What classic story would bring back disney's glory?

[quiden]

as I'm listening to my disney music the Hunchback soundtrack came on and made me think of this question.

So, what story do you think disney could make into an animated feature, with music and everything, that would bring back disney's glory that it had when it made Beauty and the Beast? It seems like now disney is making movies that are good for now, but aren't making movies that will stand the test of time like the early 90s movies.

My thought is that Disney would do well to adapt a Dickens story -- possibly Great Expectations (one of my favorites). I think that story has great possibilites for a musical. It shows growth of a character from child to adult. Has great emotional depth. and I think that it would be appealing well into the future as a classic.

So, what are your thoughts? Try to stick to stories that would do well as musicals and could have some of the same charm and appeal that Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Aladdin, and the Little Mermaid had.

[stitcharielbeast]

Great Expectations may make for a great musical but it won't be magical enough to put Disney animation to it's full potential.

If it should try to go for another golden age it should go back to a Fairy Tale like it always did. (I'm studyng animation, this is my goal)

stories I feel would really revive it:

The Emperor and the Nighttingale - there is a version of this story where a prince searches for the nighttingale to cure his ailing father.

The Snow Queen - if twisted Disney-style this could become an instant classic.

[Escapay]

The Velveteen Rabbit. Sure, it's essentially Pinocchio with toys, but it's a classic story that could easily be turned into a Disneyfied musical.

Escapay

[fairuza]

i don't think the problem is the stories, it's the management.

[ohmahaaha]

i don't think the problem is the stories, it's the management.

I think it's both - the stories could be better, but there has been a LOT missing in terms of the music. All of the great ones of the last 15 or so years over that period - Mermaid, Beauty, Aladdin, Lion King, have all had great music and hit songs. Very, very important to a films greatness IMO.

Maybe an adapted Gilbert & Sullivan musical would be cool - one that would lend itself to animation very well, such as "Iolanthe" or "Ruddigore." What other stories has Disney not done? "Hansel and Gretel" - the Humperdinck version? "Robinson Crusoe." "Moby Dick." And I think that's just scratching the surface. The next great Disney era is out there, just waiting to begin.

[Disney-Fan]

Narnia - The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
The more I read this book the easier it is imagining it as an animated feature! The movie can also be only lossly based on the idea, and spin the whole thing into a kingdom fairy tale with a prince / princess!

[akhenaten]

AIDA! AIDA! AIDA!

[yendor]

It's obvious to me that Disney could regain its true greatness by mining the cashe of fairy tales it has yet to explore completely. Why make films of such questionable material as "Tarzan," "Hercules," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," when there are soooo many fairy tales yet developed?

Here are just a few that would make great Disney films:

(1) Rapunzel
(2) Rumplestilkin
(3) Hansel and Gretel
(4) Princess and the Pea
(5) The Swan Princess
(6) The Frog Prince
(7) The story of Raggedy Ann (not a fairy tale, but Disney could do wonders with this)
(8) Little Lulu (again, not a fairy story--but a great old fashioned comic with universal kid appeal)
(9) The Snow Queen
(10) Little Red Riding Hood

And these are just a few!

Rod

[singerguy04]

i'd like to see how disney could pull of the princess and the pea, it's kinda short, but i would like to see disney pick up broadway musicals which are based on books and make their own renditions, i just think it'd be fun. Musicals like Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and Fiddler on the Roof would look and feel nice. I'm not sure whether or not i'd like to see disney just make an adaptation of these musicals or to completely make new music, but i think it'd make an interesting project!

[Jake Lipson]

Okay, so it's not a classic story in the sense that everyone knows it, but I've always thought an adaptation of the book THE LAST OF THE REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES (musical or not) was the perfect fit for Disney. And as it was written by Julie Andrews, I'm suprised they haven't thought to ask her for the rights yet. It's about three children who travel into a parallel universe with an old professor in search of the last of a great breed of magical creatures, the legendary Whangdoodle.

