Moviefone Editorial

Tag: Disney

  • Lily James on ‘Cinderella,’ ‘Zombies,’ and Those Swarovski Slippers (EXCLUSIVE)

    Premiere Of Disney's Disney’s “Cinderella,” opening this week, is a sumptuous period fantasy, full of dazzling costumes, eye-popping sets, and at one genuinely revelatory performance in the form of Lily James, who plays the title character, going from being a sooty nobody to, thanks to some magic slippers, the most sought-after maiden in the entire kingdom.

    James’s performance is subtle but dynamic. She’s able to craft a character whose strength comes from within, whose life isn’t dictated by her wicked stepmother (played, gloriously, by Cate Blanchett) or the Prince himself (Richard Madden from “Game of Thrones”). She’s determined and self-sufficient even before her Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) grants her one magical night out.

    We got a chance to speak to James about how she was able to make the character her own, how she initially wanted to play one of the wicked stepsisters, what it was like working with Cate and director Kenneth Branagh, and what her role in the blood-soaked “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” looks like.

    Moviefone: Were you involved with the Mark Romanek version?

    Lily James: No, I came onboard the Branagh version. And, actually, I originally auditioned for one of the sisters.

    Oh, so you didn’t think playing Cinderella was even a possibility?

    Well, I don’t know. I got the call for the sister and I was actually really excited to play that part. I love playing the quirky or funny or offbeat characters where you don’t have to think about being pretty or nice and I was like, “Yay!” And then when I was there, the casting director was there and since I had blonde hair for “Downton Abbey,” and she said, “Oh, why don’t you read for Cinderella while you’re here?”

    Did you always want to do a fairy tale?

    I loved fairy tales growing up. So I had my dress-up costume with the little plastic royal slippers and thankfully I had two brothers who stopped me from being too princess-y. Belle was always my favorite. I loved her spirit of adventure. And, I think that, as the Disney princesses have progressed over the years, they’ve become really wonderful, spirited girls, and I liked that.

    Was there any particular spin you wanted to put on the character to make her your own?

    Well, I felt like they had already done it. When I read the script I was really moved and I was really taken aback by the fact that it was such a classical retelling but there were these differences that made it feel more modern and more relevant. I love that, in this version, Ella isn’t waiting around for the prince to save her. She’s a much stronger character. That was my spin. If I wanted to do anything with the part, it was that I wanted her to be a strong heroine and to be in charge of her own destiny.

    Do you think that your Cinderella is a feminist?

    I don’t know — what is a feminist? That would be a big, big answer. Do you think she’s a feminist?

    She’s certainly empowered and never lets any man dictate her emotional state or agency.

    Yeah, I agree. I feel like she, even at the end when the Prince comes to rescue her, she says, “This is who I am. I’m this girl. I have no dowry and I’m not a princess. And if you can love me, then fine. And if not, then that’s okay too.” She’s still in charge of her destiny, even in that moment. What’s amazing with what Ken has done is that the sequence still feels really romantic. I think she’s empowered and I think she rescues the Prince as much as he rescues her.

    Can you talk about what it was like working with Cate?

    Oh, just amazing. She’s an inspiration to me. I can’t even begin to tell you how exhilarating it was to work with her. Her stepmother is so rich and full and when I looked at her, it was so interesting to see what she did with her character and I think that, even though it’s a fairy tale, it was all a part of making her feel real and deep and multi-dimensional. She kind of forces you into the moment because she’s so bloody brilliant.

    And what about Kenneth Branagh? I assume he’s someone every actor wants to work with.

    Oh, yes. It completely excelled all of my expectations. He’s so kind and generous and he takes so much time with you and he’s got such a big heart. So to be directed by him is rewarding and so refreshing as an actor to completely trust your director. It was the best experience I’ve ever had acting.

    You’re doing “Romeo and Juliet” with Richard for Branagh on stage next year, right?

    Yes! I’m so excited! When all of this stuff is finished, it’ll be sometime next year before we start on the play, so I’ll miss him and I’ll be ready to work with him again.

    The costumes in this movie are incredible, but obviously everyone is curious about were the glass slippers like? Were you actually wearing anything?

    Well, the slippers were made of Swarovski crystal and they were so beautiful and valuable that there was not a chance in hell that I could actually wear them. So they were CGI’d in, onto my foot. I know that’s not very magical, but since I didn’t actually wear the slipper, we can say that Prince Charming is still out there searching for his Cinderella!

    What if there’s a Lily James version of Cinderella that gets introduced into the theme parks?

    I don’t know. The good thing is that even though I’ve worn this dress and stuff I already feel like it doesn’t feel like the character belongs to me. The character feels quite separate already. So, in some ways, I think like it’d be version of me walking around, which would be really weird.

    What can we expect from “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”?

    I don’t know. I filmed it already and it was a really weird, wild, wonderful time. I have no idea what it’s going to be like. But what was really cool about it was it was such a different character from Cinderella. With Cinderella, all her strength came from within, but with Elizabeth Bennett, in our version, she’s a zombie slaying warrior. So I got to use all my strength, physically, so it was cool to get to do that right after Cinderella.

