(Left) ‘Wish’ co-director Chris Buck. (Right) ‘Wish’ co-director Fawn Veerasunthorn.
Disney Animation Studios gears up for its new feature-length animated movie, timed with the studio’s 100th anniversary. ‘Wish’ is helmed by Chris Buck (‘Frozen II’) and Fawn Veerasunthorn (‘Raya and the Last Dragon’). It’s an original fairy tale with an art style inspired by the looks of classic Disney animated movies and the theming of wishing upon a star.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn after a presentation for ‘Wish’ at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles. The two directors discussed the inspiration behind the upcoming animated feature, how many Easter Eggs they managed to sneak into the film, the influences for some of the musical numbers, and working with Ariana DeBose.
(L to R) Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones, Peter Del Vecho, SVP, Feature Film Production, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Fawn Veerasunthorn and Chris Buck speak for “Wish” at the Long Lead Press Day In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
Moviefone: To begin with, given the title of this film and how much was inspired by the classic Disney message of “When you wish upon a star,” was it always the plan to release this movie timed to the Disney 100th anniversary?
Chris Buck: Yeah. Jen (Lee) had sort of whispered in my ear. We were in the last year of ‘Frozen 2’. She says, “You know 2023 – is just around the corner, we gotta do something special.” We weren’t sure what yet, and so even though we were still finishing up from ‘Frozen 2,’ we pinned up all these stills from each Disney animated movie. I could see on one bulletin board the breadth of all the different styles and all the different years. Everything that Walt (Disney) and beyond had done, what the company had done. So that’s where it started because it wasn’t just the breadth of everything, but then you can see the connection between the movies, and then you can see characters wishing on stars. So then it just became sort of obvious, it’s like this movie has to be about a wish and it has to be wishing on stars.
(L to R) Ariana DeBose as Asha and Alan Tudyk as the pajama-wearing goat, Valentino in “Wish,” which is helmed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn. The feature film releases Fall 2023.
MF: You talked about being inspired by Disney classics like ‘Beauty and the Beast‘ and ‘Pinocchio.’ We definitely saw the inspiration in the film’s artwork. Did you manage to sneak in Easter eggs for all the Disney fans and if so, can you tease any?
Fawn Veerasunthorn: You’ve seen some today. The big musical number where you may have heard a certain deer’s name (‘Bambi‘) in there. And there might have been some bunny who thumps a lot. I know we started from the ground up with aiming for this to be an original fairy tale, right? Part of celebrating the future, and coming up with something new with a contemporary song. Along the way, we just couldn’t help ourselves – being Disney fans, creating movies for Disney fans – that there are these ideas that come up, and we try to be tasteful about it and not that it’s distracting, but if you love Disney movies, when you go to see this film…
CB: …You’ll pick up quite a few. There’ll be some fans who pick out ones that maybe we didn’t even consciously do. I mean, it’s already happened. We have a list. It’s a long list.
MF: One of the scenes that we got to see today is where Asha is the tour guide, and she breaks into a musical number and we know that she’s voiced by Ariana DeBose but Asha’s movement matches the way Ariana moves. How was that achieved? Did you capture her dancing in the studio, or was it from purely watching her dance footage?
VF: For this song, we work with a choreographer from Spain, actually. We talked about Rosas as being a fictional place, but it’s a destination that people come from all over the world, but the main influence is North Africa and Southern Europe. In talking with him, we also wanted to infuse that modern sensibility because with Julian Michael’s writing of these songs, you can’t avoid it. So those aspects came together, and he created the dance reference for us onstage in Spain where we filmed it. Then our animators studied it. We also talked to Ariana about the way she moves and the way she thinks Asha would move and react to those two big factors
CB: They would also record not only for the dialect sessions but also her musical sessions. So when she is singing and acting, you know, she’s moving, and so our animators are looking at that, getting the cues and all that.
MF: Finally, were there any specific sequences, numbers or characters that were a bit challenging for you in the making of this film?
CB: They all have their own challenges. Sometimes what you think is going to be a very simple one could be deceiving. I mean, they’re all a challenge, they are all so exciting to play with and to do new things. But I don’t think there’s ever a formula that you say, ‘It’s gonna be easy.”
VF: They come with their own sets of joy and challenges.
rjoC2SsUUplDR32NluOcZ7
What Is The Plot Of ‘Wish’?
Set in the magical kingdom of Rosas, the story introduces Asha (Ariana DeBose), an optimist with a sharp wit who deeply cares about her community. When Asha turns to the sky in a moment of need and makes a wish, her plea is answered by a cosmic force — a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, they face the most formidable of foes to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.
‘Once Upon A Studio’ at the Long Lead Press Day; In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
Disney Animation Studios is releasing a special short for its centennial anniversary. ‘Once Upon A Studio’ makes its debut on ABC on October 15 and is filled with an all-star cast of characters from past and recent Disney animated movies.
During the long lead day presentation at the El Capitan Theater, Moviefone had the pleasure of screening the short film in its entirety. ‘Once Upon A Studio’ features 543 characters from over 85 feature films and short films in all-new hand-drawn and CG animation. Written and directed by Dan Abraham (‘Encanto’) and Trent Correy (‘Frozen II’) and produced by Yvett Merino and Bradford Simonsen.
What is the plot of ‘Once Upon A Studio?’
(L to R) Dan Abraham and Trent Correy speak onstage for ‘Once Upon A Studio’ at the Long Lead Press Day; In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
Directors Dan Abraham and Trent Correy call the short film a “love letter to Disney animation”. Set inside the Disney Animation Building, once all the animators have left work for the day, iconic Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse leap out of their respective paintings, calling out to others to do the same as they prepare for a group photo in celebration of Disney’s 100th anniversary. Heroes, villains, princesses, princes, and sidekicks all gather to celebrate the 100th anniversary.
For any original voice actors who are no longer with us, the filmmakers pulled sound bites from the original films or used sound-alike to fill the role. When asked whether AI was used to recreate the voices of any of the characters, Trent Correy says, “There was no AI in the making of this short.”
The filmmaker goes on to explain the process of how they got each character to sound exactly like the original.
Trent Correy: We were so lucky that everyone we reached out to that’s still with us came back. And then we wanted to infuse the short with some of the nostalgic voices.
Dan Abraham: And you know, some of the folks have passed on, right? So, we got our best soundalikes that we possibly could.
Correy and Abraham realized they would only have seconds with each character when they appeared on screen, and it was important for them to look and sound exactly as everyone remembered them. Producer Yvett Merino chimes in, “And there are some lines in there that are actually taken from the original film. So, whenever the line was exactly the same from the original film that it came from, we picked that line out.” This was the case for Genie’s line in the short, portrayed by the late Robin Williams.
Dan Abraham: There were a couple moments. Like, I really wanted Cliff Edwards for Jiminy Cricket at the end. I didn’t want to get a soundalike. So, they had to strip away the music from his original recording digitally. Some scientist masterminds were able to figure that out. And yeah, so we got Cliff Edwards in there, which was important to us.
