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Sounds like the typical main girl = serious heroine with a dream, main guy = wisecracking smartass (or loser, depending on your perspective) plot. Tiana-Naveen, Rapunzel-Flynn, Anna-Kristoff, Judy-Nick, Moana-Maui all over again. WIR at least switched the roles; BH6 was somewhat of a deviation, too, but I'll digress: have we nearly finished mining the depths of this well already?

Otherwise my only thought is this must be Disney's response to Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon series.

I'm excited it's an original film set in a fantasy world and I'm glad Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins have been given a chance to direct a film, but yes, the characters' roles don't sound too original. We'll see, it's too early to judge.

Disney's Divinity wrote:Otherwise my only thought is this must be Disney's response to Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon series.

That's the first thing that came to my mind too when I was reading the article.

My hunch was right; it's not going to be a musical.

Q: Do you know if it's going to be a musical?

Skyler Shuler: Musical, no...songs to be included, yes.

Q: What do you mean by that? Something like Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6 etc. that have a couple of pop songs in?

Skyler Shuler: This isn’t a musical. It’s film that will have a couple of quick songs but it's not labeled a musical by Disney.

Q: New, original songs or pre-existing ones?

Skyler Shuler: Could be a mix. New ones will appear.

Q: So something like Wreck-It Ralph where both a pre-existing song (Shut Up and Drive) and an original (When Can I See You Again) were included?

Skyler Shuler: That’s a good example.

Source: https://twitter.com/Skylerhxc/status/10 ... 1004419072

Or it could be like Tangled (with 4 songs) or Coco (a song as a theme).

Disney's Divinity wrote:Sounds like the typical main girl = serious heroine with a dream, main guy = wisecracking smartass (or loser, depending on your perspective) plot. Tiana-Naveen, Rapunzel-Flynn, Anna-Kristoff, Judy-Nick, Moana-Maui all over again.

My first thought with Bolin. Don't let this be a Chinese Maui/Flynn. I thought we'd be free from the stereotypes with Lasseter's possible dismissal.

Not a fan of how this film seems to be following the pattern of the Lasseter era Disney films. Disney's refusal to break from this mold shows how uneasy they are of departing from his style.

well Im game for anything with dragons in it. Is there any confirmation this is actually set in China or is it gonna be like Moana and Tangled where its a generic mashup of similar cultures? Just wondering cuz Katsu sounds more like a Japanese name.

thanks for linking to that article about Ice Dragon Sotiris! hadnt heard of it, sounds amazing! And its good that Martin is involved but Im worried WB will turn it into another generic pop culture comedy celebrity voices fest.

unprincess wrote:Is there any confirmation this is actually set in China or is it gonna be like Moana and Tangled where its a generic mashup of similar cultures? Just wondering cuz Katsu sounds more like a Japanese name.

I asked on your behalf and this is what the guy who broke the story had to say. I think you might have stumbled onto something.

Q: Can you say what's the setting of Dragon Empire? Is it China, Japan or a fictional place? I'm a bit confused because the names Jan-Nin and Bolin sound Chinese whereas Katsu sounds Japanese.

Skyler Shuler: I can’t speak on that as of yet.

Source: https://twitter.com/Skylerhxc/status/10 ... 6057232385

Sotiris wrote:My hunch was right; it's not going to be a musical.

I'm actually a bit surprised about it. The latest WDAS films with fantasy elements and a female lead have all been musicals. Maybe this one will be more focused on the action and the adventure, given that the protagonist is probably a warrior considering that she has a mentor.

disneyprincess11 wrote:Or it could be like Tangled (with 4 songs) or Coco (a song as a theme).

Actually, Tangled has 5 original songs, plus a pre-existing one with new lyrics for the end credits. It also has two reprises (or more if you count all the times "Healing Incantation" is sung). It doesn't have as many songs as Frozen, for instance, but I personally consider it a musical too. Anyway, I understand what you mean. Yes, maybe this upcoming film has 3 or 4 songs but doesn't feel like a Broadway musical.

It's early days but I have some hope for this

Sotiris wrote:

unprincess wrote:Is there any confirmation this is actually set in China or is it gonna be like Moana and Tangled where its a generic mashup of similar cultures? Just wondering cuz Katsu sounds more like a Japanese name.

I asked on your behalf and this is what the guy who broke the story had to say. I think you might have stumbled onto something.

