DVDizzy Forum

D82 wrote:The animated film will be led by the vocal talents of Jake Gyllenhaal (Spider-Man: Far from Home) as the protagonist, Searcher Clade.

Searcher is a horrible first name. I get they wanted something that alludes to exploration and adventure, but couldn't they have come up with something better?

D82 wrote:The black sheep of his family, Searcher chose a very different path from the others. Coming from a long lineage of brave and daring explorers, Searcher instead decided to get his hands dirty differently - by becoming a farmer. But in Strange World, Searcher needs to team up with his family to help them complete an incredibly dangerous mission.

It sounds there's not going to be a villain in this WDAS movie either. His dad will probably serve as an antogonist of some sort, the way Abuela did in Encanto. The two are going to work through their issues whilst fighting alien creatures and come to understand each other by the end. The critics will eat it up and praise it as cleaver and sophisticated filmmaking, as if it isn't cliche, safe, and predictable.

D82 wrote:There are several reasons why I like Disney much more than any other animation studio, but the main one and the reason I became a Disney fan in the first place is their visual style, which I've always found very appealing, so the fact that WDAS is now following Pixar's example and is starting to change their house style for a different one for each movie is really disappointing to me.

What first drew me to Disney was the high-quality hand-drawn animation coupled with appealing, naturalistic character designs. No one was doing that better than Disney. I share your disappointment regarding the possibility of WDAS dropping their house style. I was more shocked with the designs in Encanto, and especially of Mirabel's, but this represents a much more radical shift.

Farerb wrote:I think that Searcher and Meridian are married and Ethan is their son. Calypso Kahn is Searcher's father and Callisto Mal is his wife (second marriage).

I also believe Searcher and Meridian are the parents, but I highly doubt Searcher's father is married to Callisto. There's too much of an age gap and Disney wouldn't dare go there. The two are probably just expedition partners.

Prince Kido wrote:Maybe the overall movie will change this feeling but I am also annoyed by the difference between the men and the women. Callista and Meridian don't have that stylistic goofy design. It's not homogenic. They don't fit the same movie at all and come on Disney: men always look stupid while women are badass!

I agree that there's a gap between how the male and female characters look. However, the female characters don't look good either. Meridian is short and stout and so generic-looking, people can't even tell if she's supposed to be a kid or an adult. Callisto is an odd mix of Luisa and Raya that comes off as unnatural and off-putting.

Farerb wrote:Who do you think was the last man from a Disney film that actually looked good? Naveen?

From the male love interests of the Revival era, Naveen is definitely the best-looking one, but Flynn and Kristoff are not bad either.

Sotiris wrote:It sounds there's not going to be a villain in this WDAS movie either. His dad will probably serve as an antogonist of some sort, the way Abuela did in Encanto. The two are going to work through their issues whilst fighting alien creatures and come to understand each other by the end. The critics will eat it up and praise it as cleaver and sophisticated filmmaking, as if it isn't cliched, safe, and predictable.

People will praise that it deals with "Generational Trauma" or whatever. At this point I even prefer the twist villains.

Sotiris wrote:I also believe Searcher and Meridian are the parents, but I highly doubt Searcher's father is married to Callisto. There's too much of an age gap and Disney wouldn't dare go there. The two are probably just expedition partners.

You're right. I now think it's more likely that Callisto is a lesbian. She'll probably mention her girlfriend, removing any doubt that she's with the father.

Sotiris wrote:From the male love interests of the Revival era, Naveen is definitely the best-looking one, but Flynn and Kristoff are not bad either.

There's Hans as well. I guess they think that if a male character is not a love interest of a princess, then they can give him a silly design.

Apparently there was a different teaser that was released internationally:
https://youtu.be/uNtaQtP7MCI

There's also a French trailer which is like the US trailer, but the name of the film is Avalonia: A Strange World, so I guess the land they will be traveling is called Avalonia:
https://youtu.be/eaQhck-EmtQ

The poster reminds me a bit about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

All the various creatures makes me think of speculative evolution, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's is what we're seeing. That would in case be the first one for Disney. The alien and unusual landscape also looks interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfG1XxQ3jTM

I liked the trailer. The only nitpicking little complaint that I have is have is the typical "WOOOW"-expressions on their face, and a similar wide grin expression. This is mostly a modern trend that has become much more common after computer animation became the norm. And I agree that the character design resembles those of Hotel Transylvania.