Trent Correy: And the thinking behind that was sometimes you only have three seconds with these characters, so they need to look, feel, and sound exactly how you remember them, so it brings you back to that moment.
The Disney Legends
(L to R) Brad Simonsen, Yvett Merino, Dan Abraham and Trent Correy speak onstage for ‘Once Upon A Studio’ at the Long Lead Press Day; In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
‘Once Upon A Studio’ is more than just paying tribute to the characters from classic Disney films. It’s also about the people who worked on them and had a hand in creating Disney magic. Abraham and Correy made sure to incorporate Disney legends such as Burny Mattinson, who appears at the beginning of the short.
Burny Mattinson was an animator, director, producer, and story artist for Disney. Employed since 1953, Mattinson was with the company for over 70 years, making him Disney’s longest employee. His work can be seen in films such as ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’, ‘The Jungle Book’, and many more. It was important to the filmmakers to have a legend such as Mattinson a part of the short. Seeing him walking shoulder-to-shoulder with a Disney intern at the beginning of the film symbolizes the tradition at Disney of passing the torch from generation to generation.
Another Disney Legend included in the short is composer and songwriter Richard Sherman. Sherman is known for his work in films such as ‘Mary Poppins’, where he won an Academy Award for the song “Chim Chim Cher-ee”. Sherman doesn’t make a cameo in the short; however, viewers can look forward to hearing him play “Feed The Birds”. This was newly recorded for the short, and it was done inside Walt’s office, just like how Sherman used to play for Walt in the past.
What Else Is There To Know About ‘Once Upon A Studio?’
(L to R) Dan Abraham and Trent Correy speak onstage for ‘Once Upon A Studio’ at the Long Lead Press Day In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
The first version of the short was about 12 to 13 minutes long.
The original animator for Aladdin’s Genie, Eric Goldberg, worked on this project as Head of hand-drawn animation.
All animations seen in the short are brand new. The hand-drawn characters remained hand-drawn, and the CG characters were created by CG animation.
Upon hearing Abraham and Correy’s pitch for ‘Once Upon A Studio’, Jennifer Lee burst into tears, “I don’t know how, but we need to make this.”
The score for the short is fully new, recorded by Dave Metzger.
The short film is about 8 and a half minutes long.
Where Can I Watch ‘Once Upon A Studio?’
(L to R) Dan Abraham and Trent Correy speak onstage for ‘Once Upon A Studio’ at the Long Lead Press Day; In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
‘Once Upon A Studio’ will debut on ABC on October 15 as a part of ‘The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration.” The short will arrive on Disney+ on October 16. It will also be shown ahead of Disney’ ‘Wish” on November 22.
(L to R) Brad Simonsen, Yvett Merino, Dan Abraham and Trent Correy speak onstage for ‘Once Upon A Studio’ at the Long Lead Press Day; In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
The upcoming animated feature ‘Wish’ will be in theaters on November 22, 2023, with a brand new trailer debuting this week. Moviefone was invited to the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood to preview brand-new footage and meet directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn and Disney Animation Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee.
Timed with Disney’s 100th anniversary, the Walt Disney Animation Studio’s ‘Wish’ is an all-new musical action-adventure set in the Kingdom of Rosas. Co-written by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore, the story follows 17-year-old Asha (Ariana DeBose), who makes a wish upon a bright star in the sky. Her wish is so powerful it brings the cosmic Star to life, and along with her goat sidekick Valentino (Alan Tudyk), they will confront the Kingdom’s ruler – King Magnifico (Chris Pine) in order to save the people of Rosas and their wishes.
The marquee is seen at the Long Lead Press Day & In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
Upon entering the lobby of the theater, there was a life-sized display of Asha and Valentino sitting on a tree branch with a starlit sky behind them. Downstairs housed artwork from the film, as well as original art from the animation research library of background and layouts from classic films like ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ ‘Pinocchio,’ ‘Snow White,’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ The filmmakers used those backgrounds as a reference for color and lighting in the movie.
Displays and signage are seen during the Long Lead Press Day & In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
During the presentation at the El Capitan Theater, Moviefone had the pleasure of screening almost 30 minutes of never-before-seen scenes and footage from ‘Wish’, including a few musical numbers. First, we’re shown a montage of various Disney characters wishing upon a star, as the movie is all about wishes and dreams – a constant staple throughout Disney animated films.
‘Wish’ producers Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones (‘Encanto’) and Peter Del Vecho (‘Frozen’, ‘Frozen II’) introduce the new trailer, which you can watch above, where we learn the ruler of Rosas – King Magnifico, has the power to grant wishes. Unfortunately, not all wishes are granted, and when Asha finds out, she is disheartened. In a moment of despair, Asha makes her wish upon the brightest star in the sky, and because her wish was so strong and true from the heart, it manifested the cosmic being in the form of Star, a non-verbal ball of energy with magical powers. Later, Asha is deemed a traitor by King Magnifico. The trailer also includes musical numbers such as ‘This Wish’ and shows fun and energetic scenes such as Valentino dancing with a barn full of chickens.
The next scene shown was a musical number, where we see Asha working as a tour guide in the Kingdom of Rosas. She’s late to meet her tour group, but once she arrives, she leads the group through the kingdom with a ton of energy, relaying history and fun facts about the kingdom with a lively tune. The scene also shows how much the people love King Magnifico and his good looks as they fawn over his statue in the square. The scene ends in a grand dance number with Asha and the townspeople.
The third scene is of Asha as she prepares for her apprentice interview with King Magnifico. Queen Amaya has set up the appointment for her, feeling she would be perfect for the position. In the scene, we enter King Magnifico’s room, where a large tapestry hangs from the wall. One corner of the tapestry is burnt. Before King Magnifico enters, Asha sees a spellbook locked behind a glass case. Curious, she places her fingers on one of the glass etchings. To her surprise, they come to life as dragonflies buzzing around her. King Magnifico enters and uses his magic to return the dragonflies to the glass. As they continue to talk, King Magnifico reveals that he remembers Asha’s father before he passed away, and they connect over their history of loss and grief as he lost his family as well. We also find out that only citizens who are 18 or older can make a wish at the Wishing Ceremony.
The fourth scene lasts about 18 minutes and includes a musical number. King Magnifico shows Asha the magical Inner Sanctum, where all the wishes are stored. Asha breaks into song as she takes in the glory of everyone’s unique wish. Some wishes are simple, while some inventive or courageous. Asha realizes wishes aren’t just ideas but a part of one’s heart – the most beautiful part – and is filled with a sense of purpose.
It is here Asha finds out that not all the wishes are granted. Ungranted wishes are kept inside the sanctum, and the citizens who gave their wishes to King Magnifico will not remember what they wished for. Asha disagrees with the King’s method, and this makes him angry. In retaliation, he tells Asha he will not be granting her grandfather’s wish at the Wishing Ceremony and rejects Asha’s application as his apprentice.
(L to R) Ariana DeBose as Asha and Alan Tudyk as the pajama-wearing goat, Valentino in “Wish,” which is helmed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn. The feature film releases Fall 2023.