    Would you like to do a full-on action movie?

    I never thought I would say this, but I’m desperate to do an action film. I absolutely loved it.

    “Cinderella” casts its spell in theaters March 13.
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  • George Clooney Takes Flight in the New Trailer for Disney’s ‘Tomorrowland’ (VIDEO)

    Disney’s “Tomorrowland,” directed by super genius filmmaker Brad Bird and starring undeniably handsome bloke George Clooney, has been one of the more tantalizing propositions of movies this year. This is a movie that, for years, has been cloaked in mystery, and even as the release date (May 22nd) rapidly approaches, the filmmakers and marketing gurus have been extremely shy about showing off anything from the potential blockbuster. We saw a nifty sequence at New York Comic Con last fall, with an enigmatic trailer premiering around the same time, and a Super Bowl spot that hinted at slightly more footage. Now a full-length trailer has launched (literally) and it hasn’t just lived up to expectations of what the movie would actually look like, it has exceeded them.

    Things, however, are still pretty mysterious. The trailer starts with Clooney saying that, “With every second that ticks by, the future is running out.” We then get more of the “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”-style imagery of Britt Robertson touching a Tomorrowland pin and being whisked away to a futuristic city encircled by golden fields. She hunts down Clooney and demands that he take her to this dreamworld she’s seen. “Did something happen there? Something bad?” she asks. Cue Hugh Laurie turning around.

    That’s followed by footage from New York Comic Con (with Clooney’s house getting ransacked by villainous robots), glimpses of the futuristic city, including flying cars and fighting robots and Laurie turning to Robertson and saying, gravely, “He thinks you can fix the future.”

    The trailer ends with one of the more arresting images of the entire clip, as Clooney and Robertson board an ancient spaceship secreted away inside the Eiffel Tower and blast off towards Tomorrowland. (Tomorrowland’s founders, a group of inventors, scientists and intellectuals called Plus Ultra, first met at the Eiffel Tower.) What the trailer double-underlines is that there’s a real philosophical message at the heart of “Tomorrowland;” this isn’t going to be an empty thrill ride, it’s going to be an exploration of the entire world’s most utopian urges. It’s also going to totally kick ass.

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  • Yes, That’s Space Mountain in the New Poster for ‘Tomorrowland’

    tomorrowland posterIt’s no secret that around here, we’re very excited about “Tomorrowland,” Brad Bird‘s new action adventure outing starring George Clooney and loosely based around the land of the same name that can be explored in Disney parks worldwide. What the literal connection between the movie and the “land” remained vague; mostly the connection is spiritual. This is, after all, about that utopian promise that Walt Disney and similar futurists envisioned for the human race. But this new poster, released ahead of a brand new trailer (set to debut on Monday), makes that connection more concrete.

    If you look at the poster and look directly to the left of the small, overall-wearing character on the left (initially we thought that this was Raffey Cassidy’s young robot character Athena, but it appears to be a child version of Clooney’s Frank Welker, played by Thomas Robinson) amidst the glittering skyline is a distinct and memorable building… Yes, that’s Space Mountain.

    Space Mountain, of course, is one of the most iconic attractions at the Disney theme parks. It originally opened in 1975 at Florida’s Magic Kingdom and in 1977 at California’s Disneyland. (It has subsequently opened at Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland; Shanghai Disneyland is set to include a Space Mountain-ish attraction themed to the world of “Tron.”) It’s a dark, high-speed coaster that sends you hurdling through the cosmos. Of course. I last rode the ride at the end of January in Florida. And it was just as magical as the first time I rode it as a young tot.

    Now how does the ride fit into “Tomorrowland?” That remains to be seen…

    “Tomorrowland” opens on May 22nd.tomorrowland poster%Slideshow-265006%

  • Dan Stevens to Play the Beast in Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’

    Following yesterday’s pitch perfect announcement that Luke Evans had signed up to play Gaston in Disney’s live-action version of their groundbreaking animated fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” The Hollywood Reporter has made word that Dan Stevens, formerly of “Downton Abbey” and “The Guest” (one of our very favorite films from last year) has signed on to play the titular Beast. Stevens confirmed this news via the greatest tweet ever.

    Stevens will play opposite Emma Watson, who will essay Belle in the Bill Condon-directed feature (set to begin filming sometime later this year), and perfectly embodies the kind of charm and ferocity required of the character. Recently we spoke to Glen Keane, the Disney animator responsible for bringing The Beast to life, and he told us who he thought should play the character in the live action remake: Tom Hardy. A very good choice but obviously Mr. Hardy’s dance card is awfully full if he’s bailing out of big projects like DC’s “Suicide Squad.”