I think the good male character designs--of the human characters anyway--from the Revival have been Naveen, Facilier, Tiana's father, King Candy, Hans, Elsa & Anna's father, Kristoff, Benja, Boun, Pedro, Camilo, and Tadashi (a shame he's only in like 10 minutes of BH6--that's what a strong, male protagonist would've been, but WDAS no longer does those). I'd say Bruno's, Mariano's, and Agustín's designs were just okay. If I were to say which designs I think have been the "best," probably Hans, Benja, Tadashi, and Naveen.

I didn't care for Maui's or Moana's father's designs, Hiro looked better in the hand-drawn end credits than he ever did in the film itself, and Flynn's facial hair didn't work for me in 3D (it looks fine in the more hand-drawn-esque series). Maybe they could pull off facial hair better these days though, I dunno.

estefan wrote:Conli also said in an interview that he felt the marketing was to blame for Treasure Planet doing poorly, not the quality, and Disney probably has a completely different marketing team now.

I think the marketing was mostly to blame for TP performing poorly, too. And it's true, this thankfully doesn't use farting in its trailer as a selling point. But it also looks like it lacks the few good things TP had--a strong protagonist and great character designs. Compare any of these characters to Jim Hawkins or John Silver, and it's just embarrassing. These designs would be embarrassing next to most of the Revival films, much less when compared to when there was actual masterclass animated talent at Disney prior to the PIXAR takeover like when TP was made.

I don't believe this'll perform any better than WIR or BH6--I'd bet on less than the latter, since that one had the Marvel brand drawing in some people who wouldn't normally watch Disney. That and these are different times. Disney's training people to sit at home for 3D films rather than go to theaters--we see how that affected Raya's and Encanto's box office intakes.

Sotiris wrote: I was more shocked with the designs in Encanto, and especially of Mirabel's, but this represents a much more radical shift.

Mirabel's made sense to me once I realized they were trying to copy Miguel from Coco. Where, in this case, I have no idea why they would want to look like something from Dreamworks. To me, it looks less like any particular style and more "cheap."

You are all mad.

This guy's totally adorbs. Seriously.

Farerb wrote:People will praise that it deals with "Generational Trauma" or whatever.

Yeah, I've already seen people joke that "generational trauma" is the new Disney villain.

Farerb wrote:At this point I even prefer the twist villains.

Me too. Better a twist villain than no villain at all.

Farerb wrote:I now think it's more likely that Callisto is a lesbian. She'll probably mention her girlfriend, removing any doubt that she's with the father.

Callisto is probably the LGBT character in the movie given how masculine she is and how Hollywood finds lesbians to be more palatable to audiences than gay men. However, I was thinking Ethan might be the one instead. His design looks kinda feminine to me and he has an earing on the gay ear.

Farerb wrote:Apparently there was a different teaser that was released internationally:
https://youtu.be/uNtaQtP7MCI

It's interesting they're promoting this movie as "from the studio that brought you Frozen and Encanto" given that this is a male-led adventure film. Wouldn't Zootopia be more fitting, in this case? Does Disney consider Encanto more successful than Zootopia now?

Farerb wrote:There's also a French trailer which is like the US trailer, but the name of the film is Avalonia: A Strange World, so I guess the land they will be traveling is called Avalonia:
https://youtu.be/eaQhck-EmtQ

Avalonia is a much a better title than Strange World. They should have called it just that.

I'd rather no villain than a twist villain. With the exception being, of course, that a twist villain would suit a whodunit like Zootopia's sequel, for example. Hans is the only one of the WDAS twist villains that was any good--and even if we expanded that to include PIXAR twist villains, I'd only add Waternoose to the list.

The problem with Zootopia from the beginning was that, despite how well it performed, for whatever reason it had low brand recognition. You can see that in how it moves almost no merchandise. I'd definitely say Encanto is much more recognizable than it.

Sotiris wrote:It's interesting they're promoting this movie as "from the studio that brought you Frozen and Encanto" given that this is a male-led adventure film. Wouldn't Zootopia be more fitting, in this case? Does Disney consider Encanto more successful than Zootopia now?

Encanto is newer and fresh on people's mind.

Sotiris wrote:Searcher is a horrible first name. I get they wanted something that alludes to exploration and adventure, but couldn't they have come up with something better?

Yeah, it's an odd name for a person. Meridian also seems related to the same themes; that's part of why I thought she could be Searcher's sister at first. I imagined their father could've named his children like that because he likes adventure so much. That could still be true in Searcher's case, but I guess it doesn't explain Meridian's name.

