A Fox Takes The Lion From The Mouse...

It appears that the Mouse's decision to no longer make Narnia films is the Fox's gain...

Twentieth Century Fox that is. Fox will now co-produce with Walden Media on future Narnia movies now that Walt Disney Pictures has chosen to not renue their relationship.

So now “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” will be coming with the Fox logo instead of that lovely castle.

Developing...

Mouse Not On Voyage...

Wow, no sooner than I mention that the Narnia makeover of the Muppets building at DCA is in jeopardy we get this news...

Walt Disney Pictures has decided not to pursue its option for the third Narnia film. This doesn't mean it won't happen, but Walden Media will have to find another partner. So the film may still come out, but it won't be a Disney picture.

Developing...

The Direction Of Narnia...

The Hollywood Reporter has a nice interview with Andrew Adamson, the director of "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"(perhaps you've heard of it?) that's a bit of a good read. "Speed Racer" opens this Friday and "Narnia" will open the following week, so it's gonna be a busy movie-going season, me thinks.

Have a looksie...

Prince In The Park...

The MySpace website "Trailerpark" has a new trailer up for "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" and it portrays the new film in the series as much more of an epic adventure showing what the Studio believes fanboys tend to need to see to get their butts in the seats.

Go over and have a looksie.

Hat Tip to Ain't It Cool News.

Everything You Know Is About To Change Forever...

The new one sheet for "Narnia: Prince Caspian" has appeared.

It's nice... I like it. Hopefully the film will live up to the poster. Films as we know, don't always turn out that way.

Narnia: 1300 Years Later...

The new preview for "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" is up over at Yahoo Movies. It's clearly more epic and slightly darker in tone than the first film. Go over and take a look at Disney's big summer release for 2008.

May 16th My Prince Will Come...

I don't know if any of you have seen it, but here is the poster for "Prince Caspian: The Chronicles of Narnia"...

The poster looks pretty cool without really telling much of the story. I bet there are a lot of tweens that will have dreamy eyes for this poster.

Adventures By Disney...

No, this is not a story about Disney's travel agency and the deals it offers you if you plan your vacation through it...

What am I talking about then?

Film. Motion Pictures. Movies...

Huh, you say?

Allow me to illuminate for you. With a previous article I touched on some of Disney's past films. From Walt's animated features to his hybrid live-action/animated films like the memorable "Mary Poppins" to his live action "Treasure Island" or "Swiss Family Robinson" there was particular type of film that was defined as a Disney Film. Walt Disney Productions has went through several evolutionary moments. The most obvious being when Walt was no longer around... the languishing period of the 70's. The Eisner Era that changed the company around in the mid 80's brought about a change with Touchstone's ability to market pictures that were deemed too controversial or adult in them. This period also included Disney's "Second Golden Age" of animation.

During the last couple of years under Eisner the company was going through another change... with audience taste ever-evolving, there was a focus on a broader acceptance of films that the public would accept, or expect rather of a Disney Film. With the promotion of Oren Aviv to the position of President of Walt Disney Pictures, Dick Cook now believes he has the right person to help him make Disney's films box office gold.

What will change?

Well if you look at the pattern started by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" then you have the right direction. The beginnings of the studios current path were set during this period with films like "POTC:Black Pearl" and "National Treasure" which Aviv had a great deal to do with.

Essentially, when it comes to Disney's tent pole movies, its epics that will define its summer releases and holiday openings... the answer is adventure.

Adventures by Disney.

From the release over the last few years of the Pirate films to the Narnia series, the coming slate are a departure from Eisner and Katzenberg's philosophy of developing small films with writers contracted for the studio and avoiding big spectacles... for the most part. WDP did try to create its own franchise like the "Rocketeer," but had little success. Many of the chances it had to have one of these series Eisner simply wouldn't agree to spend the money on. He let "The Lord of the Rings" go because he didn't "get it" and wasn't willing to put up the money to support it. It was only through a partnership with Walden Media that they agreed to do the "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," since Eisner was worried about the financial cost. Only years after watching other studios create franchises like "The Matrix" did he finally agree to pony up the cash to make a film like "Black Pearl".