    The original animated film, of course, was the first animated feature to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (it’s only happened twice since then, with “Up” and “Toy Story 3” and both times after the more lax 10-nominations parameters were set in place). It spawned several direct-to-video follow ups and an insanely popular Broadway show that has been spun off in a number of different countries and languages. This big screen transition is said to retain the musical element. Expect the next bit of casting news to be very famous people lending their voices to the enchanted objects in the Beast’s castle lair…
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  • Chris Evans Thinks the First ‘Avengers’ Was ‘a Little Bit Punch-Punch, Kick-Kick’

    When Chris Evans stopped to talk to a small cluster of journalists on the set of “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the actor was on the way to fight training. This is fairly typical of a huge, $200 million blockbuster, especially when it’s the sequel to the highest-grossing superhero film of all time (after all, it has to be bigger, badder, and with lots more fighting). But what was slightly out of the ordinary was that Evans was outfitted in all of his Captain America regalia. So instead of Chris Evans sitting down to talk to us about how the events of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” effect the hero in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and what the sequel has in store for the red-white-and-blue patriot, we were chatting with Captain America. It was awesome.

    It should also be noted that Evans has been seen, at least publicly, as the least approving member of Team Marvel, an actor anxious to finish out his contract and move on to different opportunities. But while talking to him on the set he seemed genuinely engaged and excited about returning for the sequel and positively reinvigorated by the response, both critically and commercially, that his last outing as Captain America garnered. (This was, keep in mind, months before Marvel‘s ambitious, multiyear plan was unveiled and even before the release date showdown that the film had with “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” for that primo summer 2016 spot.) When Chris Evans is wearing the Captain America costume, those colors don’t run.

    The first question issued to Evans was how the character was dealing with the events of “Captain America: Winter Soldier,” wherein S.H.I.E.L.D. was discovered to be untrustworthy (thanks to some highly placed Hydra moles) and Captain America was left to his own devices, a soldier without a squad. “You know, he’s adjusting,” Evans explained. “The team doesn’t have anyone to report to now. There’s no more S.H.I.E.L.D. so we’re all depending upon one another. But that gives him an opportunity to take more of a leadership role. Since there’s no one else giving him orders he doesn’t have to question the chain of command or anyone’s motives but it does mean he needs to rely on his team a lot more so it’s added a little bit more tension to the actual dynamic of the Avengers.” Still, somewhat disappointingly, Evans added: “But with these movies it’s hard to dive too deeply into any one character’s plotline, you know, what I mean?” Oh we do. Evans was more diplomatic, though. “That’s just the nature of how these moves are going to have to work – do your movie and then you come to Avengers and then we all have to address a group conflict and then go back to your conflict. It’s just there’s too many, too many plots, too many characters to try and spend too much time with your own individual conflict.”

    More specifically, the question was lobbed at Evans about whether or not we’d see Cap on his “solo mission” that he was embarking on at the close of “Winter Soldier.” Evans curtly shot back: “I can’t tell you that.” When pressed for information about how the relationships have changed, Evans remained cagey. “I don’t think I can tell you that either,” Evans said. He said he could see himself “get a little talking to” for giving away too much. When we assured him that we were embargoed for a while, he again talked about the Scarlet Witch’s ability to get inside your head, with the heroes “confronted with their own personal issues and demons.” Evans then quipped, “It’s tense.”

    When asked about how comfortable he is in the role, Evans perked up. “Very comfortable. The first movie, you’re terrified. The second one, you’re just intimidated because there’s so many great people, but by ‘Captain 2’ you really start hitting your stride and feeling like you’re making some core progress with the character and you get a little more comfortable speaking up when you have opinions. And the Russos [the directors of ‘Cap 2’] are so great and I love that movie and it all just worked out in terms of the evolution of my personal connection with character. So at this point I’m feeling really good and I’m very excited for ‘Cap 3.’”

    Another element that we were curious would make the transition to “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is the relationship between Cap and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. Evans said “we’re not going to keep eating on that one. It’s built. The foundation is there,” adding, she has her own arc in this movie.” (This is yet another hint that she will have a romantic relationship with Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, as we all suspect.)

    Evans said that the new movie doesn’t waste any time with reintroducing the characters, “having reunion moments.” The movie “hits the ground running.” He then explained that, “Everything that Marvel does is a chess move. Nothing is by accident. Everything is calculated, so sometimes there are things that I found out and I’m like, What’s why you did that? You sons of bitches.”

    Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed both “Avengers” movies and oversaw a lot of what was going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, apparently didn’t have much to discuss with Evans. “You know, in terms of the character Joss got it right with the first ‘Captain America’ and not only that he’s fan boy. He’s loved comic books so it’s not like you’re talking to someone who might not have a handle on what audiences want, who this character is at his core. The only thing I talked to him about was his ability consistency. You know, with the second ‘Captain America’ we really pushed the envelope in terms of what this guy is capable of which I was excited to see because in the first ‘Captain America’ he’s just strong. In ‘Avengers’ it was still, in my opinion, a little bit punch-punch, kick-kick.”