The scene continues with Asha back home with her grandfather and mom. She tells him that his wish would not be granted and how many wishes are kept ungranted inside the Inner Sanctum. Asha wants to tell her grandfather his wish, but he refuses to hear it and gets upset with her. Hurt by his reaction, Asha leaves the house and heads towards the tree she used to climb with her father. This is where Asha breaks into her song ‘This Wish’. As she walks past the townspeople, she can see their long-forgotten wishes. Once she’s at the tree, she looks upon the brightest star in the sky and makes her wish.
After Asha’s wish, the star in the sky grows even brighter, illuminating the sky and forest in a burst of magic. This catches the attention of the citizens of Rosas and Queen Amaya. Inside the Inner Sanctum, the bulbs of wishes react to the magic. This alerts King Magnifico, who tells Queen Amaya someone is threatening him.
Back in the forest, Star has taken shape and grants Valentino’s wish by sprinkling stardust on him. Soon, Valentino was able to speak. The wish granting doesn’t stop there. Star floats around to a troop of mushrooms, wildflowers, and various woodland creatures who all gain the ability to speak. The animals and plants begin an upbeat song about how they all share a common dream and wish as more animals and plant life come to life, dancing, and singing.
The final footage is where Asha, Valentino, and Star attempt to sneak into the Inner Sanctum to retrieve her grandfather’s wish. At the same time, threatened by Star’s magic, King Magnifico tells the citizens of Rosas about a traitor who practices illegal magic in the kingdom. However, the citizens have begun raising the question of why they can’t remember their wishes.
Seeing this, King Magnifico announces to the kingdom he will grant the wish of the one who can turn in the traitor. King Magnifico breaks into ‘This Is the Thanks I Get’, a song and rap about being unappreciated by his people after all he’s done for them. His reflection is used throughout the number, hinting at his narcissistic personality and ego. As Asha, Valentino, and Star sneak around the Inner Sanctum, a desperate King Magnifico opens the spell book as green-colored magic comes off the pages, and his eyes light up the same color. The floor to the Inner Sanctum opens, revealing winding stone stairs leading to a secret underground chamber. By the end of the song, King Magnifico’s polished and charming demeanor is gone, and he seems more unhinged.
From all the footage shown, ‘Wish’ is shaping up to be a grand story with a ton of fantastic musical numbers. Visually, the animation style is reminiscent of classic Disney hand-drawn 2D animation. Ariana DeBose is perfect as Asha in how she portrays both hopefulness and vulnerability in the character and her incredible vocal performances. Valentino and Star will undoubtedly be scene stealers, and Chris Pine’s King Magnifico will be a very fun villain to watch.
(L to R) Peter Del Vecho, SVP, Feature Film Production, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Fawn Veerasunthorn, Jennifer Lee, CCO, Disney Animation Studios, Chris Buck and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones at the Long Lead Press Day & In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
Following the footage, a Q&A took place with directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, Chief Creative Officer and Executive Producer Jennifer Lee (who co-wrote the story), and producers Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones.
The conversation of ‘Wish’ started back in 2018 between Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee as they knew they wanted to do something big for Disney’s 100th anniversary.
The film’s overall look was inspired by Buck and Veerasunthorn’s love for classic Disney movies such as ‘Sleeping Beauty’, the main legacy film ‘Wish’ is influenced by. In order to achieve the hand-drawn watercolor look with CG, the directors relied on new technology and a team of artists, technicians, and software writers. Director Chris Buck mentions they also utilized Disney short films as a way to experiment with technology:
“We’ve been doing things where you do incorporate a bit of the hand-drawn into some of the shorts that we’ve done. You get a little bit line around the character, but sometimes the characters are still animated in CG. But again, it’s starting to do what we’ve also been loving to do, and that sort of embracing our legacy, along with moving towards the future. So, I think it’s that hand-drawn look, and computer. It is very hard to describe”
Jennifer Lee, CCO, Disney Animation Studios, speaks onstage at the Long Lead Press Day & In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
Jennifer Lee adds:
“This achievement has meant a lot to us because it’s getting their vision, actually finally having technology and artistry meet in a way that they see eye-to-eye instead of having to compromise. And I think it’s part of why it’s been so hard, because it’s not just about ‘Oh, we can add this and this,’ it’s about what’s the end result we want. And it’s that sense of art.”
Fawn Veerasunthorn chimes in on the topic of blending CG and 2D art together:
“And what I love is that it brings our CG artists and 2D artists together. Because, you know, animators will call and ask for advice about ‘how do you put the lines on the face of a character to accentuate the emotion?’ and they studied that. The effects crew went to the animation research library, where you have seen some of the artwork today. And they study how the effects, the graphic shapes of it was translated into our CG process. And the artists have expressed that this is a wonderful thing that it brought them together, that there’s no longer a boundary between 2D and CG”
As for the music of ‘Wish,’ the team brought in Grammy-nominated songwriter Julia Michaels, producer Benjamin Rice (‘A Star Is Born’), and composer Dave Metzger for the score. At 29 years old, Michaels is the youngest person to write songs for Disney, having written artists such as Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, Pink, and Selena Gomez, her style brings a contemporary sound to the mix.
(L to R) Peter Del Vecho, SVP, Feature Film Production, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Fawn Veerasunthorn, Jennifer Lee, CCO, Disney Animation Studios, Chris Buck and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones speak onstage for ‘Wish’ at the Long Lead Press Day & In-Person Presentation for ‘Wish’ at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 2023. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.
Talking about Ahsa’s song ‘This Wish’, Fawn Veerasunthorn says:
“And that song was actually the very first song that Julia wrote for this film. We didn’t quite have a whole story at that point.
“We hadn’t written a script yet, even,” adds Jennifer Lee.
Veerasunthorn continues,
“That’s what’s fascinating about it. We gave her some of the brief storyline, and then she wrote that incredible song. And that’s what inspired us so much, of like, there’s this girl who didn’t know where to turn and she looked up the star and poured her heart out, and magical things happened.”
Jennifer Lee points out how well Michaels understood Asha’s character:
“What I love is the rawness of, [Asha] doesn’t even know exactly what she’s asking for. She’s looking for help, but there’s a generosity in her. You know, people tease ‘Oh teenagers only care about themselves,’ I’m like, ‘Well, they don’t.’ They just have the courage to ask for a better world. So, she is so vulnerable in that. And Julia caught all of that and gave back us something more inspired than what we were even thinking about. And it has been a true north for us the whole time.”
Chris Buck adds:
“She understood Asha so well from the very beginning. And so that was great having her as a songwriter. She not only had love for the classics, all the Disney songs, but again, being younger also embraces the more contemporary side, too.”
The filmmakers talk about working with Ariana DeBose and how much of her physicality was integrated into the character. Chris Buck explains that DeBose is very active within the booth:
“A lot. She’s very, very active within the booth (laughs). Sometimes maybe a little too much, because the sound engineer is like, ‘Ariana, can you move back on the mic a little bit?’ But you know, she’s acting it all out. And yes, we record all of it. The animators, all the way down to the mouth shapes, eye shapes, anything that she’s done. She’s so expressive, and she’s so much fun to work with. She gives you a lot of, you know, a lot of taste.”