So over the few years we can look forward to many films under the Disney brand that we would have never thought to have seen under the Disney label just a few years ago. We had the last(yeah, right...) of the Pirates series end this summer. Later this year a sequel to "National Treasure" comes out called "Book of Secrets." If this film is a success then expect to see at least one more movie of Benjamin Franklin Gates. Next summer we have the next in the Narnia series "Prince Caspian." If that film does well, and it should, there will be a new Narnia film once every year until they've exhausted the book series. In summer of 2009 we'll be treated to the epic Arabian adventure "The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time." This will be the Mouse's tent pole release for that Summer... can you imagine the plans WDI wants to draft up for Tokyo DisneySEA's Arabian Port if this appears to be a success? If all goes well, we could see "Jungle Cruise" the movie, later that year unless production gets postponed. Then we have the unannounced "The Lone Ranger" set for release summer 2010. There are at least two or three other adventure films Disney has in development for the next few years, but they are too far back to discuss at this time.

As I stated in an earlier article... change happens. Sometimes for good, other times for bad. We happen to be in one of the good times, thankfully. The films we see coming out of the Disney Studios till the end of the decade will demonstrate the magic and wonder we all know and love about Walt Disney. The dream is still alive. You can be sure when you step into a darkened theater to see a Disney film... you're in for an adventure.

Observations On San Diego's Fantasyland Part 2...

I know that several other websites have commented on this. I've had this done for a couple days but I've been doing some things that have kept me from posting it.

Sorry for the lateness...

Saturday was the day for Disney fans with the panel on Walt Disney Pictures "Narnia: Prince Caspian" and Pixar's "Wall-E". Although I enjoyed the LTWATW movie and was a fan of the book as a child, the film was not something I was ecstatic over. Make no mistake, it was a good film. It was entertaining and had a great moral tale that followed the book, yet expanded the story so that it could appeal to people who aren't Narnia fans.

I have never read any of the other books, though and Caspian is a bit of a mystery to me. I know the general plot and all, but that's it. The panel began with a satellite link up with Andrew Adamson where he introduced us to the man who will be playing the title character: Ben Barnes. There were several guest that came out and set at the table. They're deep in production right now with about a month more filming left. There are lot more effects in this film. The images and footage they showed reflect a much more mature film than the last. It may be they are trying to give the series a "family" appeal and shy away from it being known as a "children's" film. There was talk about the future of the films and commitment to filming the entire series. While Disney hasn't said it will make more Narnia films it will all depend on the might dollar. To which I say "duh!"... of course they won't make films if they don't make or loose money. As long as they keep making money we can expect to see all seven films be adapted. Surprisingly, one about every year if all goes well. That's an ambitious production schedule. Even films like the Harry Potter series take about 18 months between films. Production begins on "TCON: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" in February and Adamson will move over to the producing position the way Chris Columbus did on the films of the young wizard. All in all, it looks like a promising film... I look forward to the first trailer.

The Pixar panel began with a screening of the Pixar logo. Not one for the entire company, but most likely what will appear before "Wall-E" when it premieres in 2008. Andrew Stanton and god of sound, Ben Burtt came out to talk about the film. Stanton pretty much confirmed what we've seen reports on around the net like Jim Hill and others. Wall-E is a robot that's been around the earth doing his job for over 700 years after the planet has been evacuated. Humans now live in space on giant orbital ships and are giant blobs that sit around and are waited on hand and foot. Wall-E is a robot that over the centuries has developed a personality. He, unlike other robots has achieved consciousness. No longer a cog in the machine, Wall-E actually acts more human that humans now do. Anyway, he comes in contact with a robot from space named Eve and escapes earth to head out in space for a new adventure.