Q: Can you say what's the setting of Dragon Empire? Is it China, Japan or a fictional place? I'm a bit confused because the names Jan-Nin and Bolin sound Chinese whereas Katsu sounds Japanese.

Skyler Shuler: I can’t speak on that as of yet.

Source: https://twitter.com/Skylerhxc/status/10 ... 6057232385

thank! yeah Im wondering about that...maybe it will have characters from different Asian countries who must come together for some reason?

I still wished we could have gotten Gigantic b/c I would have preferred another musical folklore/fairytale setting. Though this could still fit in that category but maybe they decided not to go the traditional musical route b/c it would appeal less to boys?

Will the main lead characters be human or dragons

^Maybe humans who turn into dragons!

Sotiris wrote:^Maybe humans who turn into dragons!

That would actually be cool Imagine the Merchandise they could sell with that.

That's actually a good question, though. At first, when I had only read the title of the film I thought the lead characters would be dragons, but after reading the character descriptions I was sure they were referring to humans. Now that you've mentioned that, however, I think they could very well be dragons. Or even humans who turn into dragons, as Sotiris jokingly said. I think I would actually prefer they were dragons. It would be more original and different from the How to Train Your Dragon films or the Warner Animation project.

oh yes! Id love the humans who turn into dragons concept!

I wonder it "THIS" will have any influence on Dragon Empire

Even though I’m personally always up for a musical, they may have wanted to have a non-musical in the pipeline again so that Disney won’t be typecast as only musicals like in the ‘90s.

David Gilson confirmed that the female lead is human and revealed that some details about the initial report are outdated.

Prince Kido wrote:This project, which I know has been in development for a few years, does not "replace" Gigantic, which has been canceled for various reasons, but has been pushed forward so as not to leave a vacant space in Disney Animation's schedule.

However, this huge leak caused by the site That Hashtag Show, has not been confirmed by Disney. Some information revealed by this leak is not entirely accurate, or rather outdated, while other details are still likely evolving.

I am very excited about the project at the moment even if it is true that there are multiple projects in animation that feature Asian protagonists (could the large Chinese market be the reason for that?)

Source: http://www.disneycentralplaza.com/t6079 ... 20#3381301

Well, to cite my opinion about this project; I'm glad that WDAS is making an original movie again after two sequels in a row, yet I'm still muddled about this project. After having several movies with a Princess lead, I would've rather preferred if WDAS made a musical with a male protagonist, that Gigantic was supposed to be (of course I would want something in the same vain as Disney's other musicals with a male lead, certainly Aladdin, Hunchback and Hercules). Yet I wonder how Disneyesque this project is going to be, if it's going to be in vein of the Disney Princess formula or actually be another type of risk.

Otherwise, I don't mind the supposedly Asian setting, but since Disney has already tapped on this before, it feels derivative. Especially since Mulan was such a valentine towards Chinese and Asian culture and including various aspects of it (also because it had both Japanese and Korean elements as well as Chinese). Big Hero 6 served of course a lesser purpose, since it was a fictional mixture. Even the dragon premise doesn't feel original, since Mulan already had dragons (of course one as the goofy sidekick, but still). Why not exploring other regions of Asia, as the South-Eastern parts? But regarding if the lead is going to fill the Princess franchise, I've always found Mulan's inclusion somewhat contrived, since she's not royal by any means and her placement just seems for contrivance purposes (as I've cited before).

Disney is in development on an untitled fantasy-adventure animation film with Crazy Rich Asians screenwriter Adele Lim and Moana producer Osnat Shurer.

Disney story artists Paul Briggs (Frozen) and Dean Wellins (Zootopia) are attached to make their directorial debuts on the project which is being set up at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Plot is being kept under wraps but I understand the movie has an Asian element running through it and a female protagonist. It is a theatrical feature rather than one for Disney’s upcoming streaming service and the team is currently going through the casting process for the lead.

Disney development exec Shurer was previously head of Pixar’s short films output. She then produced Disney’s Oscar-nominated hit Moana, which crossed $640M at the worldwide box office. It sounds like this new movie could have some thematic similarities to that film, which followed the strong-willed daughter of a Polynesian village chief. However, I hear it is not musically-infused like Moana.

Source: https://deadline.com/2018/10/disney-cra ... 202478895/