Producer Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones remembers when DeBose came to the studio to speak with the animators, “It was really cool to see her interaction. She’s just so unique and she is unafraid to be herself. And the animators really reacted to that.”
Jennifer Lee talks about the inspiration for the film’s villain, King Magnifico.
“First, we started with what do we think about for villains that we’d love to do. Because how do we be different from the previous films, but also a nod to them. And it really is about getting to watch that journey. So we knew we wanted to start where you get to watch him make choices where you might meet the best of him, and then hopefully, survive the worst of him.”
Songwriter Julia Michaels was instrumental in fleshing out the character of King Magnifico, says Lee
“Julie Michaels was instrumental because [the song] ‘This Is the Thanks I Get’ as an idea, which hilariously, is a nod to all moms put up with in the house. We talked a lot about that, for her, that she hooked onto the idea of a narcissist. So, it comes really simple, down to character and the deliciousness and danger of that. And so, for me, when I write, that’s how I had to process is, from inside out. And the person, the charm of that, when tested, people make different choices when tested.”
The filmmakers went through many iterations of Star, and Jennifer Lee touches on why it’s one of the most critical characters in the movie.
“We did many iterations of Star. Star can’t make this wish happen for you. You have to do it. But Star represents the thing that was critical to Walt [Disney], that you need. You need hope. You need possibility. Doesn’t hurt to have some wonder. Don’t forget some joy. All the things that we grab onto that keep us going. So, it helped us because in building Star, this sense of, Star always reminds you to keep going and possibility. And yes, gets to add a little bit of magic. It’s this, trying to capture the simplicity of one person’s journey through Asha. But the emotional story of what Walt cared about built through Star.”
‘Wish’ will arrive in theaters on November 22, 2023. Directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn. It is co-written by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore, and produced by Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones.
Even as it continues its habit of shifting some movies (such as the upcoming ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’) to Disney+ as a lure for subscribers, Disney is still seeing big box office for its major releases (if a little lower for, say, recent Marvel and Pixar movies).
So, the company –– which of course boasts those two big franchises plus Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight under its giant banner –– is expectedly touting the huge success of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ and pointing to all the films it has headed our way this year.
Tony Chambers, the company’s head of theatrical distribution led the presentation, highlighting the fact that this year marks the first time since 2019 that they are releasing movies from all seven labels.
The show kicked off with a new clip from a certain incoming Marvel release…
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’
Marvel Studio’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3.’ Photo courtesy of Marvel.com.
And the mention of ‘Guardians’ was understandably small given that the movie will be in theaters next week (May 5th, to be exact), with just a new clip shown to the audience at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The footage features Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and the different version of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) we met in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ on a planet in space suits. “I know you don’t remember any of it. You were everything to me, I miss you so much.,” he tells her, pouring out his heart. The funny kicks in with the rest of the gang –– Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) –– revealed to be listening to Peter’s expression of love.
The focus on Marvel continued with the recently released trailer for ‘The Marvels’, though that of course had already been seen. Expect more from that one and other MCU titles when Comic-Con rolls around this summer.
Following that, it was on to Disney’s main animated arm…
Disney Feature Animation has the original fantasy film ‘Wish‘ headed our way later this year. Though the movie was originally announced at last year’s D23, Disney has been drip-feeding information ever since, and CinemaCon is no exception.
The movie, which is also a musical comedy, introduces Asha (Ariana DeBose), a sharp-witted idealist who makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force — a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star set out to prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen. All with the help of Asha’s goat pal Valentino (voiced by current animation lucky charm Alan Tudyk).
A clip was shown, featuring DeBose’s character singing one of her featured tunes, ‘So I Made This Wish’ –– aka the ‘I Want’ song so traditional to Disney princesses with some beautiful sky and scenery around that elicited applause from the crowd.
kHmg8bMt
And Chambers also announced that Chris Pine is part of the voice cast, playing King Magnifico, the ruler of Rosas, a magical kingdom where wishes really do come true.
Said Jennifer Lee, DWA boss and co-writer of the movie about Pine in a press release from the studio,
“As the most powerful person in the kingdom, King Magnifico needed to be played by someone who could give all the charm, cleverness and charisma to this magnanimous character, and Chris is beautifully bringing all of that and then some.”
‘Wish’, directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, will be in theaters on November 22nd, filling the traditional Disney Thanksgiving slot.
Melissa McCarthy arrived on stage to talk up Rob Marshall’s live action/CG re-imagining of the fairy tale so famously brought to animated life by Disney in 1989. While Halle Bailey plays the titular Ariel, McCarthy is scheming sea witch Ursula.
Here’s what McCarthy had to say about her character.
“Did someone say my name… I had something in my throat. It was an honor to play one of Disney’s most delicious and iconic villains. You can’t help but love her. Ursula is everything — she’s dishy, she’s a conniving broad, maybe that’s why I relate to her.”
McCarthy cued up a new clip from the movie, which fittingly featured her character in the sequence where Ursula grants Ariel’s wish to become a human, and Ursula’s song ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’.
Despite the less-than-stellar results from ‘Lightyear’, Disney continues to see Pixar as a pillar of its schedule, and demonstrated that belief with 20 minutes of impressive, 3D footage from the upcoming ‘Elemental’.
As for the story, it transports us to Element City, where a host of elements live and work. The trailer showcases each element — air, earth, water and fire — and what sets them apart according to Ember Lumen (Lewis), a quick-witted and fiery woman who’s always stayed close to home in Firetown. She finally ventures out of her comfort zone to explore and meets go-with-the-flow water guy Wade Ripple (Athie). Elements are not supposed to mix, but Ember and Wade forge a connection – one that could cause problems for them and their families.
‘Elemental’ will close out this year’s Cannes Film Festival before arriving in theaters on June 16th.
The movie follows the American Samoa soccer team, infamous for their brutal 31-0 FIFA loss in 2001. With the World Cup Qualifiers approaching, the team hires down-on-his-luck, maverick coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) hoping he will turn the world’s worst soccer team around. The underdog comedy heads to theaters November 17th, and you can watch the trailer below.
Kenneth Branagh’s latest Agatha Christie adaptation sees his Hercule Poirot headed to the floating city, where there are terrifying goings-on.
A first trailer was shown for the movie, which unlike most of the other footage shown today, has gone online.
5LDGhHdt
This time, a disconsolate Poirot finds himself at a Halloween party in one of the city’s creepier palazzos during a thunderstorm and, as it turns out, a seance. This palazzo is an orphanage, you see, and like all orphanages in ghost stories it’s got a deep, dark secret. A mother searching for a lost child thinks she can make contact through a medium, and over the course of an evening secrets start to unravel.
