The Mouse House is just full of news this past week. At their inaugural expo D23 – a rival to Comic-Con except it’s all Disney, all the time – they were letting us in on all kinds of stuff. First and foremost, there’s going to be a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean installment, POTC: On Stranger Tides. Johnny Depp came onstage as Capt. Jack Sparrow, dreadlocked, staggering and slurring his words, for the announcement. Didn’t they leave it off with Capt. Jack searching for the Fountain of Youth? That should be fun.
Then Disney announced they inked a deal with Guillermo del Toro to produce some darker animated films for them. Remember this is the same guy who gave us Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy. “As a director, I love to take audiences into fantastic new worlds and provide them with some anxious moments in the process,” del Toro said at the press conference. “It is part of the Disney canon to create thrilling, unforgettable moments and villains in all their classic films.” First up will be Trollhunters, based on an original story by del Toro – which he’ll get right on after he finishes The Hobbit.
John Travolta, wife Kelly Preston and their daughter Ella also made their first public appearance after the tragic death of their son, Jett, earlier this year. On hand to promote his new Disney film Old Dogs, Travolta told the press audience he “always appreciated the audience’s love for me.” “I hope they love Old Dogs and much as we do, because I’ve got my baby in it,” Travolta continued, referring to his daughter’s film debut.
Finally (at least for this post), Disney is doing Rapunzel as a 3D-animated musical action-adventure and enlisting Mandy Moore as the voice of said lass with the long locks. Apparently, the story picks up years after the princess, famous for her 70 feet of golden hair, has been stolen from her parents’ castle as an infant and imprisoned. Now a teenager, Rapunzel escapes and goes on the run with a bandit, pursued by her captor.