Stand aside Indiana Jones, move along now Han, and make way for....faries? That's right, Touchstone Pictures recently released a trailer for a new movie written by George Lucas and it's a Disney-like animated musical.
Titled "Strange Magic", and based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", the movie is set to release January 23. It narrates the adventures of (of course) faries, elves, goblins, imps, and various anthropomorphised woodland creatures along the way. "Strange Magic" is written and produced by George Lucas, directed by Gary Rydstrom of "Toy Story" fame, and with a screenplay by David Berenbaum ("Elf" and "Spiderwick Chronicles"), Irene Mecchi ("Brave", "Hercules", "Lion King" and "Hunchback of Notre Dame") and Rydstrom.
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Now, watching the trailer, one has to admit that it definitely looks good. The art style is similar to Disney's recent smash hit "Frozen" with beautiful lighting and CGI. But still, George Lucas as the force behind what looks like an animated, sing-along, feel-good fest is a little hard to swallow. Also, it's somewhat troubling for this writer to note that not only is the publishing house a Disney-owned company, but the director, and screenwriters as well are DIsney stalwarts. Lucas sold off his company to Disney a while ago, but does this move now mean he's completely tied himself to the mouse-eared monolith? And if so, is that a Only time will tell....
