company and executive produced by Letterier, Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford. Longtime Henson collaborator Rita Peruggi will serve as producer and Henson’s Blanca Lista will serve as a co-executive producer. Leading the writing are co-executive producers Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (Life in a Year), and Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, The 100). 

“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance will combine the art of puppetry perfected by The Jim Henson Company, with Louis’ vision, powerful storytelling and a mix of cutting-edge digital imagery and visual effects,” said Cindy Holland, Vice President of Original Content at Netflix. “I can’t wait for families around the world to see how we bring these unique characters to life.” 

 

“Louis Leterrier is passionate about the world of The Dark Crystal and has an incredible creative vision for the series. He brings this passion to every facet of the production as he leads the talented team of artists and writers that are bringing this entire universe to life,” said Lisa Henson, CEO of The Jim Henson Company. "Netflix has a deep respect for my father's original work and the many people it inspired. They are the perfect partners to create this next epic chapter in The Dark Crystal story for new fans and the loyal fans who have waited so long for more adventures from this world."

Brand new 'state-of-the-art' creatures! *swoon* (Perhaps we're super excited because our newsroom is filled with all kinds of creatures - from fairy tale ones, and Henson creations to yo-kai, but these pop-culture touchstones are major tools for us when we teach art and fairy tales at schools and other kid-centric places, and have guaranteed kids love and remember what we're working with them on in following years - so YES PLEASE! Plus, yeah, they're usually pretty flippin' cute - see below for a selection of 'teaching tools'.)

Aside: anyone notice that 'Age of Resistance' subtitle in there? We have a feeling that is pretty purposeful, and we're looking forward to seeing how that develops. In fact, we're going to tag this with our #RRR hashtag, just because we have a feeling...

Here's the promotional teaser trailer, which doesn't really show anything new, but will get folks excited about the concept anyway - unless it doesn't. We're sure some folks aren't going to be thrilled about the idea. At least it won't be a retread of classic footage but more of an exploration of the world which fascinated so many of us as children.

And we're really excited to see all the folklore world-building that will come out of this! Folklore takes center stage in the film, with knowledge and exploration of those tales being the key to knowing what to do.

PS Anyone noticing we're kinda going back to the that 80's/early 90's era of musicals and fantasy films and series? Anyone also noticing we're rehashing similar issues to those of that time period, societally speaking? Yeah.

Live Action 'Aladdin' To Be Musical (Probably) & Keen To Avoid 'Prince of Persia' Mistake

from the Broadway adaptation of Disney's Aladdin

Guy Ritchie, the film's director, has answered the 'other' question about Aladdin: Now that musicals are back in vogue, and music was such a big part of the animated feature, will the new live action movie have songs - and dancing - too?

“I think it’d be tough not to make (Aladdin) a musical. It’s too early, because I’ve really just immersed myself into that project. So I’m still looking for cast members, we still haven’t found exactly which direction we’re going in. I’m confident at some stage it will reveal itself to me. But right now it’s just a bit too premature.” (source)

Ritchie's response seems pretty clear, though he does mention it's early days, and it should be taken into account that film morph a lot in the development stage AND that Guy Ritchie is not a director who does the 'typical/standard thing' with his movies. (For reference, Ritchie's better known films are: "Snatch", "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", the "Sherlock Holmes" movies and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.")

With Will Smith on the official IMDB page (but a qualifying 'rumored' recently added next to his name, since no contract has yet been signed) and Ritchie's direction, the potential for a new dimension of the Aladdin story is obviously there, though it's going to be difficult to ever get past the lack of Williams as the Genie.

This will be an interesting film to follow the development of, whichever way it goes, however. Disney is keen to avoid the embarrassing white washing present in Prince of Persia but the questions is how authentic will they/can they go without getting tangled (pun intended!), especially with the songs from the original?

There was even an unsuccessful petition to pressure Disney to produce the remake based on the original story - and by original, they mean with Aladdin being Chinese, not of Middle-Eastern origin. We're thinking it's almost certain that direction isn't being considered. Instead, we think how Disney handled the relatively recent Broadway adaptation probably has some clues... BUT, it's early days...