    Maybe most interestingly, Evans put Captain America in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in the context of the relationships he sees around him. He’s always been out of time, out of place, and that seemingly continues in the new film, although on a much more philosophical and emotional level. “There are more relationships in this movie, personal relationships Cap has to witness and I think that does make him question his own purpose in terms of this is a guy that wanted the family and, the wife and kids and stability and normalcy. He wants to serve his country but what he really wanted was a normal life and then he went into the ice and things changed. So it’s a matter of where is, where is home? He’s always been a little lost and even in ‘Cap 2’ it’s very much about, What do I want? What am I supposed to be doing? What completes me? And in this one he has to watch some of those relationships close and question, Is that the end game? Is that what he’s fighting for?” If anyone would know, it’s Chris Evans. Even when he’s not in the suit, he is Captain America.

    “Avengers: Age of Ultron” hits theaters May 1.
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  • Kevin Costner Ate a Lot of Enchiladas for ‘McFarland, USA’ (EXCLUSIVE)

    kevin costner at the premiere of mcfarland usaWhen you watch “McFarland, USA,” the wonderful new Disney sports movie about a coach who, in 1987, took a group of untested kids in California (mostly sons of migrant field workers) and turned them into track champions, it’s hard to imagine that Kevin Costner, who plays the coach, hasn’t been in one of these films before. The actor, who has seen his career rebound in recent years thanks to brief roles in big movies like “Man of Steel” and “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” is perfect as the grizzled coach who crafted this nearly legendary team.

    We got to sit down and chat with Costner recently, which is pretty amazing given his legacy not only as an actor (in things like “Revenge” and “JFK”) but as a filmmaker (including the Oscar-winning “Dances with Wolves” and underrated Western “Open Range”). We chatted about a whole range of topics — everything from how many enchiladas he ate during a dinner sequence in “McFarland, USA,” to the validity of director’s cuts, to what went wrong on his Euro action movie “3 Days to Kill.” It’s a wide-ranging and incredibly fun chat.

    Moviefone: First, a hard-hitting journalistic question: How many enchiladas did you eat during that scene?

    Kevin Costner: It was hard because I had to eat a little bit. A lot of the times you can fake it. But this one I had to eat a lot — I probably had eight or nine of those.

    Were you a fan beforehand?

    Oh, I love enchiladas. But at a certain point you’re like, What the f*ck? And part of it had to show me eating it, and I found myself in situations where it’s like, when in Rome, you’ve got to do something like that. So it was a clever scene.

    It could have been worse.

    Yes, it could have been one of those dumb TV shows where you’re eating beetles.

    What initially drew you to this project?

    They pursued me for this. They just felt that I was the person to do this. And I had read about this story about 15 years earlier in Sports Illustrated and I thought, Whoa. And it interesting because it was a school I had played against in high school. I had played McFarland. So I know the central valley and I know the kids and I fought with them and I played with them and everything else. I knew their families. It wasn’t lost on me what was going on here. And that story, then to circle back around to me 20-something years later and for them to ask me to play this, it’s like, Whoa. It’s kind of a weird circle. I thought it was very inspirational. Number one, it’s true. And it’s this part of the world that people just don’t talk about and don’t recognize. It wrapped itself up in a movie very nicely. Don’t forget – they paid me.

    After giving $9 million to “Black or White,” you’ve got to recoup some of that.

    Well, I’ve never really grown my wealth as much as I’ve used it to do the things that are important to me, or that I’ve wanted to do. Not wise business, usually. Let’s invest this here, let’s invest that there; it’s never really been my way.

    Part of that has been directing your own projects. Are you going to direct again soon?

    I think so.

    Another Western?

    I hope so.

    You’ve done these movies based on historical fact before — has your approach been the same over the years, or have you switched it up?

    It’s always a little different. With “JFK,” Oliver [Stone] didn’t want a physical resemblance between Jim Garrison and me. He just didn’t want that. He said, “I want you to be the essence of this man.” Kenny O’Donnell in “Thirteen Days,” I mimicked myself after he behaved — his language, his accent, his movements, his haircuts. I did that because I felt that is what should happen in that particular movie. But in “JFK.” it was really playing the essence of somebody. In this instance there was a physical resemblance to Jim and I. But the minute certain facts weren’t factual to his life, that’s when, for me, all pretenses of “oh, I’m playing him exactly” drop away. So what the essence of a coach is and what he was to these young guys in McFarland became more important to me than any twitch. It wasn’t important how he carried his body — it was all out the window. Because for me, you can’t have both.

    You said you played these guys. Did you incorporate anything from your coach?

    No. But I obviously know what a coach can mean to kids and there’s a thing called tough love that’s very important. Like anything, they resist stuff because they’re teenagers, too. But the script was crafted and we made sure that it was crafted, so that you saw the arcs. Scenes have been cut out of it for running time, which I’m not a fan of. I’m more like, If you thought it was important and you shot it and edited it and thought it was good, why are we cutting it? They say people won’t stay over two hours and I go, “Really?” So I always come from a different camp.

    Well, was there something you had shot or something you had discovered while working on the movie that you wish was still in there?