As was the case with Branagh-Poirot’s last two cases, the cast is stacked: Michelle Yeoh –– or, to give her her full title, Best Actress Oscar-winner and all-round goddess Michelle Yeoh –– will be that medium, Joyce Reynolds, and the cast also includes Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Camille Cottin and Jude Hill, who played the nine-year-old lead in Branagh’s ‘Belfast’.
Next was the first look footage and trailer for 20th Century Studios’ ‘The Creator’, the new sci-fi thriller from ‘Godzilla’ director Gareth Edwards.
Retitled from ‘True Love’, the movie finds humans facing off against robots.
In the trailer shown to audiences, John David Washington is reflecting on heaven with his wife and daughter. The daughter is an android, with a half-head. Gorgeous battle scenes akin to Edwards’ ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘ see spaceship fighters attacking tropical locales. It looks astonishing and will hopefully arrive online before too long.
‘The Creator’ will land in theaters on September 29th.
Chambers closed out the presentation by introducing a video greeting from Indy himself –– AKA Harrison Ford, who praised the latest movie and cued up an action-packed clip.
The sneak peek showed Indiana Jones and his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) bickering with each other as they dodge gunfire and slow-moving camels in a bazaar in Tangier. As an army of mooks chases them, they chase after the Nazi Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), who has the Dial in his possession. But Helena and Indy don’t seem to be on the same page when it comes to the dial. Helena is engaged to an unscrupulous man who wants the dial to make a fortune, and she has her own reasons for wanting to make the sale. Indy wants the dial because, presumably, it belongs in a museum.
And while Helena has the most death-defying moment in the scene as she jumps onto Jurgen’s car, Indy isn’t taking it easy as he drives a small cart through narrow streets and reaches out to grab the dial without getting shot by Jurgen’s right-hand man, Klaber, played by Boyd Holbrook.
The clip got a rousing reaction from theater owners, and ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘ is headed to Cannes before landing in theaters on June 30th.
PJpnUFWr6IUm179ciHgZl5
And that was it for the main presentation, though the company had one final treat up its sleeve –– a screening of new Stephen King adaptation ‘The Boogeyman’. That one will be scaring audiences in theaters from June 2nd.
The trailer for Pixar’s new movie ‘Elemental’ dropped today, (which you can watch above), and Moviefone had the pleasure of traveling to Pixar Studios in Emeryville, California to meet director Peter Sohn and screen some exclusive scenes from the new movie!
What is the plot of ‘Elemental?’
Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental” is an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where fire, water, land and air residents live together. The story introduces Ember (Leah Lewis), a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade (Mamoudou Athie) challenges her beliefs about the world they live in.
Moviefone had the pleasure of screening four never-before-seen scenes from ‘Elemental.’ Director Peter Sohn explained that some of the shots were just finalized days before the screening.
The first scene we screened was the opening on the movie. It begins with Ember (Lewis) as a small child arriving in Element City for the first time with her parents, Bernie (del Carmen) and Cinder (Ommi). What follows is a montage of Ember’s childhood as her family opens a “coffee shop,” they become an important part of the fire community and Ember learns to control her fiery temper.
The scene continues to present day, where Ember is still trying to control her temper, and her mother warns her that “Elements don’t mix.” When Ember’s father puts her temper to the test by letting her be in charge of their red dot sale, she loses her temper causing the water pipes to break and putting her parent’s store in jeopardy.
The flooding in their basement brings an uninvited guest in the form of Wade, an easygoing water-based being who works for the city’s health department. While the two have an instant attraction, Wade is forced to write up Ember and her family’s business for their violations.
The second scene involves Ember finding Wade to ask him not to report her family to his boss, a wind-creature known as Gail (McLendon-Covey). The two eventually go to a sporting event to find Gail, and this scene was shown to us in 3D. The sport they are attending is a version of basketball meets Quidditch that is played in the air by the gaseous creatures that reside in Element City. Gail is an obsessive fan and his too enthralled in the game to give Ember any attention. The scene ends with Ember in danger when the water-based creatures decide to start the wave to cheer on their team, which in this world is an actual tidal wave in the crowd that the fans create.
The third scene was a montage of Ember and Wade’s romance, which includes them walking around Element City, seeing the movie ‘Tide & Prejudice,’ having their photo taken together, Ember walking on minerals to change the colors for Wade, and Wade creating a rainbow for Ember.
The final sequence was like a scene from ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,’ when Wade takes Ember home to meet his affluent mother and family. They live in a luxury apartment building that is flowing with water everywhere, which makes it more than difficult for Ember to enter. Wade’s mother, Brook (O’Hara), is extremely welcoming to Ember, which makes Wade cry … a lot. We are also introduced to Wade’s little brothers, Marco and Polo.
The footage was impressive, both in 3D and the traditional format, and the animation looked unlike anything we’ve seen from Pixar before, actually making elements like fire and water come alive in a believable way. The story is also very cute, using a basic ‘Romeo and Juliet’ plot to tell a modern story about different cultures coming together to live in one community. Element City may also remind some Disney fans of ‘Zootopia,’ while the idea of bringing elements to life may remind some of the way emotions were brought to life in ‘Inside Out.’
Director Peter Sohn at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. Photo by Deborah Coleman/Pixar.
What Director Peter Sohn had to say about ‘Elemental?’
After screening the footage, we had a chance to meet director Peter Sohn and he began by talking about the very personal inspiration he had for this movie.
“I thought I would share where this idea of ‘Elemental’ came from. It’s really a mix of three very personal parts of my life. The first one is my parents. My parents came here from Korea in the late ’60s, early ’70s, to New York, and they didn’t have a lot of money. They had no family. They didn’t speak any English, but they managed to create a beautiful life in the Bronx. My dad owned a grocery store. I have so many memories of growing up in this shop and all my dad’s customers came from everywhere. Like my parents, they left their homes to come to a new land and they all were mixing into beautiful little neighborhoods with their cultures and their languages. So from that, came this idea of beautiful little neighborhoods.”
The director also talked about how he took his family’s story and combined it with elements from the periodic table.
“When I saw the periodic table of elements when I was a kid, all I thought about was that these were apartment complexes and they all lived next to each other. Platinum lives next to gold, but be careful of mercury because they have toxic relationships. Stories of what these elements were doing in their apartments were just mixing around in my head.”
Finally, the director revealed where the third part of his inspiration for the film came from.
“Then the last little piece was my wife, and this experience of marrying someone that wasn’t Korean, or was a non-Korean woman. Because growing up, my grandmother’s dying words were, “Marry a Korean.” You saw a little bit of that in the footage. That comes from a real place and it created all these sort of culture clashes growing up.”
But Sohn explained that even with this inspiration, he didn’t have the story until he came up with the romance between Ember and Wade.
“But even with these key pieces in place, we could go anywhere. The possibilities were endless. But until we came up with the idea of opposites attracting, fire and water, we didn’t have a clear focus of the film. Once that was our north star, we could adjust the characters and the obstacles that could happen to them. So with these three key inspirations and our guiding light of opposites attracting, the stories started to come together. I wanted to tell a story for everyone who’s ever made a sacrifice or taken a risk and set it in the hustle and bustle of a crazy city.”