Here's a handy Disney versus original comparison of the story of Aladdin. While it would make for fascinating viewing in today's push 'n' pull on inclusivity and equality in Hollywood, we're not sure Disney would be happy to take on all the cans of worms this potentially would contain.

Oh, and officially announced yesterday, Guy Ritchie Wants You To Audition For (the lead/title role in) Aladdin. Ritchie apparently is looking for 'new' actors (ie. not necessarily inexperienced, but unknowns, not stars) for the roles of Aladdin and Jasmine, and singing, at least, has to be part of the package. Good luck folks!

Disney Schedules Fairy Tale Films & the Future Looks Largely... Untitled? (+ an 'in production' update)

So: according to Slate, the Disney planning calendar has been in overdrive the last couple of days and a bunch of fairy tale films have their release dates set. Do we sound excited? Sort of. Why? Let's take a look at the line up:

2017 is looking kinda blank but we had our big fairy tale film release already, remember? Tale as old as...

• Nov. 22: Coco (3D) - folklore. not fairy tale but still...

2018 might be promising

• Aug. 3: Untitled Disney Fairy Tale (Live Action) - yay?
• Nov. 2: Mulan (Live Action) (3D) - this will include some folklore at least
• Dec. 25: Mary Poppins Returns - maybe a little folkloric/fairy tale (we said 'maybe')

2019 looks like a busy year for fairy tales... maybe

• March 29: Untitled Disney Fairy Tale (Live Action) - *crossing fingers*
• July 19: The Lion King (Live Action) (3D) - folklore possibilities (pretty please?)
• Nov. 8: Untitled Disney Fairy Tale (Live Action) - great - we think...
• Nov. 27: Frozen 2 (3D) - right, so probably sort fairy tale.. ish
• Dec. 20: Untitled Disney Fairy Tale (Live Action) - er, okay...

2020 has lots of untitled

• March 13: Untitled Pixar Animation (3D) - possibly, but probably not FT or folklore
• Nov. 25: Gigantic (3D) - Finally! Confirmation of a fairy tale film! YAY!

2021's line-up gives us no idea

• March 12: Untitled Disney Live Action - there's still a bunch of fairy tale projects that could slot in here.. hopefully
• June 18: Untitled Pixar Animation (3D) - probably not fairy tale, but you never know, since it's been a while for them
• Nov. 24: Untitled Disney Animation (3D) - does mostly CG now count as animation? We guess not, so. ugh, no idea on this one

But lets have another look at the fantasy (therefore fairy tale, folklore or FT-adjacent) projects we know are coming. Those in color have a confirmed release date using their title:

LIVE ACTION:

• Genie (Aladdin - with Will Smith starring)
• Cruella (origin story with Emma Stone starring)
• Maleficent II (Sleeping Beauty)
• Peter Pan
• Pinocchio
• The Little Mermaid (Lin-Manuel Miranda signed on. Universal is still working on an HCA-based version too, though it remains plagued by issues & is currently in limbo)
• Dumbo (Tim Burton still directing, with Danny DeVito confirmed & Michael Keaton in talks)
• The Sword in the Stone
• Mulan - November 2, 2018
• Winnie the Pooh
• Tink (Tinkerbell - note: Fox is also working on a Tinkerbell movie, possibly more teen/adult oriented)
• Snow White's Sister Rose Red
• Prince Charming (Cinderella)
• A Wrinkle In Time - March 9, 2018
• Mary Poppins Returns - December 25, 2018
• Jungle Cruise
• The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
• The Jungle Book II
• Night on Bald Mountain (Fantasia)
• Lion King (we're hoping for some folklore this time around!) - July 19, 2019
• Snow White (with La La Land songwriters signed on)
• Disenchanted (aka Enchanted 2 - taking place 10 years after the first story - Amy Adams, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey starring)
• James and the Giant Peach (yes, Disney is redoing Roald Dahl's book as a big live action movie, though they didn't do the animated film. Sam Mendes is directing.)
• Chernabog/ Night on Bald Mountain (Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless listed as writers)

ANIMATION:

• Frozen II - November 27, 2019
• Coco (Dia  de los Muertos) - November 22, 2017
• Giants (Jack and the Beanstalk) - November 25, 2020

Note: King of the Elves is still listed as 'in development' for Disney Feature Animation and is based on a Philip K. Dick short story. The working synopsis goes: A Mississippi man becomes the reluctant ruler of a mythical race of elves after he saves them from a deadly troll. The 'crew' number listed remains about the size of an 'in development' crew, so perhaps this is still in the works, though last we heard it had been shelved. But you never know...

