Hey folks, Harry here with the latest and greatest from Jim Hill... Seems my recent tome motivated the man, the legend to absond with some juicy news and dish it out to all us here. Have no idea what to think of a CHICKEN LITTLE film idea... But I'm curious as all tarnation to see that Mickey Mouse thing and TREASURE PLANET. Scroll and enjoy maties...
Harry --
Jim Hill here. And it's all your damned fault that I'm not getting anything done today, Harry. Here I was -- supposed to be churning out two features for DCACentral.com and Digital Media FX this morning -- and then Amazon.com drops off a copy of your new book this morning. Three hours later, I'm on Page 200. So far, "Ain't It Cool" is a really great read. Please pass along my kudos to Mr. Cullum -- who I got to chat with late last month. Together, you two have cobbled out a surprisingly passionate, supremely entertaining history of AICN. Who knew you had it in you, Knowles?
Anyway -- as kind of a thank you for providing me with such a fun distraction today, Harry -- let me tell you a bit about what I saw last week while covering Disney's Annual Stockholder's Meeting down in Hartford, CT.
First of all ... Things are obviously beginning to heat up in the battle between Disney and Pixar. I mean, think about it, Harry. The Mouse has at least a half a dozen new feature length animated projects in development. "Bears," "Sweating Bullets," "The Snow Queen" to name just a few. But which film does Disney CEO Michael Eisner choose to talk about at this particular meeting? Disney's first all CGI feature since the studio's disappointing 2000 release, "Dinosaur" : "Chicken Little."
Never mind that this film (which will be helmed by "Emperor's New Groove" & "Cats Don't Dance" director Mark Dindal and produced by Randy Fullmer) is so far back on Disney's development track that all the Mouse could show at the Hartford meeting was "Chicken Little" 's title card (Which showed two CGI chicken feet sticking out from under a rumpled white theatrical curtain, on which was written -- in lowercase type -- Disney's "chicken little"). Disney's CEO obviously wanted to get the word out that his company is not ceding the CGI turf to Pixar or Dreamworks/PDI. Eisner's message was clear, Harry: The Mouse -- in spite of any setbacks the studio may have recently experienced with its traditionally animated fare -- still intends to be the top dog in Toontown.
In an effort to nail home this point, Eisner then pulled out a piece of test animation for a project that will reportedly feature a 3D CGI Mickey Mouse. This clip -- which was about a minute long -- showed a computer generated Mickey exiting his house on a very stormy day. An off-screen Minnie admonished Mickey to take along her umbrella. As soon as he steps outside, the Mickster is buffeted by strong winds. So he quickly opens Minnie's umbrella and is immediately embarrassed to see that it's a girlie floral print. Then a strong gust of wind lifts Mickey and the umbrella up into the air, pasting the Mouse against the second floor of the house. Mickey talks through a window to an off-screen barking Pluto ("Hey! A little help here?") before another gust sends him careening off into the sky.
Albeit brief, this CGI Mickey footage was still quite impressive, Harry. And Disney's animators had obviously put a lot of time in and/or sparred no expense when it came to the production of this test footage. (EX: The exterior of the Mouse's house was an exact copy of the one theme park visitors encounter when visiting Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland. Plus Disney had also recruited the very same performers who provide voices for the characters -- Wayne Allwine for Mickey, Russie Taylor for Minnie and Bill Farmer for Pluto -- to do the vocals for this test footage.)
So when's this CGI version of Mickey supposed to make his big screen debut? Initially, movie-goers will only be able to see this computer animated Mouse while vacationing in Orlando. This CGI Mickster is supposed to star in "Mickey's Philharmagic," a new 3D movie attraction that will premiere at WDW's Magic Kingdom in the Fall of 2003 ... before this multi-media show pops up at all the other Disney theme parks worldwide sometime between 2004 - 2005.
But that's not the only way that Disney hopes to capitalize on this new CGI Mickey Mouse. I've also heard that Disney's Video Premiere department (The same folks who produced this month's better-than-it-really-had-a-right-to-be "Back to Never Land") is currently prepping a direct-to-video feature that will be built around this computer animated version of Mickey. This particular project will supposedly be rolled out to retailers in late 2003 / early 2004 as part of the Walt Disney Company's worldwide celebration of Mickey Mouse's 75th birthday. Unless -- of course -- the film tests really well ... Then a theatrical release in February 2004 is not out of the question.
Before the animation fans start pissing and moaning about Disney turning its back on traditional animation ... Let me say that Disney also used the Hartford stockholders meeting to preview "Treasure Planet." This three minute long clip -- which lovingly detailed the launch of the Hispanola -- was quite simply the balls, Harry. A seamless mix of traditional 2D and CGI animation. As the solar sails were unfurled and crackled with energy ... As the ship zoomed through a pod of enormous space going whales ... There's no other way to describe it, Harry. Sheer magic. I can't wait to see "TP" when it debuts in IMAX (as well as regular theaters) come November.
Plus Eisner gave stockholders a brief glimpse of the very next "Lilo & Stitch" teaser trailer (in pencil test form). Yes, the rumors are true. The next trailer does riff on Disney's "The Lion King." But the gag's just too good to give away here. Just keep an eye out for Stitch's appearance in the Pridelands at a theater -- or on a server -- near you over the next month or so.
That's pretty much it for the info from Hartford, Harry. Here's hoping that you find something here you can use over at AICN. By the way, I'm also working on a marathon length piece about Howard Ashman and the huge part he played with the creation of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" that I'm currently looking for a home for. Interested?
Beyond that ... Please give my best to your Dad and good luck with your book tour,
Best Regards,
Jim Hill
