I’m not sure I ever talked about this before, but back when I was living in Southern California, I had the pleasure of being at official Disney-sponsored press events as both a reporter for Sequential Tart.com and as a press liaison as a Disney Cast Member.
As such, I think I can definitely envision how D23, the first Disney “fan convention”—and allegedly, its answer to the San Diego Comic Con—kicked off on Friday and how almost all the presentations were run. Thankfully, the Associated Press was also there to cover the first day, and here’s a rundown of the crunchy news bits:
- The title of the new Pirates of the Carribbean movie is Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides, and it will be released in Summer 2011. Incidentally, it goes without saying that Johnny Depp was on hand and was dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow while Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook gave this announcement and arrived on stage at the Anaheim Convention Center in a pirate ship, yes? (Source: AP)
- Guillermo del Toro appeared via video from New Zealand to discuss the deal he has with Disney to produce “scarier” animated features via the new brand “Disney Double Dare You.” The first movie will be called Trollhunters, based on an original story by del Toro (Source: AP)
- Robert Zemeckis was also on-hand to show off footage from the upcoming 3-D version of A Christmas Carol, the one that has Jim Carrey playing eight different parts. His next project with Disney will be a 3-D adaptation of the Beatles’ 1968 classic animated film Yellow Submarine. (Source: AP)
I’d be surprised if there was more news to come this weekend because it’d be hard to follow Johnny Depp and a pirate ship, right?
Lincoln says:
I think the idea of a 3D, motion captured, remake of 'Yellow Submarine' is one of the worst ideas ever. The original film has such a charm, despite the fact that the Beatles didn't provide their own voices. This is just a terrible idea.
arkonbey says:
1) PotC: Yawn. See earlier anti-movie franchise rants
2) Hmmm… Should be something, as it's del Toro. Though I would prefer a live-action. The only thing better than a del Toro film is knowing that somewhere there were, if only fleeting, actual places and actual things that were part of his beautiful/terrifying visions.
3) God. Please. No more A Christmas Carol. It's been done eighteen times (including with Muppets). With the exception of Scrooged, they were all crap since the 1938 version. And am I the only one that doesn't think that 3D is worth the extra cash? (I know I probably the only one who does not want to see Jim Carrey hamming his way through Dickens for two hours)
3b) I agree with Lincoln. Bad, bad idea.
arkonbey says:
1) PotC: Yawn. See earlier anti-movie franchise rants
2) Hmmm… Should be something, as it's del Toro. Though I would prefer a live-action. The only thing better than a del Toro film is knowing that somewhere there were, if only fleeting, actual places and actual things that were part of his beautiful/terrifying visions.
3) God. Please. No more A Christmas Carol. It's been done eighteen times (including with Muppets). With the exception of Scrooged, they were all crap since the 1938 version. And am I the only one that doesn't think that 3D is worth the extra cash? (I know I probably the only one who does not want to see Jim Carrey hamming his way through Dickens for two hours)
3b) I agree with Lincoln. Bad, bad idea.