All images are by Disney artist, Lisa Keene and were created by her during development for the first Enchanted movie.

New 'Labyrinth' Movie Officially in the Works [without The Goblin King we know & love]

Brian Froud - concept for Labyrinth

Yes - you read it correctly. There is a new Labyrinth movie in the works  - and it's a sequel, that is, a 'continuation' of the first movie.

Not a remake.

We repeat: This is NOT a remake!

(Phew!)

We can't quite imagine how it's going to work quite as much wonder without our favorite Goblin King (the late, great David Bowie), but we're willing to wait and hope.

Don't Breathe director, Fede Alvarez will co-write the script and be directing. Best of all, Lisa Henson will be producing. (Yay!)

Insiders stress that the new project is not a remake nor a reboot but rather a continuation of the story set in the rich Henson universe. The goblin king will not be represented in the film. (THR)

Did you read that last line properly? The goblin king will not be represented in the film. So... how this will be a sequel, exactly, is yet to be discovered. Lisa Henson being on board means we should be spending a good chunk of time in the Labyrinth - or the Goblin City - at least. (We hope.)

While we can imagine a myriad of interesting stories with this teensy bit of information, none of the ideas come close to matching to The Goblin King in our minds, but what we really want to know is: will Toby Froud be involved again? (Technically, with the Goblin King's passing - doesn't Toby become the Goblin King?) He's become a masterful artist, sculptor and puppeteer in his own right and his touch would be perfect for the film. Not to mention he and his wife Sarah (we know!) have a little Toby, er, #cabbageprince, of their own, though he's older now than Toby was when they made Labyrinth. Ah, possibilities!

Screenwriter, Nicole Perlman, who is not involved in the sequel, but instead wrote some story ideas between 2014 (when the idea for a second movie became a possibility) and January 2016 took to Twitter to clear up some rumors about this in January of LAST year, so this has been in the works for quite some time.

Oh - and a bit of trivia that, considering the director, might be pertinent background for the upcoming movie, did you know that...

The original film was scripted by Monty Python's Terry Jones. Its story was inspired by the Maurice Sendak children's book Outside Over There, which was itself inspired by the real-life kidnapping of aviator Charles Lindbergh's infant son. (Telegraph)

There is currently no release timeline for the movie but filming is scheduled to commence in Fall 2017.

So - basically: 

Is a Labyrinth sequel needed?

No.

Will we watch it?

Yes.

And we will be here as it unfolds...

should you need us.

'The Adventures of Snow White & Rose Red' Amazon TV Series in Development

Looks like this fairy tale series is still in the early stages of production. It's set to debut on Amazon in December 2017.

Here's the blurb and storyline from IMDB:

'The Adventures of Snow White and Rose Red' is a magical live action fairy tale about two girls who live in an enchanted forest and have adventures with their fairy tale friends.

Snow and Rose are secret princess sisters who live in hiding with their surrogate parents, a friendly woodcutter and his wife, in their cottage in the woods. They have many adventures with various fairytale friends, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella. 

And here's the casting call for the film, (on March 18th), which outlines the characters they're looking to include:

Prince Ferdinand 8-13 yrs - Mother 35-50 yrs - Father 40 - 60 yrs - Gnome 6-12 yrs, or little person - Door Mouse 4-7 yrs - March Hair 10-90 yrs - Queen of Hearts 5-10 yrs. OR 30+ yrs - Fairy Queen 16+ yrs - 4 Little Fairies 6 - 12 yrs 4'10 or under with ballet training - Little Red Riding Hood 6 - 10 yrs - Grandma 60+ yrs - Rapunzel 16+ yrs - Wizard 20+ yrs - Cinderella 16 - 30 yrs - Prince 18-30 yrs - 

We will admit we are a little disappointed to find the sisters already princesses, as well as joining an 'Into The Woods'-like cast of popular fairy tale characters. We're also a little disappointed that one of the few positive and strong single parents in fairy tales will now just be part of a nondescript sort of couple.

