Remember that time way back in January when a rumor hit the ‘net that Tim Burton might be involved with a live-action update of Sleeping Beauty that focuses on the Queen of all Disney villains, Maleficent? Well, that was not a rumor at all; it was in fact very much true, and the studio is officially moving forward with Maleficent.
Disney has re-acquired the talents of screenwriter Linda Woolverton, who just penned Alice in Wonderland for Burton, to begin work on a script for this new project. As stated, indications are that it will be similar to Wonderland with a live-action/motion capture/CGI style and a story that basically switches around the perspective of Sleeping Beauty from good to evil. Woolverton has also done work for Disney on titles like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mulan.
The downfall to all of this (for some, anyway), is that Tim Burton is not signed or sealed for the project at the moment. He has been interested in it for a long time, but with his never ending list of projects, he may not have the time. Burton is supposedly shooting a feature based on his own short film Frankenweenie next, and then he has Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp and the recently-announced stop-motion adaptation of The Addams Family to do. Obviously if this means enough to him, he could drop one or two for now and take hold of Maleficent, but we’ll have to see how it all plays out.
Alice is doing big, big numbers at the box office, but the movie itself isn’t being as critically embraced as most expected it to be. With that being the case, one must ask the question: would this movie be better off if Burton just produces and someone else is hired?
Either way, it should be a lot of fun to see how this project moves forward from here, and especially what it might look like when completed!
[Source: THR]
I adore this idea. Alice In Wonderland wasn’t critically acclaimed for the same reasons all other fantasies are shunned by the high browed morons of critique land and the Acadamy; they lack vision and fun. Plain as that.
Comment by Doug Rasmussen — March 24, 2010 @ 2:23 pm
I don’t know if Burton will direct this, but we can all hope. I can’t imagine many others would be suitable to do this the way it needs to be done.
I am glad Disney IS going through with this though. Should be a cool movie if its done right.
Comment by Brian — March 24, 2010 @ 10:09 pm
As much as I enjoyed Alice, it really, quite simply, was not a good film; that is why it has lacked critical acclaim, no other reason! The sooner you realize this, the more intelligent you will sound. I for one, am tired of Burton’s work this last decade, as I feel it has all felt pre-packaged, contrived, and most certainly lacking the vision and depth of his earlier work. I also did not like the look of Alice and it’s live-action/motion capture/CGI style; I thought it was the weakest aspect of the film and detracted greatly from any attempt at character building and plot development. I believe Burton excels best within physical environments that he creates as opposed to virtual ones. I also believe firmly that CG, should be used to enhance the look and feel of a project as opposed to creating it completely. Burton needs to stop working with the same actors and producing the same level of crap in a different disguise every film, and really needs to start some real creative work on something of substance and quality to create the kind of film that made him the revolutionary film maker he is supposed to be today.
Comment by Jorge — March 25, 2010 @ 10:05 am
A live version of this tale would be a grand thing, but definitely sans Burton. He is incapable of producing the kind of classic æsthetic that made the animated version so wonderful to look at against the music of Tchaikovsky’s ballet. I imagine a Tim Burton Sleeping Beauty would fall somewhere between “Nightmare before Christmas” and “Brothers Grimm” and would probably lack any of the respectful religious, folkloric and political motifs of the original.
Actually, a Tim Burton retelling is likely to lack any taste or æsthetic attraction.
Comment by NGPM — October 17, 2010 @ 2:44 pm
Can Angelina turns into a CGI dragon in the final battle like the original animated version .
Comment by Derek Armstrong — August 12, 2013 @ 2:20 pm