The footage and artwork show was great. The scene was heartfelt... amazing even. Burtt was basically in the position of creating a language in a world without human language. In truth, this film seems like a silent film. It relies on mostly visual pantomime to convey the emotions of it's characters and the arcs in the story. This film shows me the genius of Pixar and its employees. They really don't talk down to the audience. Their entire goal is to tell great stories, engaging stories that the audience will love. I was originally worried about the film being too preachy, but from what I've seen I really am looking forward to this film. It also makes me anticipate what is in store for us at Walt Disney Animation Studios next fall. Actually it makes me curious to see what Lasseter has in for us in live action as well.

After the panel I went out for burgers and beer at our San Diego hang out during Comic-Con: Daves... can't recommend those burger high enough. Over good food and conversation I got a confirmation from one of my Disney animation friends. Andrew Stanton hasn't admitted it, but my friend said "Princess of Mars" was his next film. So there you have it, Stanton will follow Bird into the live action world.

I had a great time at Comic-Con, but each year with all the new people there it becomes more of a job and less fun trying to navigate the panels, floor and meetings. Still, I loved it.

There you have it. A little late. A little short... but hopefully worth it.

Disney Sets Dates...

Walt Disney Pictures has set the release dates of it's two major 2009 releases.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" will open on May 1, 2009.

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" will follow a couple months later when it bows on July 10, 2009.

On another note, Pixar has a release date for it's mystery 2009 release. That picture will debut on June 12, 2009. It appears that the "Cars 2" rumor could be bogus, unless they're using a code name for the project. Pixar's tentative title of it's 2009 film: "Up". Pixar is known to use code names so the "Cars" sequel idea may still be alive, but no information is available as to the validity of that speculation. We'll just have to wait and see if Lightning and Mater return...

Jerry Bruckheimer is going to be a busy man. It's just two years from the release date of POP so I presume he's been working on casting the characters. Michael Bay has not formally committed yet, announcements are probably waiting for the release of "Transformers" before going public. Nothing like a huge opening to tell everyone what your next project is.

Thanks to "comingsoon.net" for the hat tip.

Tentpoles...

Tentpoles.

Every studio wants them. For those of you that don't know what a "tentpole" is, well it's a movie they hang everything else on during that year or season. Usually there is a "Summer Tentpole" like Pirates or Spiderman 3 or a "Fall/Holiday Tentpole" like HP and the Goblet of Fire or Narnia was. It's the one film they hope to identify themselves with and the one out of their schedule that most of their financial livelyhood rides on.

So I thought we'd take a look at what the Mouse has for Tentpoles over the next few years...

Summer 2008 Tentpole:

The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian - The continuing saga of Pevensie children and their journeys to Narnia.

Fall/Holiday Tentpole:

Bedtime Stories - The Disney/Adam Sandler vehicle that has an overworked executive telling stories to children that become real.

Summer 2009 Tentpole:

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - The Bruckheimer/Bay extravaganza loosely based on the video game.

Fall/Holiday 2009 Tentpole:

The Princess and the Frog - Disney's return to glorious hand drawn animation.

Summer 2010 Tentpole:

The Lone Ranger - The story of a masked ranger that fights for justice with his American Indian sidekick.

Fall/Holiday 2010 Tentpole:

Rapunzel - Glen Keane's CG (co)directorial debut of the classic fairy tale.

Not a bad line up, and it's not a complete line up... for 2008 Walt Disney Pictures will also have "The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless" for a Holiday release unless it gets delayed. This doesn't even take into account several other films such as "Jungle Cruise", "American Dog" or "Gemini Man" but it does show you a shift into a direction of big, epic spectacles which was a territory the Mouse avoided under the stewardship of Michael Eisner. Oh, and we've forgot to mention a "possible" Summer 2011 Tentpole:

Pirates of the Caribbean 4.

Now all they have to do is write it...