Sotiris wrote:What first drew me to Disney was the high-quality hand-drawn animation coupled with appealing, naturalistic character designs.

The quality of the animation is something really important to me too, but in my case, the way I discovered Disney for the first time was through the storybook adaptations of their films and there was no animation there, just drawings. I already had some illustrated books before that, but then I got my first from Disney as a Christmas present from my aunt and from then on I only wanted the Disney ones. It was an Alice in Wonderland/Bambi combo, by the way. At first, I thought Walt Disney was the author of the stories and the person who had drawn all the illustrations. Later, I discovered there were movies these books had been adapted from. The first time I saw animation from Disney, I was totally mesmerized by the colors and movement/fluidity of it. It felt magical to me and still does. It was Alice in Wonderland once again, which was airing on TV, while a re-release of Bambi was my first Disney film in theaters. I guess they should be my top two favorite movies from the studio since they were my firsts in both mediums. They're not, but Bambi at least is on my top 10. Disney's CGI animation still retains some of this magic and I find it appealing too, but of course, it's not the same as their hand-drawn animation to me.

Regarding Disney's house style, I've read the roundness of the lines is one of the secrets of its broad appeal. I know there's more to it than just that, but it's probably a key element of it.

Sotiris wrote:

Prince Kido wrote:Maybe the overall movie will change this feeling but I am also annoyed by the difference between the men and the women. Callista and Meridian don't have that stylistic goofy design. It's not homogenic. They don't fit the same movie at all and come on Disney: men always look stupid while women are badass!

I agree that there's a gap between how the male and female characters look. However, the female characters don't look good either. Meridian is short and stout and so generic-looking, people can't even tell if she's supposed to be a kid or an adult. Callisto is an odd mix of Luisa and Raya that comes off as unnatural and off-putting.

Someone else mentioned the character design not being homogenous and I saw that too, but I hadn't noticed it's the female and male characters specifically who look like they come from two different movies. That's really interesting. I agree with you, Sotiris, that the women's designs are not too good either, but I think they look slightly more Disney than the men.

Prince Kido wrote:I like that the male lead has a beard and he could be handsome.

I like that he has a beard too. And also the fact that he's not the typical male Disney protagonist. He's probably the oldest from Disney to date and most likely the first one who's a father from the beginning of the film. By the way, I know it was in the first synopsis, but I didn't expect the whole family would take part in the adventure, I imagined it would be just three generations of male characters, like in Pixar's short La Luna, for example. This will be WDAS' second film in a row with a family at its centre.

Prince Kido wrote:Love the poster anyway.

Yes, the poster is great. I love that it looks like a vintage one, folds included.

Farerb wrote:Apparently there was a different teaser that was released internationally:
https://youtu.be/uNtaQtP7MCI

That's the one we got in Spain. It's practically the same teaser, but it's a bit shorter and the retro elements from the beginning were replaced with more generic stuff. They did the same with the poster. I wonder why they altered it for some countries; those old-style details were a great idea in my opinion.


Source: https://twitter.com/DisneySpain/status/ ... 3322308608

Farerb wrote:There's also a French trailer which is like the US trailer, but the name of the film is Avalonia: A Strange World, so I guess the land they will be traveling is called Avalonia:
https://youtu.be/eaQhck-EmtQ

That's interesting. I noticed that word was in the map behind the family in the shot where the whole group appears. I suspected it could be the name of the "strange world", but I wasn't sure if that was the case. Judging by the map, it looks a bit like an island, doesn't it?



I also noticed a couple more things. First, the means of transport the family uses seemed to have an eye to me in the Encanto Easter Egg, so I thought it might be alive, but the teaser revealed it's actually a porthole.



And second, the character on the right below looks like Searcher's father, but with long beard and hair. I wonder if the reason the protagonist is forced to embark on this adventure is that his father gets lost in this world and they have to come to his rescue.

Rumpelstiltskin wrote:All the various creatures makes me think of speculative evolution, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's is what we're seeing. That would in case be the first one for Disney.

I hadn't heard that term before. I've looked its meaning up and I think you might be right, although the fact that the "animals" in this world don't have eyes, or in many cases, even proper faces, makes me suspect they're not real animals but something else like particles, cells or something like that. The textures in this land also remind me of the inside of a body, but I could very well be wrong about that.

Regarding two different styles of character design. Disney's first feature, Snow White, used this concept. The dwarfs looks more cartoonish than the other human characters in the movie.