    There are some great scenes that I wish were in there. Niki [Caro] had the hard job. Every day, she had to direct this, and every day and she was just great and I’m sure, for her, she hated to lose some scenes. The way American cinema is today, running length is a really big deal. It isn’t to me.

    You’ve been involved in a number of movies that have had director’s cuts.

    Well, when it comes to my movies, the cut is the director’s cut. I invented the three-hour thing. The studio started to understand that people really like to look deep behind the thing and the scenes going on. And that became a whole cottage industry — “See the director’s cut!” I don’t get that.

    “Dances With Wolves” was a solid three hours.

    And “Open Range” was 2 hours and 17 minutes. And “Postman” was 2 hours and 24 minutes. They were what they were. I’m happy with what “Postman” is. Is it cut in a conventional way, down to 2 hours? Is that more enjoyable? Maybe it’s more enjoyable to you. But I make a movie that I enjoy and then want to share. That’s how I approach it.

    And then you did the miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys.” So you had a whole week.

    Well, no I didn’t. Because they wanted to cut it down to a more conventional thing, it was only going to be two nights. And I said, “Tell me what scene in here you don’t like.” And they said, “Well, we like every scene.” And I said, “Me too.” And I said, “I think it needs about three or four more scenes to have a level of meaning. I’ll write them and I’ll show you what I mean.” So I did that and they loved them. So I said, “This is going to be three, maybe four nights.” They said, “We don’t do that.” So I said, “I can’t change your mind, I can only decide what I’ll do, and if it’s not going to be three to four nights, I’m not going to do it.” And through real, honest discussion, it became that. And now everybody is doing these five-night miniseries, which I think audiences are really enjoying… if they’re done well.

    Would you do it again?

    Yeah, I would do it again. I have a Western that could either be four features, all about the same story, or it could be 12-hours of TV with the last being a feature film.

    Is that what you’re trying to decide right now?

    Yeah, I’m trying to decide that right now.

    “McFarland, USA” is a Disney sports movie, which has almost become its own genre. Do you like those movies?

    Yeah, I love Disney. I’ve always loved Disney and what they’ve stood for and what they’ve been for. And this movie had a bit of an edge and I hope as much of it could stay in it as possible.

    You’re a filmmaker yourself. Did you make any suggestions?

    Niki was really good to me and really open in the scripting process. But at the end of the day, once the movie was shot, I wasn’t consulted with what would stay and what would go.

    Were you happy with the final movie?

    Yeah, I was happy with it. You kind of have to take a minute and absorb things because you’re thinking about things you did or didn’t do. It’s what happens in life.

    Were there any of your movies that you’d like to see expanded into director’s cuts?

    Yeah. They weren’t movies that I directed but they followed the script at one point and then certain stuff is taken out, with people saying, “Oh, that’s too hard on the audience.” And I’m saying, “You’re wrong. You’re wrong to take that out.” I don’t think there was anything like that here in this movie. But I often say, “You try to soften it, you try to move it into another demographic, you moved it from an R to a PG-13 because you thought more people would see it.” But the truth was that the people who would really appreciate it would only appreciate it as an R. You lost those adult bones that make it an R. I don’t know if you’ve seen “Black or White,” but there’s a line where he says, “Maybe you’re not a drunk. Maybe you’re just an angry f*cking motherf*cker.” And they were going to give me an R for saying it one time. In “Django” they say it a million times. I had to go to them and say, “Please don’t give me an R.” But I would have not compromised the movie.

    Did you end up getting a PG-13?

    Yeah. But I had to go before a board and beg for it and they were really cool to me. But what I’m saying is that if they hadn’t, because it was my money, I would have kept it as an R.

    Did that happen with “3 Days to Kill?” It seems like it was softened.

    Yeah, it was. There were some subplots that were never in the script. Like The Wolf. They said we needed a bad guy. I said, “No you don’t, you just need guys that he’ll go kill because he’s f*cked up his life. And what guys do is throw money at problems.” So this guy would kill anybody. He doesn’t have to kill an important person. All I have to do is kill a bad person. We didn’t need the ultimate criminal. At least that movie didn’t. And the original writer wrote it that way. We didn’t need the big shoot out. But there it was. My guy was not going after the best criminal in the world and I wasn’t the best CIA agent in the world. I was a jobber. Sometimes people think that you have to blow things up more than it already is.

    In “McFarland,” they say we win nine times. We don’t say they won 11. And because it’s a true story, we don’t have to say six. They won nine times. These little guys. It’s pretty amazing. They had a goal and they just succeeded wildly. It’s really life affirming. We didn’t have to make stuff up. That’s why I made “3 Days to Kill,” because it could have been a perfect action movie for me, because it had a lot of character and a lot of funny scenes mixed with these scenes of violence. That’s what I can do. That could be really mature. But it slipped in several key categories.

    You brought up “Django Unchained.” You were supposed to be in the movie, right?

    Yeah, there was a possibility that I could have been in it.

    Is Quentin Tarantino somebody you still want to work with?

