Walt Disney Pictures
The best movie culture writing from around the internet-o-sphere.
There will be a quiz later. Just leave a tab open for us, will ya?
“Inside the Pitch Meeting for Maleficent” – Eric D. Snider nails another perfectly transcribed, incredibly funny meeting of the minds that gave us a live-action feature retelling the story of Disney’s 18th most popular movie villain.
“Maleficent’s Costume Designer on De-Sexualizing Elle Fanning’s Disney Princess” – Julie Miller at Vanity Fair looks at the work done to make a young girl seem like a young girl.
“In retrospect, Disney was sending some sartorial mixed messages about Sleeping Beauty in its eponymous 1959 animated film. In theory, Princess Aurora was cared for – and by extension, dressed by – a trio of eccentric fairies in the forest until the age of 16. But in reality, she was being costumed by Disney’s animation director Marc Davis, who gave the fairy tale teen a chiseled hourglass figure, nary any ounce of baby fat, and the chic style sensibility of Audrey Hepburn.
When it came to adapting Sleeping Beauty for modern audiences with Disney’s live-action retelling, Maleficent, though, Oscar-nominated costume designer Anna B. Sheppard was determined to create a more ‘down to earth’ and natural Princess Aurora.”
“Doug Liman hopes his wild loop means a hit with Edge of Tomorrow” – Un-good headline aside, Chris Lee at the LA Times delivers a fascinating piece on a director pushing against a studio and a star demanding more cartoon violence.
“Oscar-Nominated Director Lexi Alexander Asks Whether Hollywood Studios Are the Real Film Pirates” – While it gets a little jumbled by the end – blaming multiple regressive components on an issue they have no clear connection to – this is worth reading if you need a nice slap in the face or a new set of jumper cables. Energetic, necessary contrarianism.