D82 wrote:I hadn't heard that term before. I've looked its meaning up and I think you might be right, although the fact that the "animals" in this world don't have eyes, or in many cases, even proper faces, makes me suspect they're not real animals but something else like particles, cells or something like that. The textures in this land also remind me of the inside of a body, but I could very well be wrong about that.

If it is inside some body, it sounds like Fantastic Voyage (1966): http://galacticjourney.org/august-24-19 ... ic-voyage/

The landscape does look organic and fleshlike, and what looks like a red school of fish they are running on could be red blood cells. On the other hand, the director talked about some fantastic land, so I assumed it was inside the earth or some island hidden from humans:

“I loved reading the old issues of pulps growing up. They were big adventures in which a group of explorers might discover a hidden world or ancient creatures. They’ve been a huge inspiration for ‘Strange World.’”

Which sounded like the lost world subgenre. Should they be inside a body, it would either include shrinking, or the organism they have invaded is gigantic, like Ego the Living Planet:
https://marswillsendnomore.wordpress.co ... stic-four/
http://secretearths.blogspot.com/2017/0 ... s-ego.html

Rumpelstiltskin wrote:Regarding two different styles of character design. Disney's first feature, Snow White, used this concept. The dwarfs looks more cartoonish than the other human characters in the movie.

That's true. But that was the studio's first feature film. In Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, to compare it to other fairytale films from Walt's era, the supporting characters still look more cartoonish than the main ones, but the designs are more homogenous in general. It still works in Snow White, in my opinion, since unlike the humans, the dwarfs are fantastical creatures.

Rumpelstiltskin wrote:The landscape does look organic and fleshlike, and what looks like a red school of fish they are running on could be red blood cells. On the other hand, the director talked about some fantastic land, so I assumed it was inside the earth or some island hidden from humans:

“I loved reading the old issues of pulps growing up. They were big adventures in which a group of explorers might discover a hidden world or ancient creatures. They’ve been a huge inspiration for ‘Strange World.’”

There's also the map I talked about in my previous post, which makes it look like a location on Earth, so maybe they just took inspiration from the human body or that French animated series to create a new fantastical world, but it's not literally inside some body. Though, I think it could be the latter too.

Rumpelstiltskin wrote:Should they be inside a body, it would either include shrinking, or the organism they have invaded is gigantic, like Ego the Living Planet:
https://marswillsendnomore.wordpress.co ... stic-four/
http://secretearths.blogspot.com/2017/0 ... s-ego.html

That's true. Maybe the spaceship or submarine they have (I'm not sure what to call it) can shrink itself and the people inside it or something like that.

Disney Balks At “Anti-Consumer” French Windows: Will Bypass Theatrical On ‘Strange World’ In Market, Evaluate Future Films On Rolling Basis

Disney is taking a stance versus the recently revised French windowing system, opting to bypass theatrical on animated action adventure Strange World in France and sending it directly to Disney Plus.

In a strongly-worded statement provided to Deadline, a studio spokesperson said: “Strange World will be available to all Disney+ subscribers in France, foregoing a French cinematic release. While we support French cinema — and have for decades — the new, cumbersome media chronology is anti-consumer, ignoring how behavior has evolved over the last several years and puts us at increased risk for piracy. We will continue to make decisions on a film-by-film basis and according to each market’s unique conditions.”

https://deadline.com/2022/06/disney-fre ... 235040493/

It’s not consumer friendly? I think this law just gives the French the opportunity to watch something on a variety of platforms. It’s anti free market maybe, but not anti-consumer.

Sotiris wrote:Searcher is a horrible first name. I get they wanted something that alludes to exploration and adventure, but couldn't they have come up with something better?

I wonder if his parents named him that like you said, due to it "alluding to exploration and adventure," but then he ends up a farmer...irony I guess?

Meridian doesn't sound like a kid (she said "Let's go" I think in the trailer), so I bet she's an adult.

Avalonia: "Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalonia?wprov=sfla1) It's also a computer program UI's or video game UI's name (obviously it's not relevant to this film's content, but maybe Disney couldn't name it "Avalonia" because of it? IDK.

D82 wrote:I bet the "twist" is that they're inside the body of someone or something.

With the ocean in Moana and Casita in Encanto being characters, it wouldn't be surpising if Avalonia itself was sentient too.

D82 wrote:And Callisto Mal looks like she could be Native American to me, but maybe it's just the hairstyle.

She reads more Southeast Asian to me, but she could very well be Indigenous, given the hairstyle and the accessories she's wearing.

