Future Film Friday: D23 special

Currently, one of my main ambitions is to one day take a geek pilgrimage to Comic-Con in San Diego, trek around California for the folllowing few weeks before ending up at D23 Expo, the official Disney fan club's biennial event in Anaheim. Unfortunately, owing to the fact that I am yet to come into any large amounts of money and also the 5 thousand-odd miles distance, I am yet to make it to either event. However, that hasn't stopped me from devouring any snippet of information that I could find whilst scouring the internet for news. Here are the upcoming projects that I am most excited about...

Saving Mr. Banks
I've already gushed about this film here: http://lelloyd.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/contrary-to-my-first-thought-this-is.html

Into the Woods
I've been excited about this since I got wind of the casting, let alone when I read the synopsis. Stephen Sondheim's musical is a story of a baker and his wife's quest to start a family, their plot intertwining with well-known fairytale characters such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella among others. The film has been in the pipeline for a long, long time, and with the rumoured cast including Meryl Streep, James Corden, Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, Christine Baranski and Chris Pine, then I am certain that this will be more than worth the wait.

Big Hero 6
The first Marvel production from Disney, Big Hero 6 is the story of superheroes in the fictional city of San Fransokyo (San Francisco+Tokyo - awesome). No casting information has been released, nor plot apart from "a group of six superheroes are recruited by the government to protect the nation... which I think we could have gauged from the title anyway...

Maleficent
I've never really gotten engaged with any of the recent live-actions, mostly out of laziness and the thought that "well, Alice in Wonderland I already know the story to," but this one has piqued my interest. Starring the Jolie, Maleficent's plot had been kept under wraps for ages but we've finally learnt that it is about the notorious villain's life pre-Aurora. Can't wait!

Zootopia
Thinking about it, Disney has largely neglected stories using anthropomorphized animals, with Robin Hood, and Winnie the Pooh, to an extent, being the only films that I can think of where the animals strut and swagger like humans. Zootopia is the next to be added to that list. Whilst the film centres around a quick-witted fox on the run from the law, Zootopia is a whole different world entirely. Separated into different regions depending on the different animals. There's Sahara Square (desert), Tundratown (arctic landscape) and Little Rodentia (you can guess). Sounds really interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing the final result.

Pixar

The Good Dinosaur
Imagine a world where dinosaurs hadn't died out, and instead became the dominant species. The Good Dinosaur follows Arlo as he befriends a human boy and together they embark on an adventure. The film will feature the voices of Lucas Neff, Bill Hader, Judy Greer, Neil Patrick Harris, John Lithgow and Frances McDormand. Phew!

Inside Out
If I had to order the films in this (slightly long) list by my excitement levels then this one would definitely be in the top 3, not least because one of the voices include Amy Poehler. Inside Out will be an emotional film... starring the emotions Anger, Disgust, Fear, Joy and Sadness to be precise. All five live inside Riley's head, but when Joy and Sadness get lost, the other three try to retain the balance. Gaaahhh it sounds so fun!!

I was disappointed that there was no news of the Dia de los Muertos film but I guess it's too early to say anything.

And finally...

When I was 10 years old, I gave a storming presentation to my classmates on the subject of... bears. It had pictures, it had video clips and it has a performance of Teddy Bear's Picnic on my flute. It went down a treat, HOWEVER, I can't help but wish that I could have just shown this...