         

The fairy tale has so much richness on its own it really doesn't need to add 'well known' characters. Just check out the fan-made collages above. You can't help but be intrigued by the image combinations. We're not suggesting family film makers take on Margo Lanagan's critically acclaimed retelling, Tender Morsels, but it's quite an adventure on its own. This fairy tale has been filmed in Europe at least twice - 1955 & 1978 - and dubbed into English, during the lengthy hey day of family fantasy films in Europe, as well a a couple of more recent foreign animated versions.

All you really need to pique interest in this tale is the image of the girls, sisters, letting a talking bear into their cottage in mid-Winter. Between the push for more sibling girl-power stories, thanks to Frozen, and the The Beauty and the Beast links with the 'prince enchanted as bear' there to take advantage of, there's a lot to recommend sticking with this fairy tale's bones, instead of trying to assimilate it into a mash-up.


That said, it's very difficult to judge what it will truly be like from little bits of information. Perhaps the elements we're less keen on really have a much smaller role, and will be used for the traditional fairy tale marketing strategies, a la Once Upon A Time.

Either way, it's interesting to see Amazon delving into this. Clearly they think there's a market for this fairy tale series, which makes us happy! We're looking forward to watching this develop to see which direction it goes.

The Adventures of Snow White and Rose Red is being created by the team at Trident Fantasy Films.

Live Action Fairy Tale Musical 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses' In the Works (& They Just Added Some Broadway Girl Power to the Team)

Yes, it's true - there is a live action Twelve Dancing Princesses movie in the works!

We've been watching the development of this film via Twitter, Facebook and the official website for quite a few months now but things really seem to be ramping up for Prinroc Ltd's fairy tale film, and it's high time we shared its existence with fairy tale folk everywhere!

Here's the official synopsis from the website:

A great mystery shrouds the castle in the Brothers Grimm’s classic fairytale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  Every night the king locks his twelve daughters securely in their chamber, but come morning, their shoes are in tatters and it’s clear they have been up to more than just sleeping in the night! 

At his daughters’ refusal to explain, the king issues a proclamation inviting all the princes from realms far and near to come and unravel the princesses’ secret.  The prize for solving the mystery of the tattered shoes?  The winner may take the princess of his choice in marriage and half the kingdom.  But every prince who comes to test his wits against the clever princesses fails in his quest and is put to death. 

One day, a simple soldier appears on the castle steps and begs permission to take up the challenge and win the hand of a princess.  The king allows it, but this soldier is different from all who have come before him in more than just rank.  He has in his possession a magical cloak, the wise words of a good fairy, and quickly wins the heart of the fairest princess of them all.  Will he succeed in uncovering the twelve sisters closely guarded secret where all others have failed?

Intrigued? Take a look at their trailers - although they're at least a year old, you can see they've put a lot of work into the concept and it's only grown more impressive since then:

"The Twelve Dancing Princesses, will feature 12 young women in major roles," said Coady. "We are looking for diversity among our leads, representing young women of all ethnicities, shapes, and sizes," Coady continues, "This film will be a celebration of strong, supportive women on and off screen." In addition to featuring women in lead roles, producer, Ann Marie Lizzi, and executive producer, Michalina Scorzelli, add to the girl power behind the camera. 

Rachel Resheff

Broadway sweetheart, Rachel Resheff, joins the cast of live action fairy tale musical, THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES! With the recent box office success of Beauty and the Beast, and the trend of girl power fairy tale films breaking box office records, Prinroc Ltd's, THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES is a romantic musical romp with a feminist edge. (BW)

With this impressive team bringing a wealth of filmmaking (and Hollywood) experience to the project between them, we know we're in for something special.  (Take a look at the bios HERE - we guarantee you'll be impressed!)

We applaud the approach, the emphasis on diversity and in empowering women everywhere - both for the audience as represented via the story and film, as well as the team in front of, and behind, the camera.

As news - and the movie - develops, we'll let you know. This is definitely one film to keep tabs on!

'Wicked' the Movie Finally Gets a Release Date (Get Out Your 5 Year Planners Folks, It's a Way Off)

Wicked is about to defy whatever force has kept it bound in development for so long and is getting set to 'fly'. Universal has just confirmed the release date of a movie version of the phenomenally popular Broadway musical. It is, however, a LONG way off, as in years. December 20, 2019 to be exact.