Disney and Pixar’s all-new theatrical short ‘Carl’s Date’ to release in front of ‘Elemental’ on June 16, 2023.
Will There be a Theatrical Short Released with ‘Elemental?’
Yes! Disney is bringing back their theatrical shorts that screen before their animated movies beginning with the release of ‘Elementals.’ The new short is entitled ‘Carl’s Date,’ and features characters from Pixar’s Oscar nominated ‘Up.’
In the new short, Carl Fredrickson (voiced by the late Ed Asner) and his dog Dug (voiced by Bob Peterson) return as Carl reluctantly agrees to go on a date with a new lady friend, but admittedly with no idea how dating works these days. Ever the helpful friend, Dug steps in to calm Carl’s pre-date jitters and offer some tried-and-true tips for making friends, if you’re a dog. The short was written and directed by Bob Peterson and is a must-see for any ‘Up’ fans.
A ‘Toy Story’ sequel was recently announced by Disney CEO Bob Iger during the Q1 earnings call, along with ‘Frozen’ and ‘Zootopia’. “We’ll have more to share about these productions soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises”. This will mark the fifth installment for the Pixar franchise, the third for ‘Frozen,’ and the second for ‘Zootopia.’
Shortly after the announcement, actor Tim Allen took to his personal Twitter account to express his excitement and hinted at the reunion with Tom Hanks:
“See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity. And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond!”
LVtVSAMf6fPaxFZoLA9OL3
Allen originated the voice of the space commander action figure in 1995 alongside actor Tom Hanks, who plays Woody. Since then, Allen has been a part of every ‘Toy Story’ sequel except for ‘Lightyear’, the origin story of how the Buzz Lightyear toy came to be.
‘Lightyear’ cast Chris Evans to voice the title character, mainly because that Buzz isn’t exactly the same Buzz that we know in ‘Toy Story.’ Spoilers ahead, so you’ve been warned. ‘Lightyear’ is about space ranger Buzz Lightyear who is trying to find his way home after being lost in space travel and his adventure along the way. The “fictional” movie is the movie that Andy saw as a child, and that movie inspired the toy version of the Buzz Lightyear we see in ‘Toy Story.’
The movie opened domestically at $50.5 million and has grossed $226.4 million worldwide. Many fans were disappointed that Allen was not cast as the voice for Buzz in ‘Lightyear’. The actor finally broke his silence on the topic in an interview with Extra:
“The short answer is I’ve stayed out of this ’cause it has nothing to do (with my Buzz Lightyear).”
The first ‘Toy Story’ opened in November 1995 to $223.2 million. It was the first feature film by Pixar, and also the first film to use computer animation entirely. The toys belonged to Andy, a boy who loved playing with his toys but especially Woody – a pull-string cowboy (voiced by Tom Hanks). When new toy Buzz Lightyear was introduced to the group, chaos ensued because Buzz did not believe he was a toy but in fact, a real Space Ranger. Being the new toy with all the bells and whistles, Buzz got a lot of attention from Andy and fellow toys making Woody jealous.
‘Toy Story’ received three Academy Award nominations including Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song, and Best Original Score. The film was a hit across the board and today, it remains at a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The follow-up ‘Toy Story’ films continue to receive praise and win awards, including Academy Awards for ‘Toy Story 3‘ (Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song).
No word yet on who else will return to ‘Toy Story 5‘ or when the film will begin production.
See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity. And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond! pic.twitter.com/bwRzE487Vi
The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Searcher Clade, a former explorer that discovered the rare substance used to power the land of Avalonia. His father, the famous explorer Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) went missing years ago, and Searcher now lives a simple life as a farmer with his wife Meridian (Gabrielle Union) and his son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), who desperately wants to be an explorer like his grandfather.
But when Searcher discovers that something is destroying the power source, he and his family join an expedition with Avalonia President Callisto Mai (Lucy Liu) to journey to the Strange World, where they eventually reunite with the missing Jaeger.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jake Gyllenhaal and Gabrielle Union about their work on ‘Strange World,’ the story, their characters, and why you should see it in a theater!
(L to R) Voices of Lucy Liu, Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jaboukie Young-White, and Gabrielle Union in Disney’s ‘Strange World.’
You can read the full interview below with Jake Gyllenhaal and Gabrielle Union or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Gyllenhaal, Union, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, co-writers and co-directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen.
Moviefone: To begin with, what would you both say to moviegoers getting ready to sit down and watch ‘Strange World’ on the big screen?
Jake Gyllenhaal: How is the popcorn? What would I say? That feeling of being in a movie theater, there’s nothing like it. You finally got there, and this movie’s going to be so fun. That’s what I think.
Gabrielle Union: Oh, strap in. This is an action-adventure family movie that is fun for the whole family. It’s all about three different generations of the same family, giving themselves permission to take different paths through life, while at the same time each trying to center their own individual passions, hopes, and dreams, and coming to the realization that no matter what route you take, it’s perfect for you. We should all celebrate that.
But there is an amazing action adventure and a beautiful, wild, strange world that we are not going to tell you anything more about. Don’t forget to validate and get the extra butter.
MF: Jake, can you talk about the father/son themes of the movie and how Searcher comes to terms with both his relationship with his father Jaeger, and his son Ethan?
JG: Yeah, searcher is estranged from his father really, because his father is an adventurer, and he never wanted to be an adventurer, but his father was desperate for him to be that. He became a farmer instead. Searcher hopes that his son is a farmer too and discovers pretty early on that it’s not what his son wants to do.
(L to R) Voices of Lucy Liu, Jaboukie Young-White, Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, and Gabrielle Union in Disney’s ‘Strange World.’
So, he’s left in the same position that he was with his father. He’s stuck between these two worlds. In a lot of ways, the movie’s not just about this strange world that they’re actually in, but also the strange world that each one of them separately is in.
They have to come together and join forces to be in the same world, to save the world that they’re in. I love that about the movie. That, to me, was also the thing that moved me so much about it. It gets me emotional when I think about it and did from the very first time I was pitched the story.
MF: Finally, Gabrielle, can you talk about how your character’s piloting skills help her husband and her son on their journey?
GU: Well, thank you for asking. A lot of who Meridian is, is how I live my life. How I love my family, how I fight for my family to live exactly as they would like to live, short of unwanted commentary. But I also had a life before I was a mother and a wife. I have skills, and I’ve got talents.
I don’t always get to show those and it’s similar with Meridian. She’s able to use all of the things that she learned and all of the things that she excelled at, before she was a wife and a mother, to perhaps aid/save her family and her community.
(L to R) Jake Gyllenhaal and Gabrielle Union star in Disney’s ‘Strange World.’
d2IDAdF7u26ptvJPhyOrb
Walt Disney Studios kicked off the first day of D23 Expo 2022 in style today with tons of advance looks at what the House of Mouse has in store for fans in the coming days, months, and years. You can watch Moviefone‘s exclusive backstage interviews by clicking on the video player above.