[Prince Adam]

Okay, so it's not a classic story in the sense that everyone knows it, but I've always thought an adaptation of the book THE LAST OF THE REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES (musical or not) was the perfect fit for Disney. And as it was written by Julie Andrews, I'm suprised they haven't thought to ask her for the rights yet. It's about three children who travel into a parallel universe with an old professor in search of the last of a great breed of magical creatures, the legendary Whangdoodle.

Wow-I completely forgot about that book (read it in 4th grade): it would make a great Disney film.

Besides that, I'm really counting on Rapunzel to help revive Disney (or at least give Kristin Chenoweth another chance to shine), as long as there are no squirrels or basset hounds. Next, is Aida. I see it as something very much in the vein of Hunchback (little possibility for stupid sidekicks) that can prove Disney doesn't just make "kids movies"

[psifreek27]

i just checked out most of "Aida" i had known of it, but never looked into it...and it does sound like it is just waiting for disney to translate it to animation, it can be very much in the hunchback/pocahontas vein...hell they have a billion songs already, write a new one for best original song oscar...and there you have a great movie.

[stitcharielbeast]

Didn't Aida originally start out as an animated feature for Disney and eventually morphed into a broadway musical?


Disney needs to prove once again that it can still compete with the likes of Shrek and the Pixar movies and that traditional animation can still be alive, If theya re going to try and bring back the glory days they have to make a movie not just for kids and not just for adults but for EVERYBODY. They have to look hard and long at all the great classics (the Disney era films, the original 4 renaissance films) and think about how they can make another of the same caliber.

[PrincessJen]

i think Rapunzel would be amazing as a disney movie, maybe even thumbelina

[DreamerQ18]

It's obvious to me that Disney could regain its true greatness by mining the cashe of fairy tales it has yet to explore completely. Why make films of such questionable material as "Tarzan," "Hercules," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," when there are soooo many fairy tales yet developed?

Here are just a few that would make great Disney films:

(1) Rapunzel
(2) Rumplestilkin
(3) Hansel and Gretel
(4) Princess and the Pea
(5) The Swan Princess
(6) The Frog Prince
(7) The story of Raggedy Ann (not a fairy tale, but Disney could do wonders with this)
(8) Little Lulu (again, not a fairy story--but a great old fashioned comic with universal kid appeal)
(9) The Snow Queen
(10) Little Red Riding Hood

And these are just a few!

Rod

All good ideas and maybe this is just me but I am curious whats the Little Lulu story about ? I dont recall ever hearing a story by this tittle but it sound really intreasting.

[Mr. Toad]

Tarzan - questionable material?????

Classic literature, easily animated into a story. And the movie was pretty good too aside from Terk.

As far as literature, maybe they have pretty much exhausted it. Two of disney's more recent movies were based on folk legends(Brother Bear) and an original idea(Lilo and Stitch). How bout more from those areas?

[Prince Eric]

Dickens should be left alone. All the musical version of his works are unacceptable in my opinion. Moby Dick and Robin Crusoe as family-friendly animated features? I don't think so...I really don't. I agree, fairy tales are the way to go, but I don't think they necessarily have to be classics...or Western cultivated for that matter, but since that where most are going, my vote is for The Emperor and the Nightengale, which I believe is currently being developed by Disney feature animation anyway. A director's already attached, but the problem is developing a working script.

[quiden]

Before listening to the Beauty and the Beast commentary, I didn't know how involved in the creation of the movie Howard Ashman was, I thought he was just the lyricist. I think the Ashman/Menken team was great because they brought the big musical numbers into the movies and made them really fun, much like a broadway musical that's animated. I agree with the thoughts of animating a current musical, but I also think the just bringing in a team that works on broadway to develop something new would be a good way to go too.

[Mouseketodd]

I don't know about its ability to restore Disney to its former glory, but what about an adaptation of Black Beauty?