(Note: that date is also booked by Disney for a 'yet-to-be-revealed' live action fairy tale', so development on this, and whatever Disney decides fills their slot will be interesting.)

Though it won't be the animated movie fans have been holding out for, for many years now, the movie does promise to bring all the best aspects of the musical to the big screen.

The Broadway musical was based on Gregory Maguire's book of the same name, which was a revisionist version of The Wizard of Oz, told from the point of view of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. The tone of the book is, however, completely different from the stage play and apart from the themes, has captured people's hearts with the wonderful music and lyrics.

The new movie version will include four, yes, four, new songs, (so yes, it's a musical - how could it not be?) and seeks to cash in on the popularity of a show that's been a hit for fifteen years running, had over five thousand performances around the world, and was the first Broadway show ever to hit the $Billion mark at the box office a couple of years ago.

The film will be directed by Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) and produced by Marc Platt. The screenplay is to be written by the musical's book writer, Winnie Holzman and composer-lyricist, Stephen Schwartz. Both the musical and the film are adapted from Gregory Maguire's best-selling novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. (Variety)

There's no news on the cast as yet, and although fans will be rooting for Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel to reprise their original roles of Glinda and Elphaba respectively, with the story being a coming of age tale, the Producers will almost certainly be (very particularly) choosing younger stars - who can really sing - to bring the roles of twenty-somethings Elphaba and Glinda to life on film.

The movie has a tall order to fill with such high popularity stakes, but, having actually been in the works since 2015, they should have plenty of time to sort out their approach and hit all the right notes, especially as it includes key players from the musical that have kept it so popular.

'Wolfwalkers' Concept Trailer Released (& Funding Puts Film Officially Into Pre-production)

Things are moving along very well for Wolfwalkers right now! Today a concept trailer, as well as a look behind the scenes of the development to date, was released - take a look:

It was also announced that:

Wolfwalkers has received development funding from the Irish Film Board and Creative Europe MEDIA. Cartoon Saloon are currently in the process of pulling co-producers and financiers together to allow full production to begin in early 2018. (IrishFilm)

Wonderful news! If you missed the pitch trailer released very recently and are wondering what this film is about, you can catch up HERE.

This film harks back to the gorgeous stylings of both Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, but adds it's own elements and visual language too.

(Co-directors) Moore and Stewart have spent time developing a graphic language that reinforces the themes and values of their story through the visual design of the film. As seen in scenes from the trailer, the Puritans and English army are rendered in an ascetic woodblock style, while the wolfwalkers and wolves exhibit a freer, more expressive line style. 

“When we see the world from the point of view the wolves, it’s animated in charcoal with a very limited palette and color only where there are scents,” Moore said. “In contrast to the block print style in Kilkenny we have a much looser look to the forest — lots of ink splats and loose watercolors and scribbly pencil lines.” (Cartoon Brew)

The film's story takes place in the 1600's, during the English Civil War, in Kilkenny, Ireland, which makes for a unique research opportunity for the crew, as this is also the location of the studio Cartoon Saloon. The folklore and history of the local area have been wonderfully preserved and getting out and about is a great way for the crew to get to know the town, and the production better. They made a behind-the-scenes film of the crew doing just that. (And you get glimpses of even more folkloric, artistic goodness!)

Tomm Moore, part owner of Cartoon Saloon and director of Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, along with one of the animated short films within The Prophet, has as strong commitment to hand drawn animation, and though, he's open to using technology to enhance production, hand drawn animation will be the medium for this film too.

Drawing isn’t simply a defiant aesthetic choice in our cg times, but integral to how Moore wants to tell his stories. “We are hoping to show how the characters feel with great acting, movement and facial expressions, but also with how they are drawn,” he explained to Cartoon Brew. “As our characters moods and emotions change, the linework can become more expressive.”

Being willing and able to develop a human-driven graphic style that can adapt to the storytelling and characters guarantees a unique look and feel, part of which is 'the human connection behind the pencil', something which audiences today are responding to as strongly as ever.

We know we have a while to wait yet but we'll keep you posted on developments are they happen. We're really looking forward to this one!