D82 wrote:I bet Captain Calypso Kahn is Searcher Clade's father.

But wouldn't his dad have the same last name as him? I think Calypso Kahn will be a female character given the name and Disney's diversity efforts (making a statement by havng the Captain be a woman).

D82 wrote:Meridian also seems related to the same themes; that's part of why I thought she could be Searcher's sister at first. I imagined their father could've named his children like that because he likes adventure so much.

Your theory about the names would make sense, especially since Ethan who we know is Searcher's son is the only one with a normal name, if Meridian and Searcher were of the same race. But Searcher's dad having Meridian with a Black woman and then his son also having a kid with a Black woman is too implausible and weird.

D82 wrote:The women's designs are not too good either, but I think they look slightly more Disney than the men.

I agree with that.

D82 wrote:And second, the character on the right below looks like Searcher's father, but with long beard and hair. I wonder if the reason the protagonist is forced to embark on this adventure is that his father gets lost in this world and they have to come to his rescue.

That's most likely the case.

D82 wrote:In Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, to compare it to other fairytale films from Walt's era, the supporting characters still look more cartoonish than the main ones, but the designs are more homogenous in general. It still works in Snow White, in my opinion, since unlike the humans, the dwarfs are fantastical creatures.

Comedic characters and villains have always been more caricatured than the leads. It allows for broader, more theatrical performances. In this movie, even the leads are heavily caricatured and cartoony which is quite unusual for Disney.

D82 wrote:Maybe the spaceship or submarine they have (I'm not sure what to call it) can shrink itself and the people inside it or something like that.

I think it's more plausible the island being gigantic; Avalonia as seen on the map, may only be one part of the living organism, the visible part, while the rest of it could be hidden underwater.

blackcauldron85 wrote:Avalonia: "Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalonia?wprov=sfla1) It's also a computer program UI's or video game UI's name (obviously it's not relevant to this film's content, but maybe Disney couldn't name it "Avalonia" because of it? IDK.

A large island or tiny continent that has been isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years then, shall we believe the hints.

There is a novel called Fragment by author Warren Fahy that use a similar concept. I haven't read it myself yet, but based on the description, there could be some common elements:

Scientists have made a startling discovery: the last fragment of a primordial supercontinent on which life has evolved separately from all other life on Earth.

The time is now. The place is the Trident, a long-range research vessel hired by the reality TV show SeaLife.

For what they discover is not a lost world frozen in time, an island of mutants, or a lab where science has gone mad. This is the Earth as it might have been after evolving separately for half a billion years, an ecosystem that could topple ours like a house of cards.

Farerb wrote:I'm just saying that the animation studio, which is the heart and soul of the company, just doesn't seem to be a priority for them anymore, and it felt like that for a long time (I think I even said it in the past).

It used to bother me that WDAS was being treated as the red-headed step-child by Disney. I don't care, anymore. First, they abandoned 2D animation, then they made modernized adaptations of fairy tales and instituted the twist villain. After that, they abandoned fairy tale adaptations and villains altogether as well as romance for their leads. Now, they're moving away from the Disney house style. Almost all of the creative talent of the '90s and '00s is gone too. There's nothing "Disney" left at Disney Animation. It's just an empty name.

I've noticed a sentiment on this forum, more-so now than ever, is a disillusionment in the current state of Disney. And even though I don't agree with many of these opinions, I do get it. If I lived in the 1970s (which is what I consider the lowest point in Disney's history), I would have felt disappointment at what the company was doing at that time. So I'm not going to tell anyone what to think of the movies the studio is currently making.

My genuine question is if Disney isn't reaching your level of satisfaction at the moment, what keeps you interested in discussing their current and future projects? I'm not trying to start anything. I'm just genuinely curious.

See? I said the long necked animals resembled Hallucigenia, which could be a hint that the place has been isolated for a very long time. It's gonna be interesting if they have used other prehistoric animals as inspiration:

https://www.reddit.com/r/disney/comment ... nimals_in/

Then there is the more obvious, like fan worms and echinoderms. The tentacled thing looks like a sea anemone, and maybe there was also some rays there. Not sure. The whole place is like a terristrial environment mimicking the underwater environment around a coral reef or something (James Cameron was also partly inspired by the ocean when the came up with Pandora's ecology in Avatar).

What if there is something in the atmosphere that allows these animals to have a lifestyle similar to that of marine/aquatic species? There are these giraffe things that have a dense collection of long threads growing out of their necks, just like filter feeders does when they're eating.