The Disney Animation Slate

And here's where I'm kind of a hypocrite, because I'm about to engage in some shameless rumor dissection. A few weeks ago, a blog called Blue Sky Disney posted a schedule of Disney Animation's slate of future projects, all the way up through 2018. It looks like this:

Frozen (2013)
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Zootopia (2016)
Giants (2016)
Moana (TBA, likely 2018)
Untitled Dean Wellin Animated Feature (TBA, likely 2018)

The dates are correct, as Disney staked them out officially earlier in the year, but the titles have only been confirmed up through "Zootopia," which was revealed to be a anthropomorphized animal buddy-cop comedy at the latest D23 convention. Beyond that, it's all speculation, but there have been enough corroborating reports from other sources that point to this information most likely being legit. For instance, here's a recent report from Bleeding Cool with more details on "Giants," which is a new spin on "Jack and the Beanstalk." And this interview with director Ron Clements seems to confirm "Moana," a Polynesian themed tale. Lots can change between now and 2016, of course, but I think there's enough information here to write up some thoughts on what's going on at the Mouse House.

One of the first things I noticed about the new slate is that it's a little light on female lead characters. Oh sure, "Zootopia" will split the billing between a female rabbit and a male fox, and there are sure to be girlfriends for Jack in "Giants" and the young superhero in "Big Hero 6," but Disney's traditionally gotten into trouble when they try courting the young male audience too aggressively. Some have pointed out that the slate has been a little too princess-heavy recently between "The Princess and the Frog," "Tangled," "Enchanted," PIXAR's "Brave" and now "Frozen," but it's a little worrying not to see anything even being discussed.

I was hoping that Disney would have a little more faith in their princess movies after "Tangled," but less than three months away from the release date of "Frozen," we have yet to get a good look at the main characters, the story, or anything else in the film aside from the comic relief. A Japanese trailer is floating around that offers much more substance in only a few seconds, and irony of ironies, the film is retaining the "The Snow Queen" title in Japan. Still the film got made, after a decades in development, and I'm looking forward to it.

Second thing I noticed is that Disney is globetrotting again, setting some of its future movies in very culturally distinct locales. "Big Hero 6" is based on an obscure Marvel Comics property, and will be set in a fictional Asian-themed city. It will star a young hero named Hiro Hamada, who has created his own robot partner. This has anime homage written all over it, which could be a lot of fun, but there's also the danger of uncomfortable Asian stereotypes running amok. But then, Dreamworks did it right with the "Kung Fu Panda" movies, so I have some faith that Disney will too.

I'm also very curious about "Moana," the latest from Disney veterans John Musker and Ron Clements which will be their debut in CGI. Because I am a film nerd, I know that it shares a name with the obscure 1926 South Seas ethnographic documentary, "Moana," made by Robert Flaherty as his follow-up to "Nanook of the North." And I know that Moana was the name of the lead male character, whose story was a coming-of-age romance. That doesn't mean that Disney's "Moana" will necessarily center around a male hero. "Moana" means "deep water" or "ocean" in Samoan.

"Giants" was apparently pushed back because of Bryan Singer's "Jack the Giant Slayer," but that film was such a bust on every level, I don't think it should affect the Disney version at all. Besides, if the latest reports about the direction of "Giants" are correct, the two movies will have almost nothing in common. By 2016 I doubt anyone will remember "Jack." "Zootopia" strikes me as having a very modern sensibility, and is the kind of project I'd expect to see at Dreamworks or one of the smaller CGI animation outfits. When Disney tries to get hip with their animated films, they tend to end up with movies like "Chicken Little." Still, it's too early to say anything yet.

Finally, the slate is interesting for what's not on it. There are no sequels at this time, in spite of the success of "Wreck-it-Ralph" spawning so much discussion about what could happen in the next installment. This is in stark contrast to PIXAR, which has embraced the concept of franchising many of its past hits. And there is no sign of previously buzzed-about projects like "King of the Elves," based on a Philip K. Dick story, or the rumored Mickey Mouse feature. Instead, new Mickey Mouse shorts have been in circulation, and one is expected to play with "Frozen" in November.

Happy watching.
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