    Oh yeah. I would work with him in a second. I hope that I do. But with that one, at the end of the day, it just wasn’t right. And maybe you just get one chance with Quentin. Look, people’s feelings are important and his process, and he made a Western and didn’t ask me to be in it, so maybe that was a problem.

    Are you coming back for anymore Superman movies?

    I don’t know. It has to be what it has to be. Didn’t he already save the world? Is it in peril again?

    “McFarland, USA” opens everywhere Friday, February 20.%Slideshow-84357%

  • Disney’s ‘Cinderella’: 25 Things You Didn’t Know About the Beloved Fairy Tale Classic

    disney's cinderellaWe never get tired of the story of Cinderella, and whether we know it or not, the version we never get tired of is the one put forth by Walt Disney 65 years ago. The 1950 animated feature, released 65 years ago this week (on February 15, 1950) was an instant classic, and its this version we think of when we imagine all the visual details of the story — the slipper, the pumpkin, the fairy godmother, the mice, and Cinderella and Prince Charming dancing all over the palace grounds.

    Still, as many times as we’ve heard the story or seen the cartoon, there’s still more to be mined from the 17th-century fairy tale. (Indeed, Disney is releasing a new live-action retelling next month.) As many times as you’ve seen the 1950 classic, there’s plenty you may not know about it — how the actress who played Cinderella landed the part without even knowing she’d auditioned, how the movie was responsible for some musical innovations, and how close Disney was to financial ruin before “Cinderella” provided a fairy-tale ending. Here, then, are the secrets of “Cinderella” — just be sure to finish reading them before midnight.

    1. Before “Cinderella’s” release, the Disney studio was $4 million in debt. Over the previous decade, such animated features as “Fantasia,” “Pinocchio,” and “Bambi” had been costly flops. World War II had cut the studio off from its lucrative overseas audience. The animated features it had released in the interim had been compilations of shorts, like “Fun and Fancy Free” and “Melody Time.”

    2. The return to ambitious narrative features, then, marked both a creative and financial gamble for the studio, the first time in eight years it had made such an attempt. Had the film failed, it would have bankrupted the Disney company.

    3. There are many versions of the Cinderella tale in European folklore, but Disney chose the one made familiar by French author Charles Perrault in 1697. He’s the author who introduced to the tale the key elements of the fairy godmother, the pumpkin-turned-coach, and the glass slippers. In his version, along with the small creatures turned into Cinderella’s driver and horses, there’s a group of lizards transformed into footmen. Alas, the Disney cartoon leaves the reptiles out — but the new, live-action version does not!

    4. Ilene Woods landed the voice role of Cinderella without even knowing she’d auditioned. Her friends, songwriters Mack David and Jerry Livingston (part of the trio, along with Al Hoffman, who composed all the songs from “Cinderella”), had her sing on the demo recordings for the movie’s tunes “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” “So This Is Love,” and “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes.” They sent the demos to Walt Disney, who liked her voice so much that he cast Woods in the lead role without giving her a formal audition.

    5. William Phipps provided the speaking voice of Prince Charming. His singing voice, however, came from Mike Douglas, the future daytime talk show host.

    6. Eleanor Audley performed the voice of Lady Tremaine, the wicked stepmother. Later, she would also play the villainous Maleficent in “Sleeping Beauty.” Disney animators designed both characters to look like Audley as well.

    7. Lucifer the cat was voiced by June Foray, the cartoon voiceover artist later best known for playing Granny in the Tweety and Sylvester cartoons, and Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale in the Bullwinkle cartoons.

    8. Verna Felton, who voiced the Fairy Godmother, was a frequent Disney player, having worked on “Dumbo” (as both Mrs. Jumbo and the elephant matriarch). She went on to voice the Queen of Hearts in “Alice in Wonderland,” Aunt Sarah in “Lady and the Tramp,” the fairy Flora and the queen in “Sleeping Beauty,” and another elephant, Winifred, in “The Jungle Book.”

    9. Veteran Disney sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald, who voiced Mickey Mouse for 30 years (the first man other than Walt himself to voice the iconic character), worked on “Cinderella” as the voices of mice Jaq and Gus and as Bruno the dog. He’d go on to make animal noises in “Alice in Wonderland” (the Dormouse), “Peter Pan” (the tick-tock of the clock-eating crocodile) “Lady and the Tramp” (the chorus of howling dogs), the Chip and Dale shorts (he was Chip), various Donald Duck and Winnie the Pooh cartoons (as buzzing bees), “The Jungle Book” (various animals), and “The Rescuers” (Evinrude the dragonfly).

    10. As with many of the Disney animated features, actors were hired as visual models to act out the sequences as studies for the animators. Helene Stanley, who was the live-action Cinderella, went on to perform the same duties for Princess Aurora in “Sleeping Beauty” and Anita in “101 Dalmatians.” Jeffrey Stone was the visual model for Prince Charming.

    11. Several sequences failed to make it into the final film. One early sequence had the prince hunting a deer (shades of “Bambi”!), only to reveal that the hunter and prey were pals playing a game.

