FREAKY FRIDAY, THE JUNGLE BOOK, Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, DUMBO & FATHER OF THE BRIDE in the Works for Disney Theatrical

[Rob]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 10:28am

Click Here to Read FREAKY FRIDAY, THE JUNGLE BOOK, Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, DUMBO & FATHER OF THE BRIDE in the Works for Disney Theatrical

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 10:37am

The only one i think could be any good if done right is Father of the Bride

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 10:44am

The Jungle Book? lol

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 10:59am

I still think Enchanted, with the right creative team, could make a fantastic musical!

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 11:43am

"Dumbo" is a bad idea. I don't think audiances want to see people dressed up as elephants. Plus, most children are scared of clowns. I think there will be more parents complaining about how scary the clowns are in this than the ones who complained about the song, "Temper, Temper" from "Mary Poppins."

[Overkill]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 12:20pm

A new version of The Little Mermaid? And why would Hunchback need to be reworked at all?

Disney seems to be blowing their wad on these shows. The Jungle Book? Did they learn nothing from Tarzan?

The only thing I'm interested in seeing the final result of, would be Dumbo. Not because it's the best Disney movie, but I'm just very curious to see how this turns out...

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 12:26pm

They're mining pretty deep, aren't they? I thought Jungle Book was one of those Disney classics no one really took seriously anymore because of its overt racism and general mediocre-ness. And Dumbo is just so... short? Isn't it just around an hour of running time? And correct me if I'm wrong, as I haven't seen the movie since I was around 6, but doesn't Dumbo not speak throughout the entire thing? Most of the speaking is done by.... overtly racist crows?

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 12:37pm

It's a good thing they want to make changes in "The Little Mermaid." Francesca Zambello could not direct her way out of a bag. The costumes were a mess. Why in the world would you make Carlotta and the maids look like chickens, and make Flounder wear a t-shirt and shorts? Plus, the wigs for Ariel's sisters were also ridiculous. Ariel's grotto was also a huge disappointment.
Updated On: 3/12/11 at 12:37 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 12:39pm

I can definitely say I was not expecting some of these titles.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 1:33pm

I always figure that almost anything could work with the right creative team. Of the titles mentioned I though Father of the Bride & Freaky Friday could work very well

[castlestreet]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 1:51pm

Father of the Bride could have some real potential- who is writting score/book will of course have a lot to do with that.

I actually think Alice in Wonderland could be a fun night at the theatre

I pretty much with everyone else on Jungle Book & Dumbo

Hunchback could be a great show, but I don't think they should stray too far from the Original German- it was a great production!

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 2:07pm

I can't say I'm terribly excited about the Tim Burton "Alice in Wonderland," but if Basil Twist is doing the puppets, I'll have a reason to see it.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 2:18pm

Freaky Friday could be a lot of fun. Alice in Wonderland could work, but they would have to have a spot on creative team.

[suechru]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 2:32pm

I can't see how the Jungle Book and Dumbo could work without being almost entirely rewritten (and then you lose the appeal of the movie in the first place.) It's almost as bad as Song of the South - the one movie even Disney realizes is too damn racist to re-release.

I agree about Father of the Bride, this could definitely make a good musical with the right team. I like the concept of an Enchanted musical but I wonder how to address the parts of the film that are animated. If they're not set apart somehow it'll fall flat and be confusing but setting this apart somehow could be either really stunningly gorgeous or really really awful depending on what the creative team comes up with. I'd still see a mediocre presentation of Enchanted before Dumbo or Jungle Book.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 3:02pm

Disney's The Jungle Book is already a title available for production through Music Theatre International. Although is for children's theatre a new song is written, and some additional lyrics as well.
https://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000269

Father Of The Bride was already talked about. I'm not sure if Disney was attached to it at this time, but I did find this link from BWW in Aug. 2006 saying than Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice were working on the show. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Jersey_Boys_Writers_to_Pen_Father_of_the_Bride_Musical_20060811

Hunchback Of Notre Dame is think is just being tweeked by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken. No overall, really.

Little Mermaid: it seems like the only thing they're keeping is Doug Wright. I wonder why Disney is reworking this, but nothing about Tarzan or On The Record.

