UnBraided

Next up for Disney is a throw back to my childhood, Disney is getting back to it's roots and doing a classic fairy tale. Rapunzel (originally titled Rapunzel: Unbraided although the second part of the title has been taken off of imbd) is set to come out in 2009, it will be Disney's first film inspired by a European fairy tale in 18 years ( the last being 1991's Beauty and the Beast.) the film is said to star Kristin Chennoweth, as the title role, although nothing has been confirmed. The movie's visual style will be based on the painting "The Swing", by the French Rococo artist Jean-Honore Fragonar. director Glen Keane chose this, because he wanted this to be an animated film that looked and felt like a traditional hand-drawn Disney Classic, just in 3D. Originally, the film's plot revolved around two 'romantically challenged', real-world teenagers who are transformed into Rapunzel and her Prince by a disgruntled witch who can no longer stand happy fairy-tale endings. However, since production was halted in 2004 for major retooling, Director, Glen Keane has promised that the film will revert back to the fairy tale's "literary origins." Hopefully that means the tired plot of two 'romantically challenged, real-world teenagers' that in all honesty sounds more Shrek then Disney will be scrapped. Keane has stated he wants to create a classic film, and that he is going back to Rapunzel’s literary origins to do a traditional, character-driven fairy tale that speaks to a modern audience. “It’s a story of the need for each person to become who they are supposed to be and for a parent to set them free so they can become that. It will be a musical and a comedy and have a lot of heart and sincerity. I think that’s what Disney needs to do right now. No one else can do it. We should not be embarrassed or making excuses for doing a fairy tale." I am so excited about this, i grew up with the classic Disney films, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, those were amazing films, that i watch and still conect with. Even though some of the newer films are good too, it seems like "Shrek" humor is taking over, and as funny as Shrek was, it's no Little Mermaid. I miss animated movies that had big song and dance numbers, and charachters that you fell in love with. I feel like as fun as all the cgi films are, and as much as i enjoy them, they are more made for adults, then children. Some of the jokes in Shrek go right over the heads of kids i baby sit, and that's not what those films are supposed to be about. I am glad that Disney is taking the innitative, and going back to what made it so amazing and magical. i hope that with the release of Rapunzel, and the Princess and the Frog (a jazzy retelling of the Frog Princess set in New Orleans, starring Anika Noni Rose.) Disney goes back to it's roots, and revieves the fairytale for a generation that seems to be surrounded by fart jokes, and only laughs when they are making fun of someone else.