Walt Disney Animation Studios did something unusual yesterday...
They showed a rough cut of "Tangled" to a gathering of press. John Lasseter was there to proudly present it and the film makers were there to talk about it. The film isn't finished yet. It's about 60 percent done. All of the animation is finished, but the lighting and shading as well as the musical score were noticeably missing. Quite a risk to show a film that has a couple months to go, don't you think? I mean, the press could tear it apart if it is bad. Even if it was mediocre there would be great danger for showing it so soon, letting bad press build up. That would be a long, painful two months wouldn't it?
So the Mouse believes they have something special. The press would be out with knives if this were a clunker, because this is WDAS's 50th animated feature. Imagine the headlines if that had sucked? Fiftieth fails. Half a century of films too late, or something like it. But everything I've heard is that they loved it. This isn't the film you've been shown in those horribly bad, rock song drowned trailers. From the Bothans I've talked to, it's closer to "Beauty & the Beast" or better yet, one of the classic tales of the late 40's/early 50's. Over at Deadline Hollywood, they're talking about it being a contender for Best Picture/Best Animated Picture. My good pal, George over at Latino Review loved it. And from the buzz I've heard, it appears that all those wishing/hoping/expecting Disney to fail are going to be sorely disappointed.
Still. they could have invited me to the screening. I was in Burbank yesterday. Ok, well, I was in the Valley so it wouldn't have taken long to have driven over there. I guess they still are kinda upset with me spilling the beans on a few things, hmmm?
It looks like it's going to be a beautiful November...