    12. In another unused sequence, Cinderella imagines herself as an army of identical young women, dispatched to finish her chores so that she can attend the ball. She was to sing a tune, called “Cinderella Work Song.” The song was scrapped but the title modified into “The Work Song” for the tune the mice warble when they’re creating her gown.

    13. A third eliminated sequence had Cinderella eavesdropping on her stepmother and stepsisters gossiping about the mystery woman at the ball, with Cinderella showing amusement at their unawareness that she herself is the woman they’re talking about. Walt Disney had this sequence cut because he thought it made the heroine look spiteful and risk audience sympathy.

    14. A cut version of the ending had the Grand Duke learning Cinderella’s identity and bringing her to the castle, where the prince expresses surprise but not disappointment that Cinderella is a servant and not a princess. Then the Fairy Godmother was to appear and restore Cinderella to her appearance the night of the ball. Walt nixed this sequence because he found it too long and argued that it denied viewers the emotional payoff of having the prince discover Cinderella’s identity himself.

    15. With the hiring of David, Livingston, and Hoffman, “Cinderella” marked the first time Disney had turned to established professional songwriters from outside the studio. But Disney also kept the publishing rights on their compositions, with “Cinderella” also marking the launch of the Walt Disney Music Company, which introduced a new revenue stream from sheet music publishing and, later, soundtrack albums.

    16. The soundtrack was also a trailblazer in its use of double-tracked vocals. Walt came up with the innovative idea of having Woods sing harmony with herself on a second and third vocal track on the song “Sing, Sweet Nightingale.” Woods recalled that, upon hearing the finished recording, Disney remarked, “How about that? All of these years I’ve been paying three salaries for the Andrews Sisters, when I could have only paid one for you!”

    17. The film cost $3 million to make. Over the years, it has earned back more than $85 million, not adjusting for inflation.

    18. As the biggest hit Disney had enjoyed in 13 years, since “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Cinderella” generated enough cash flow not only to save the studio, but to allow it to create its own distribution company (“Cinderella” had been distributed, like past Disney features, by RKO), finance several live-action and animated films, enter the world of television production, and build the Disneyland theme park.

    19. “Cinderella” was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song (“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”).

    20. David, Livingston, and Hoffman would go on to write the songs for DIsney’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

    21. The studio re-released “Cinderella” in theaters six times: in 1957, 1965, 1973, 1981, 1987, and 2013.

    22. In recent years, Disney has released two direct-to-video sequels: “Cinderella II: Dreams Come True” (2002) and “Cinderella III: A Twist in Time” (2007).

    23. Cinderella Castle, the signature landmark at the Magic Kingdom park in Disney World in Florida, is designed to look like the palace in the movie, albeit with some modern amenities — elevators, a restaurant, a beauty salon (the “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique”) and a VIP hotel suite.

    24. Along with the Sleeping Beauty Castle at the center of Disneyland in California, Cinderella Castle is the basis for the logo seen at the beginning of all Walt Disney Pictures films and home video releases, as well as Walt Disney Television productions and Disney Music Group projects.

    25. Woods claimed Walt Disney once told her Cinderella was his favorite among his films’ heroines. “I think it was the rags-to-riches tale,” she speculated. “Of course, then I didn’t know how many times Walt had risked it all to realize his dreams.”
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  • ‘Cinderella’ (2015) Photos

    ‘Cinderella’ (2015) Photos

  • Disney’s ‘Pinocchio’: 25 Things You Didn’t Know About the Animated Classic

    disney's pinocchioGiven how revered Disney‘s “Pinocchio” is today, it’s hard to believe it was a flop when it was first released exactly three quarters of a century ago. Upon its New York City premiere, on February 7, 1940, critics hailed the film as a masterpiece, and even to this day, many prefer it to Disney’s pioneering first animated feature, 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Yet it took the film many years and multiple re-releases to make a profit.

    Today, of course, the legacy of “Pinocchio” is inescapable. Everyone’s image of the puppet-boy with the nose that grows when he lies comes not from Carlo Collodi’s original novel but from the kid with the Tyrolean hat and the Mickey Mouse gloves, as drawn by Disney animators. And the opening tune, Jiminy Cricket’s “When You Wish Upon a Star,” is ubiquitous as the theme music played before every Walt Disney movie and home video release.

    Still, as indelibly as “Pinocchio” has been imprinted on your memory, there may be plenty you don’t know about the film, from who voiced the characters to the technical breakthroughs behind it to the unusual lawsuit threatened by the author’s nephew. Here, then, are 25 things you probably didn’t know about “Pinocchio.” May our noses grow if we’re lying.

    1. Carlo Collodi wrote the original novel in installments in an Italian magazine in 1881. It was published as a book two years later.

    2. The name “Pinocchio” literally means “little wooden head.”

    3. The hardest part of the production was making Pinocchio a sympathetic character. Collodi’s story was rewritten to remove the wooden boy’s mischievous (even malicious) streak and make him more passive. But the trickier part was making him look more like a human boy than a block of wood.

