I suppose we only have ourselves to blame for this one: according to Variety, this summer's live-action (re: CGI) adaptation of The Jungle Book earned over $900 million worldwide (the third Disney film to do so this year; I imagine that Moana will be the fourth in November).
That's right. Not only is Disney making a live-action (re: CGI because there's not even a single human in this story) The Lion King -- but they've put it on the fast-track. Whatever that means.
I kinda get The Jungle Book adaptation...it was the 1960s and isn't as popular but remaking the Renaissance Disney classics? WHY?!
Disney, I love you. I really, truly, honestly do. But at some point, the remakes have to stop. NOTHING will ever touch Elton John's version of "The Circle of Life" so...just stop.
According to Deadline, Miranda will (1) co-produce the film (he's not writing the story but will "supervise" it) and (2) will write songs with Alan Menken.
The article mentions that it's an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" but...I'm pretty sure it's just going to be a remake of the 1989 Disney film (a.k.a. my first Disney love and obsession) as Andersen is a bit too dark for Disney. (Also, Chloe Grace Moretz is starring in that film -- and she's been adamant about it is darker and it's not the Disney version.)
All that being said...I have no idea what a "live-action" adaptation of a story about mermaids and evil sea witches and set largely underwater even looks like. I mean...I would imagine it's something akin to a "live-action adaptation" of The Jungle Book where by "live-action" they mean "largely CGI." Although, Annie Leibowitz made a bunch of Olympic swimmers look like convincing merpeople, so it could happen. (Still one of my favorites things EVER.)
I'll end with this final thought: I have complete trust in LMM. I know he's not writing the story (yet), but if anyone can pull off a live-action adaptation and make it new and fresh, it's him. After all, if you'd told me that Broadway's hottest ticket right now would be to a rap-musical based on the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, I would have laughed and epically eye-rolled.
Okay. Not really. I'm not going to Disney World -- but someone tonight will probably utter those words.
I'm a Peyton Manning fan -- such a class act, IMHO -- and I'd love to see him go out on top, but being a Carolina resident, I feel like it's blasphemous not to root for the Panthers. So I call tonight a win-win game. (Anyone but the Patriots. Well, really anyone but Tom Brady. I think that comes from being raised in a Giants household.)
So, I *could* go to Disney World...basically, to encourage Disney guests to stay at the Swan & Dolphin -- which, while on Disney property (they're walking distance from the Boardwalk, Beach & Yacht Club, and EPCOT), are not technically Disney hotels anymore; you don't get quite the same benefits -- residents of NC, SC, and Colorado get a BOGO deal. Book at least two nights, get one free.
Added Bonus? If your team wins the Superbowl, residents of that state get a free room upgrade. Which...staying there, maybe for my birthday weekend in November, walking into EPCOT for Food & Wine...there are worse things!
I've always found it a fascinating link -- Disney World and football/the Super Bowl. I mean, not now, because Disney owns ESPN, but the connection has been there since 1987.
Phil Simms -- of the New York Giants, thank you very much! -- was the first to say it -- although it just as easily could have been John Elway. The story goes that Michael Eisner's wife came up with the idea -- during the Eisner era, everything was a marketing strategy -- and they offered each quarterback a pretty penny to say the phrase if his team won. The Giants did, Phil Simms said it, and the rest is sort of history.
Again--now it makes sense, with Disney owning ESPN. But in 1987? I guess Disney World (or Land, perhaps depending on your team's location...?) was a logical place to celebrate a fairy-tale win?
I'll leave you with another Giant in his celebratory parade:
Will it be another Manning riding alongside Mickey? Or will Cam Newton teach Mickey how to dab?
