Rapunzel gets co-director
Dean Wellins partners with Glen Keane on Disney animated movie
Disney announces that Dean Wellins will co-direct with Glen Keane on the CGI movie adaptation of Rapunzel. Movie is due in 2009.
(Source: www.laughingplace.com)
Looks like Glen Keane's getting some help with Walt Disney Feature Animation's upcoming CGI flick Rapunzel (Yes, you read the above line right: despite all the rumours, Rapunzel is staying CGI). The Mouse House announced that Dean Wellins (The Iron Giant, Osmosis Jones) is coming in as an equal co-director on the film, much like Ron Clements & John Musker are doing with The Frog Princess.
Off-hand, this doesn't appear to be some kind of "studio taking control of movie from the director" play. Wellins worked closely with Keane while animating Long John Silver on 2002's Treasure Planet, and he was also the Head of Story on American Dog before getting the nod for Rapunzel.
Wellins has worked on a bunch of different projects for various studios. After graduating from CalArts, he started working first as an intern, then as a breakdown animator, on The Pagemaster. His first big break was when he assisted Brad Bird (The Incredibles), and worked as a story artist, with the Warner Bros. film The Iron Giant.
Wellins came over to Disney after working on the animated segments of the show Osmosis Jones, where he was primarily responsible for animating Thrax, the villain voiced by actor Laurence Fishburne.
There's not a lot of information out right now about Rapunzel. So far, it seems to be on track for a 2009 release. Its IMDb page reports that Keane and Wellins are co-directors, and that Tony nominated actor Kristin Chenoweth (Bewitched, Wicked) will voice the title role.
Ominously, there are four writers attached to the project: Josann McGibbon, Sara Parriott, Adam Wilson and Melanie Wilson. That's usually a bad sign for a movie when there are that many writers messing with the script.
However, there is an explanation: back when the project was called Rapunzel Unbraided, Disney was looking for a Shrek-style deconstruction of the classic fairy tale. However, when John Lasseter took over as head of Walt Disney Feature Animation, he decided he wanted a story more in tune with Disney's classic fairy tale adaptations like Snow White or Cinderella.
Extra Tidbit: From all reports, John Lasseter is thrilled with how this movie is going. He once said that he "can't remember ever seeing a movie that has such a powerful beginning as Rapunzel."
Extra Tidbit 2: Rapunzel voice actor Kristin Chenoweth was nominated for a 2004 Tony Award for her performance as Galinda/Glinda in Wicked. She was later cast in Bewitched after star Nicole Kidman raved about her work on the Broadway show. Unfortunately, Chenoweth also went on to win a Razzie Award for her work in 2006's Deck the Halls.
