What happens when Disney run out of theme park rides to develop movie ideas from? Well, they turn to a whole theme park for inspiration!
Variety say The Mouse have quietly been developing a '
Magic Kingdom' family adventure movie, which some clever P.R. is describing as their attempt at a 'Justice League' film. In other words, a showcase ensemble of all their marquee characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, blended with the likes of their fairytale creations Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. They already have a script in place from, astonishingly,
Ronald D. Moore, who pitched the idea. All self-respecting geeks know that not only is Moore a spitting image of former WWE wrestler Al Snow, but that he is also the creative genius behind the successful 'Battlestar Galactica' re-imagining. He has rarely worked outside of the sci-fi genre, let alone light-hearted kids friendly fare. Kudos to him though for pitching what undoubtedly will be a multi-million dollar film.
His script took place in Disneyland itself, though new writers are being sought to flesh out the idea. The film is setup at Disney and Universal, where
Marc Abraham and
Eric Newman are producing via Strike Entertainment. Pretty smart idea from Disney, I'd say. Any 6-10 year old kid who has been brought up correctly (i.e. on classic Disney output, rather than the likes of 'Shrek') will flip at the idea of seeing their favourite characters in such a movie, and then there's the added publicity for their parks, other films involving the characters, etc. And for a man-child like me, I'm pretty psyched (potentially) about the idea. Though it will be a nightmare for Disney logistically to shut down one of their parks to film this. And that's something they will HAVE to do. You can't have a Magic Kingdom movie without setting it in a Disney park. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_uNiGvtEA0 For those taking note, Disney are still developing;
Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides (their fourth movie based on the famous Disney ride) - due May 2011. The Haunted Mansion (Guillermo del Toro is developing) And scripts are being developed for;
Jungle CruiseTomorrowlandTwilight: Tower of Terror