The first D23 Expo in three years began with the president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, Sean Bailey, revealing the first-ever footage from ‘Hocus Pocus 2’.
Bailey was joined by the wacky Sanderson Sisters themselves – stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy – who appeared via video to show how their characters are back for the first time since 1993 for more soul-stealing Halloween action.
Battling them this time around are aspiring witch Becca (Whitney Peak) and magic shop owner Gilbert (Sam Richardson).
But the audience’s biggest applause went to the original film’s Billy Butcherson (‘The Shape of Water’s Doug Jones) upon his return from the grave. ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ hits Disney+ on September 30th. The trailer is in the video player above.
SobUrjjSsYRoz7A0DQ3177
Next up on the panel was another eagerly anticipated sequel, ‘Disenchanted’. Returning stars Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden took the stage, alongside Maya Rudolph, the film’s new villain. ‘Disenchanted’ finds Adams’ Giselle and hubby Dempsey moving to the suburbs with their infant and teenage children.
“I was a huge fan of the original,” said Rudolph. “I can’t believe I got to be part of this… It’s not easy being mean to Amy Adams.” The new teaser trailer for the sequel is in the video player above.
odm6ku5Ngp5gE2t9HtPhQ5
As far as live-action remakes of Disney animated classics go, ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ was the first on deck today: with star Jude Law (Captain Hook) flanked by newcomers Alexander Molony (Peter Pan), Ever Gabo Anderson (Wendy), and Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Tiger Lily).
Expect more empowered female characters this time around, including at least one Lost Girl among Peter’s Lost Boys.
“Disney has worked very hard to give her more depth and a lot more character,” said Anderson of Wendy. “She and Peter are equals in this film.”
Law added that Hook and Pan’s prior relationship is also fleshed out. “We got to mine their back story a little bit more. You get to understand their past,” he said, hinting that the two were once friends.
“I got to make sure all the little details, all the Easter eggs are there. Because I’m a nerd,” confessed Simien. He then joined another of the film’s stars – scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis – in a Doom Buggy rolling across the D23 Expo stage.
Few Disney films are so beloved as 1994’s ‘The Lion King’. And fans will get more of the film’s animal kingdom in the 2024 prequel ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’.
Director Barry Jenkins appeared to explain how “Mufasa is the origin story of one of the greatest kings of the Pride Land… It’s the real story of how Mufasa found his place in the circle of life. What you learn is that Mufasa is great because of the family and the friends he has with him.”
Of course Disney Studios wouldn’t exist without its very first animated classic, 1937’s ‘Snow White’.
Director Marc Webb is tackling the live-action 2024 remake, featuring Gal Gadot as the Wicked Queen and Rachel Zegler as its eponymous heroine. The two were touched by the warm response they received as they presented a first look at their characters.
“Just your reaction means the world to us,” said Gadot.
A visibly moved Zegler explained that, “Snow White is the girl you remember, but she’s definitely made for the modern age,” stating the film redefines what it means to be the fairest of them all.
Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot at Disney D23 Expo 2022 Getty Images
WT2uud2dk1C6xk7ZYnIAy
While ‘Snow White’ is Disney’s first animated feature, 1989’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ is responsible for the studio’s renaissance. As well as its renewed dedication to musicals, as Rob Marshall, director of May 2023’s live-action adaptation, reminded fans today.
“It was very important for us to honor the original. We went to Alan Menken, who was divine to work with, and also our dear friend Lin-Manuel Miranda. They had never worked together before… There are four new songs. We still retain the beauty of the original score, written by the late great Howard Ashman as well.”
Fans were treated to the film’s entire “Part of Your World” number, featuring a note-perfect Halle Bailey, who appeared on stage with Marshall.
“Three days of filming ‘Part of Your World,’” said Bailey, “that was the most beautiful experience of my life. Just getting to sing a song I’ve loved since I was a child was so exciting.”
“The camera loves you,” Marshall told Bailey. “But it’s more than that. [It] loves what’s inside. [It] loves what you bring.”
The two then unveiled a teaser that recalled ‘Finding Nemo’ in the color and detail of its underwater world. You can find a teaser version of the clip in the video player at the top of the page.
It was then time for Pixar Animation Studios’ turn in the spotlight, with chief creative officer Pete Docter introducing next summer’s ‘Elemental’.
Director Peter Sohn spoke of how the film’s Element City was inspired by the culturally mixed New York of his childhood. Footage shown depicted the star-crossed romance of its fire-based heroine Ember (Leah Lewis) and her watery boyfriend Wade (Mamoudou Athie).
Pixar also unveiled its first original long-form series in the form of ‘Win or Lose’, each episode of which follows the perspective of a different character connected to a co-ed softball team, the Pickles.
With this year’s ‘Lightyear’, Pixar returned to the science fiction of ‘Wall-E’. Expect more in this vein soon, starting with ‘Elio’.
Announced today at D23 with star America Ferrera on stage, the film’s title character is an 11-year-old boy who doesn’t feel like he fits in his world. His mom (Ferrera) runs a top-secret military project, which inadvertently results in Elio making first contact with alien life and becoming our planet’s ambassador to the rest of the universe. It’s due out in spring 2024.
Last but by no means least on the Pixar slate – ‘Inside Out’ star Amy Poehler made a surprise appearance alongside Docter to announce ‘Inside Out 2’.
“Joy and the emotions are back for an all new adventure inside Riley’s head,” said a fittingly ebullient Poehler. “Only this time she’s a teenager!”
New emotions will also appear in the film, as Kelsey Mann takes over the directing chores from Docter, with Meg LeFauve returning to write the summer 2024 release.
To cap off the panel, Disney Animation’s chief creative officer (and Oscar-winning ‘Frozen’ director) Jennifer Lee greeted the D23 Expo audience to show what’s in store for the studio’s 100th anniversary next year.
But first, Disney’s fan-favorite 2016 ‘Zootopia’ will get a spin-off series this November on Disney+. And attendees got an advance look at the aptly titled ‘Zootopia+’, consisting of six short ‘Zootopia’-style spoofs of everything from ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ to ‘The Godfather Part II’.
Perhaps Disney’s most unique offering at the Expo was ‘Iwaju’. Coming this year to Disney+, it finds the animation studio partnering for the first time in its long history with an overseas animation studio – Africa’s Kugali. Its three founders appeared today, describing their Afrofuturism fable and its characters as a love letter to their hometown of Lagos, Nigeria.
More sci-fi arrived with a new look at ‘Strange World’, described by Lee as “a film about family, legacy, and what we leave behind for the generations that follow.” Director Don Hall explained how the film chronicles three generations coming together on an alien planet in order to save their world.
Stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, and Lucy Liu introduced a rip-snorting clip of an exciting chase through ‘Strange World’s creature-packed planet.
d2IDAdF7u26ptvJPhyOrb
The Disney Animation segment, and indeed entire panel, concluded with the revelation of the studio’s 100th anniversary feature film – ‘Wish’. The tale of the star upon which so many Disney characters have wished throughout the past century, ‘Wish’ is co-directed by the attending team of Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn.
