Well this was an interesting if not rumor starting letter from an eavesdropper. The first bit has got to be a reference to TREASURE PLANET, but I've heard that was going fine. Then the second part has to do with WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, but that's a Polygram film I believe.. Any follow ups on this?
Overheard guy in resturant saying that disney space themed animation project is dead....do you know anything about this?
Also, studio is freaking out about the 90 million dollar "art" film What Dreams May Come. They are shooting 6 new scenes to make it a more "commercial" film...bad news. Please Rant In Protest To This Destruction.
Then I have this info from Dumbo, who's ears recorded every minute detail, thank god for cool deformities and magic black feathers... eh? Well here's a ton of Disney stuff...
I don't know if you've come by this information or not but I thought I'd throw it your way just in case.
Last night, I had the rare opportunity to attend a lecture by Disney Lead Character Animator Mark Henn who has worked on Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Jasmine (Alladin), Young Simba (The Lion King), Mickey Mouse (Mickey's Christmas Carol), and both Mulan and her father from the upcoming Mulan. During his lecture he showed us some pencil tests that he had put on video and brought along just to show us. Most of the tests included dialogue recorded for the film by the various actors who have voice parts in the film. While he devoted most of his lecture to Mulan, he did let slip a little info about some upcoming projects that I don't think I have read about here. I will try to include all of the relavent information from his lecture that I can remember.
1) Most of the animation from Mulan that he showed us was from the trailers but he did show us a pencil sketch from a scene featuring Mushu (Eddie Murphy) who has not been scene yet by the general public. Mushu is a little dragon who stays hidden behind Mulan's collar and gets her both into and out of trouble. The clip we were shown had Mushu putting his arms around Mulan's neck and telling her "we got into this together, we'll get out of it together."
2) Mark told us that Mulan is the most well balanced of the recent Disney animated features and as a result, the marketing department doesn't know what to do with it. The approach so far has been to pitch it to adults but he assured us that there is a lot of humor in the film from both Mushu and a group of soldiers called the Warriors Three (I think that B.D. Wong might be voicing one of them).
3) He also showed us a clip featuring Mulan's grandmother voiced by the legendary June Foray. She sounded like your typical animated old lady I guess but I thought it was cool that June Foray was being featured as prominently as she was.
4) He said that the Florida studio didn't know what their next project would be but that he would be directing a new short based on the tall tale, John Henry for which they would be composing a new ballad.
5) No mention of Fantasia 2000 but he did throw out Treasure Planet which he said would basically be Treasure Island in space and would be done by the same team who made The Little Mermaid, Alladin, and Hercules.
6) He talked a little about the new Beauty and the Beast footage saying that Disney tried to bring back all of the original voice and animation talent for the restored scene (Human Again for those of you who has seen the Broadway show). He also said that it would not be inserted in the spot from which is was originally cut. He said that he really liked the scene and the song but that they brought the story to a grinding halt in the original cut. He said that it would be inserted right before the scene where the Beast takes a bath and would end with a splash of water covering the screen that would work as a lead in to the bath scene.
7) And on an even lighter note, he showed us video footage of his Disney's research trip to China including a moment where they thought they were being led to a Chinese temple only to find out that their guide had mistakenly taken them to a Karaoke bar.
This lecture was sponsored by an animation gallery in the Chicago area. I've been going to them for a couple years now and would be happy to report on others as they occur.