    4. According to a 1938 New York Times article, Walt Disney tossed 2,300 feet of footage, representing five months work, “because it missed the feeling he had in mind.”

    5. It took 12 artists 18 months to come up with a look for Pinocchio that was rounded and cute enough to pass muster. Animator Milt Kahl finally hit upon the idea of drawing him as a human boy and then adding the puppet’s nails and joints.

    6. In Collodi’s story, Pinocchio kills the cricket with a hammer, though the insect comes back as a ghost. Nonetheless, Walt included him and decided to let him live. He came up with the name Jiminy and the idea to make him wear clothes and walk and talk like a person.

    7. Other differences from the source material: In the book, the Blue Fairy has a team of animals working for her, including a poodle (her coachman), a group of mice (to pull the coach) and a snail (a messenger). Impresario Stromboli is called “Mangiafoco” (“fire-eater”) in the novel, and Pleasure Island is called “Toyland.” And the sea creature that swallows Geppetto and Pinocchio is a giant shark, not a whale.

    8. Cliff Edwards, a.k.a. Ukelele Ike (the name he used as a popular novelty-tune singer in the 1920s and ’30s) auditioned for the voice of Pinocchio, but the 43-year-old had too much grown-up in his voice, so he was cast instead as Jiminy Cricket.

    9. Dickie Jones, a 12-year-old who had also appeared in Frank Capra’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” landed the role of Pinocchio. He also voiced Alexander, one of the boys on Pleasure Island.

    10. Future Broadway dance legend Marge Champion, then married to Disney animation director Art Babbitt, was the physical model for the Blue Fairy, acting out the character’s movements on film for the animators to study. She had performed a similar task for Disney’s Snow White.

    11. The voice of the Fairy was provided by Evelyn Venable, an actress best known for her roles in “Death Takes a Holiday” (opposite Fredric March) and “The Little Colonel” (alongside Shirley Temple). She was also the model for the initial Columbia Pictures logo of a woman holding a torch.

    12. According to the Times, character actor Walter Catlett, who voiced the theatrical con artist Honest John the fox, based his characterization on two famous acting brothers whose name started with B — presumably, John and Lionel Barrymore.

    13. Honest John’s sidekick, Gideon the cat, was initially a speaking character, voiced by Mel Blanc, better known today as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and most of the other “Looney Tunes” characters from rival studio Warner Bros. But then the filmmakers decided to make Gideon a mute, like Dopey in “Snow White,” and all of Blanc’s voice work as Gideon was cut from the film, save for three hiccups. Blanc also voiced Geppetto’s pet cat Figaro, in the scene where the feline sneezes.

    14. Voicing the roars of Monstro the whale was Thurl Ravenscroft, later best known as the voice of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger.

    15. Ravenscroft and his singing group, the Mellomen, also performed a song called “Honest John,” which was ultimately cut from the film.

    16. Some 2,000,000 drawings were used in the creation of the film, 300,000 of which appear in the final print.

    17. Much of the film’s visual richness comes from Disney’s famed multiplane camera, used to give the painted environments an illusion of depth. In “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” which gave the multiplane camera its first real workout, the cinematographer could approach the multiplane set-up only from above. But for “Pinocchio,” the Disney team developed what it called a universal crane that could approach the set-up from any direction, like a crane-mounted camera on a live-action set.

    18. The studio thought highly enough of the film’s visual artistry that it staged exhibitions of original artwork at the Brooklyn Museum and two other New York galleries to coincide with the film’s Big Apple premiere in February 1940.

    19. The film cost $2.3 million to make, about twice as much as “Snow White.” It earned back less than $2 million during its initial run.

    20. Some theorized that the movie did poorly initially because it’s so grim. Pinocchio is terrorized throughout the movie, and four of the five villains who torment him get off unpunished.

    21. The film eventually made a profit during its re-release in 1945. Disney would put the film back into theaters a total of seven times between 1945 and 1992.

    22. Paolo Lorenzini, Collodi’s nephew, asked the Italian ministry of popular culture to sue Disney for overly Americanizing his uncle’s creation. “Pinocchio’s adventures are an Italian work of art and must not be distorted to make it American,” he stated. There’s no evidence that any action was ever taken toward his complaint.

    23. The film won two Academy Awards for its music: an Oscar for Best Original Score (credited to Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith, and Ned Washington) and a Best Original Song prize for Harline and Washington’s composition, “When You Wish Upon a Star.” It was the first animated feature to win competitive Oscars.

    24. Ravenscroft would land singing and speaking roles in many other DIsney animated features over the next half-century, from “Dumbo” to “The Brave Little Toaster.” His voice can still be heard on such Disneyland attractions as The Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

    25. Edwards went on to voice the role of Jim Crow in Disney’s “Dumbo” (1941), where he sang “When I See an Elephant Fly.” He reprised the role of Jiminy Cricket in numerous Disney cartoons over the next two decades.
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  • Elsa and Anna are Back in First Images from ‘Frozen Fever’ (PHOTOS)

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