Disney is a part of everyone’s childhood, and many people’s adulthoods. The charismatic lead characters, the deep and often frightful villains and the lovable and funny secondary characters make you feel a part of the Disney family. The gorgeous settings and detailed historical research submerge you into a fantasy world. The active plot lines set your heart racing and make you place your bets on the characters, root for them until the end. It’s a complete family experience and one that will continue for many years to come. In their press releases Disney talk about the films to come, everything from the simple concepts they’ve been throwing around right up to films that are already in production. So here are eight great-sounding films Disney have declared they will produce soon, and this is why we’re already looking forward to them!
1: The Jungle Book – live action.
So many of us grew up on the traditional Disney rendition of The Jungle Book. It was a tale of friendship transcending boundaries, trying to find a place where you fit in and learning to face danger and make sacrifices for those you love. But many more of us also read the original books, All The Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling. There are a few differences. In the books Mowgli’s relationships with the jungle were far more tense. Of course animals would be wary of humans and many of them saw Mowgli as a genuine threat to their lives. The original book did not end with Mowgli leaving for the village, either. Mowgli found that he did not fit in in the jungle nor in the village with humans. He was too manlike for the wolves, too animal for the people. Eventually he killed Shere Kahn and moved out to live in the jungle on his own. So of course many of us are wildly excited at the idea of a slightly more true to the story film. The new film is going to be a live action and CGI crossover, with a more diverse, modern voice cast than the old one. It should hit the cinemas this very month, April 15th 2016. And we can’t wait to see the result after so many months of anticipation.
2: The BFG.
Roald Dahl stories featured on many children’s bookshelves. The combination of slightly unnerving fantasy and plucky, lovable, relatable lead characters draws kids in and kept us reading all evening. And, understandably, when his books have been put out up on the big screen they have generally been an amazing success. Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate factory come to mind as films everyone has seen at least once and loved, even people who did not read the original books. And now Disney is soon to release a new one! The BFG in Roals Dahl’s book is a magical creature that goes from house to house capturing nightmares and releasing good dreams so children can sleep well. In fact, BFG stands for Big Friendly Giant. But not all giants are good! A number of evil man-eating giants have started to invade the human world. A little girl named Sophie befriends the BFG and joins him on his quest to capture these evil giants and stop them from eating humans. The film has been put on hold since 1991, when Paramount Pictures bought the rights to the book… and left them undeveloped, a sadly common problem in Hollywood. The script has been going back and forth for years since, and only finally put into production in 2014.
3: Gigantic.
Another movie about giants? Yes! But bear with us. This story follows a completely different path. Gigantic is picking up from the traditional tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, where a little boy is tricked into buying magic beans that grow right up into the sky, where giants live. When he climbs up to investigate a giant chases him, wanting to eat him. Jack proceeds to steal from the giant to get himself out of poverty. He only escapes when he clambers down the beanstalk, chopping it down from the bottom and killing the giant who was halfway down. But this film is set to have a twist. Set in Spain during the Age of Exploration, the film gives us a new and exciting reason why Jack might be so eager to discover a new world in the heavens. Not only that, but one of the giants, a little one called Inma, looks like she will be a sort of a friend!
4: Moana.
We’re super hyped about Moana for many reasons. Firstly, after a lot of focus on white and European and American traditions, this will be the first major Disney release in years to focus not just on a heroine of colour, but also on an original story line. The film is set to follow the journey of a teenager called Moana as she sails out across the Pacific to complete a mission left by her ancestors. They used to be the greatest sailors in the world, sailing across the South Pacific and discovering islands. But for the past thousand years they have not sailed out at all. Nobody knows why… but Moana sure is going to find out! Meeting a fallen demi-god, Maui, Moana travels the ocean, following a story that is a crossover between the Homeric epic and traditional Aboriginal and Pacific Island lore. Other than that, we know nothing. It is scheduled for release at the end of this year, but we’re already on the edge of our seats trying to work out what could happen in this new and fascinating story!
5: Captain America: Civil War.
Yes, it’s Disney! Marvel Studios have long cooperated with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and all the Avengers films have been through them. In 2011 they jointly released Captain America: The First Avenger, which was a good film, but didn’t really offer us the thrills we expected, especially not after the Iron Man films, The Incredible Hulk and Thor’s amazing stories. However they upped the ante with 2014’s Captain America: Winter Soldier. Which has got us very excited for Civil War. It is set to happen a year after the events in Avengers: Age of Ultron, when another international disaster happens. The damage is so great that governments consider making really sure they need the Avengers before they call them (apparently a team of supermen, mutants and literal gods is not an everyday workforce). This results in the fracturing of the team, just as a new threat emerges.
6: Beauty and the Beast.
For many of us, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is a childhood classic that cannot be topped. So we were wary when we heard Disney would be… well reinventing it in 2017. After all, nobody can actually top the animated film from 1991. The gorgeous art, the wonderful scenes, the great choices of voice actors, the perfect lyrics… Not to mention the feisty yet introverted lead characters, who was a refreshing change from earlier Disney girls, who were all extroverts. It was spot on. But then we heard the plans they have for it! This film is going to be a live action rendition of the classic, drawing musical inspirations from the Beauty and the Beast Broadway musical and style from the original film, casting Emma Watson as Belle. So this might work after all!
7: Frozen 2.
We’re not usually big on generic numbered sequels to great films. There are a few exceptions, such as the Shrek franchises, or Toy Story, but as a whole adding a number to an old title just seems like a cheap and easy trick to us. That said, we’re kind of hyped for Frozen 2. Frozen was just one of those films that surprised us with its originality and plot twists, challenging our own prejudices and Disney-specific stereotypes. So we have high standards for the sequel. No plot has been released yet, but the same directors and producer are lined up to make it a reality.
8: Alice Through the Looking Glass.
We were so impressed with 2010’s Alice in Wonderland. A beautiful, haunting scenery, great casting choices and a fantastic script, all directed by one of our all time favourite directors, Tim Burton. It was a thrilling combination of the original story with Tim Burton’s own twists and it was absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately Burton will not be there to direct this one, but the original cast are back again and the plot looks just as twisted and magical, following from the adventures of Alice in Lewis Carroll’s original novel, but as always with a creative spin. It also will be the last film to feature Alan Rickman’s heavenly voice as Absolem the Caterpillar, following his death earlier this year. A final tribute to his brilliance.