Buck, who co-wrote the film with Lee, explained how ‘Wish’ explores a kingdom of wishes, in which wishes can literally come true. Offering a lush, animated watercolor style coupled with CG animation, it stars newly minted Oscar winner Ariana DeBose as 17-year-old Asha, who pleas to the heavens for help, and gets an actual star from the sky, named Star, who communicates through pantomime.
0OBaFTIbKyvccQ25W6MMJ4
Disney “good luck charm,” actor Alan Tudyk appeared with footage of his character, a goat named Valentino who wishes to communicate with people. Finally, DeBose saw fans off with a sizzling live performance of “More for Us,” one of the film’s songs by Grammy winner Julia Michaels.
Disney’s ‘Strange World’ journeys to theaters on November 23.
Not, as the title might make some suspect, a quickly pumped-out follow-up to Disney and Marvel’s successful ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, ‘Strange World’ is in fact the latest offering from Disney Feature Animation, looking to keep its own hit train going after ‘Encanto’ brought plenty of eyes to its screens and earworms to parents everywhere.
We don’t yet know if ‘Strange World’ will feature a song as catchy as ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’, or indeed any songs at all, but the focus here appears to be on retro promos, as the teaser is styled like a 1930s/40s/50s movie trailer.
Directed by Don Hall, who made ‘Big Hero 6,’ and most recently co-directed ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’, ‘Strange World’ also features the co-writing/co-directing talents of his ‘Raya’ colleague Qui Nguyen.
Jake Gyllenhaal voices Searcher Clade, the son of a steadfast explorer. The black sheep of his family, Searcher chose a very different path from the others. Coming from a long lineage of brave and daring explorers, Searcher instead decided to get his hands dirty differently: by becoming a farmer.
But here, Searcher needs to team up with his family to help them complete an incredibly dangerous mission. As he steps out of his comfort zone, Searcher is amazed and intrigued by the unknown alien world that surrounds him.
The action-adventure journeys deep into an uncharted and treacherous land where fantastical creatures await them all, as their differences threaten to topple their latest—and by far—most crucial quest.
DcT49yuf
And the throwback style of the teaser is perhaps not surprising given Hall’s enthusiasm for adventures such as this: “I loved reading the old issues of pulps growing up,” he said in a statement when the first images for the movie came out. “They were big adventures in which a group of explorers might discover a hidden world or ancient creatures. They’ve been a huge inspiration for ‘Strange World’.”
“Strange” is certainly the word to describe where the Clades find themselves. Though there’s little information about how they get here, or indeed where exactly they are, this could be them journeying deep into the Earth, where odd beasties lurk. Giant cliffs that turn into walking creatures? Plenty of tentacled things. It’s all very Jules Verne with just a hint of family-friendly Lovecraft…
For Gyllenhaal’s part, he was excited to get into a voice booth for the first time, though he discovered that having to record his part from home during the pandemic was… less fun.
“I think all you really have, as an actor, outside of technical skills, is your imagination, so that was one thing. I did find it interesting,” Gyllenhaal told The Scotsman. “We had a camera that had to shoot us doing the action so the animators could mimic our facial expressions, so I had a difficult time holding that screen up and talking to it at the same time and it was so, so hot. I played the entire role on my knees, in basically a prayer position by a bed, with two pillows over both sides of my head and a very heavy blanket over them.”
Disney has yet to announce who else is in that voice cast, though we do know that their good luck charm, Alan Tudyk (who has had a role in everything since ‘Wreck-It Ralph’), is also present and correct.
‘Strange World’ journeys to theaters on November 23rd.
Disney’s ‘Strange World’ journeys to theaters on November 23.
d2IDAdF7u26ptvJPhyOrb
The movie begins by reintroducing us to Crash (Tong) and Eddie (Harris), as well as their sister Ellie (Dominique Jennings) and her husband, Manny (Sean Kenin). Frustrated with his brothers-in-law, Manny encourages them to move on with their lives and find their own adventures, which they reluctantly decide to do, and Ellie is furious when she discovers their gone. Crash and Eddy soon discover the Lost World and reunite with Buck Wild (Pegg), who seems to be happy living as a recluse.
But the Lost World is soon threatened by an evil dinosaur named Orson (Ambudkar), who has a vendetta against Buck. Orson is determined to destroy the Lost World and take back Earth for the dinosaurs, unless Buck, Crash and Eddie can stop him. Joining the team to defeat Orson is Buck’s old friend and love interest Zee (Machado), who is an even more capable survivor than Buck. Meanwhile, Ellie, Manny, and their friends go looking for Crash and Eddie to make sure they are safe.
‘The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild’ is a fairly entertaining animated movie with fun characters, and an interesting hook … it’s really a superhero movie! But, in capitalizing on the current most popular movie genre, the film loses some of the heart of its predecessors. In fact, the most touching part of the film only happens at the beginning and end and involves Ellie’s relationship with Crash and Eddie. The rest of the film is a hybrid between a Marvel movie and Indiana Jones, and may not be the “Ice Age” movie you expect.
Unfortunately, Ray Romano and Queen Latifah do not reprise their voice roles as Manny and Ellie, respectively. While the characters have less to do this time around, the absence of Romano is felt, as Sean Kenin does his best to imitate the comedian’s unmistakable voice. Dominique Jennings voices Ellie and gives the character the emotional depth the role calls for.
Also absent from the film are the voices of franchise actors John Leguizamo and Denis Leary, who play Sid and Diego, respectively. Jake Green and Skyler Stone do their best to fill in those roles. Crash and Eddie also have new voice actors, as Vincent Tong and Aaron Harris, take over the roles originated by Seann William Scott and Josh Peck. Tong and Harris do well in the roles, and channel the same heart and humor the beloved characters are known for.
Utkarsh Ambudkar gives a strong voice performance as the villain Orson, reminiscent of Jason Lee’s performance in ‘The Incredibles.’ Justina Machado voices new character Zee, and the actress really brings her to life, achieving more than just a “female Buck.” She is his rival, but also his friend, and that really shines through her performance.
But as the title indicates, this movie really belongs to Buck, and actor Simon Pegg’s performance in the role. Pegg plays the character with youthful energy, but also gives Buck a worldly wisdom that is apparent with every line he says. He’s kind of a cross between Indiana Jones and Jack Sparrow in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies. As the breakout character of ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,’ it only makes sense to center a film around Buck, and Pegg’s performance perfectly brings the character to life again.
The franchise has grossed over $6 billion at the box office and is the third highest grossing animated series of all-time, right behind ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Shrek.’ The animated series, which began at 20th Century Fox, is now owned by Disney, which is a fitting home for the franchise, as the new movie will only be available on Disney+.
In the end, ‘The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild’ is certainly not the best film in the ‘Ice Age’ franchise, but it is entertaining fun for the kids. Taking the franchise into a more action-orientated direction was a good choice, but losing some of the series’ heart, and its original voice actors, does ultimately hurt the new movie.
‘The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild’ receives 2.5 out of 5 Stars.