Freaky Friday: Okay. A rock-style musical could work. If they are only using it for regional productions, I'm okay with that.

Dumbo: This time last year we found out about Dumbo. There was a rumour that the "costumes" were possibly going to be done by the people who do "War Horse", and that Stevie Wonder was being look after to write the additional score to the film songs.

Alice In Wonderland: Like the Jungle Book, Disney has released a children's version of the show with MTI, that is based on the movie using the film score, plus the addition of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, and original material. Personally, if I had to choose, I'd pick a stage version of the animated film over Tim Burton's.
https://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000277

Updated On: 3/12/11 at 03:02 PM

[romgitsean]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 4:17pm

I've already included my rant about Alice on here, so I'll spare the repetition. But just for the record - I have always thought Freaky Friday would be a good stage play.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 4:36pm

Hmm. They misspelled Mulan 5 times in the title.... Weird.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 4:45pm

I love the idea of a Mary Zimmerman Jungle Book!

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 4:50pm

I know Dumbo is a wonderfully dramatic story with an uplifting ending, and it could easily be expanded to add more material (it's barely an hour-long feature). But you lose me the minute I picture an actor, any actor, wearing big elephant ears. That sucks the drama right out of it and says "kiddie show" to me. Pass.

Jungle Book would be compared too closely to Lion King, and very likely lose.

I'd rather see them figure out a way to do Swiss Family Robinson or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or Pollyanna. Pete's Dragon might work, if they treat him like Harvey (and reworked the material a bit).

I think Disney's Alice In Wonderland (the cartoon) is the most successful screen adaptation so far. Part of the reason is the pacing. The songs are incredibly short (under a minute in most cases), and the plot, along with Alice, moves very quickly from crazy vignette to crazy vignette. We don't spend 20 minutes a the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. It's more like five, tops.

With a stage show, the usual temptation would be to expand it, and that would kill it, just like every other stage adaptation of Alice, which loses all momentum and becomes boring and tedious.

As for adapting the Burton version instead, it's already a weak adaptation other than the design and the big battle at the end, which would look silly on stage. I can see Alice getting tangled in the Jabberwocky wires right now and pulling a Taymor in the final scenes.

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 5:33pm

Jungle Book: I think pedophiles will end up being the driving audience. *shudder*

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 5:33pm

Besty, maybe they could just do it like Elephant Man -- no makeup/prosthetics, just acting. :)

What's overtly racist about the Jungle Book film? I'm not arguing but asking in earnest. I haven't seen it in ages.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 5:37pm

Dumbo is more racist than Jungle Book. I watched it recently with the kids. Those crows are some racist ****!

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 5:48pm

They only get worse when you realize the 'lead' crow was voiced by a white guy.

That's a serious issue that needs to be addressed though. They'd need to completely revamp their characters to make them even marginally acceptable.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 6:42pm

The whole point of the crows is that they're a group of outsiders who know what it's like for Dumbo. They see his "special magic." They definitely need to remove the stereotypes, but if you don't make them black, what do you suggest? Gay crows? Nerd crows?

Gay nerdy black crows?

And Cal, I wish they'd be risky enough to try the Our Town/Elephant Man approach to Dumbo, with the "theatre of the mind." It's one thing with an edgy (for its time) play, and another with a multimillion-dollar musical.

Maybe we can just imagine the huge orchestra and the lavish sets, too!

Oh, wait ...

[Jonwo]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 6:54pm

Father of the Bride was Touchstone rather than Disney but I think it would make a good musical, they would need a name for George Banks. Dumbo would need serious expansion as it's only 64 minutes long.

Disney seems to be broadening their theatrical slate by not aiming for Broadway like they have in the past with the off Broadway production of Peter and the Starcatcher and the pilot productions of Newsies and Aladdin although I think Aladdin if it is successful in Seattle could end up on Broadway.

Interesting that Disney are one of the producers of Arcadia, I wonder if they'll be involved in more plays not based on their backcatalogue.

If Disney are to delve into the Touchstone library for ideas for the theatre, what about Three Men and a Baby? I think it would make a great play but not a musical.

Updated On: 3/12/11 at 06:54 PM