Skip to footer

Prince Charming: Everything we know about this new Disney live-action film

Disney has reportedly acquired the script for a movie about Prince Charming. The new movie, if made, would follow such successful live-action fairy tales by the studio as 'Alice in Wonderland,' 'Maleficent,' and 'Cinderella.'

|
Jonathan Olley/Disney/AP
'Cinderella' stars Lily James (l.) and Richard Madden (r.).

A new Disney live-action film may center on a charming prince – or someone related to him, anyway. 

Disney has reportedly acquired a script for a film about Prince Charming. The move follows live-action movies by the studios that are based on some of its classic tales, including “Cinderella,” which was released this past March and is already one of the highest-grossing movies of 2015, and the successful 2014 film “Maleficent” as well as the forthcoming live-action versions of “Beauty and the Beast,” “Dumbo,” and a new take on the “Peter Pan” character Tinkerbell.

This “Charming” movie is rumored to center not on the famous prince but on a brother who struggles to get anything right. 

However, since more on the plot isn’t public knowledge, movie fans don’t even know in what fictional universe this story will be set, because there are multiple Disney princes who went nameless in the studio’s early history. The royal suitor in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” never got a name, nor did the male character who romanced the protagonist in “Cinderella.” The prince in 1959’s “Sleeping Beauty” got a major upgrade merely by having his name spoken onscreen – it's Philip.

The contrast between the early, vaguely defined character of Snow White’s prince and such romantic heroes as Aladdin is noticeable. Early Disney male leads like Cinderella’s prince had little more to do than fight the villain at the end and deliver lines like “Wait, you can’t go now!” Female characters like Snow White aren’t the deepest, either, but at least you know what to call them.

By contrast, male leads like the Beast in 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast” and the 1992 movie “Aladdin” are conflicted characters – the Beast is working to overcome his temper and initial selfishness, while Aladdin must learn that he’s still a worthwhile person without being rich.

Of course, this “misfit brother” summary, if true, brings to mind another recent Disney hero: Flynn Rider of the 2011 movie “Tangled.” Flynn (also known as Eugene, his real name) was another interesting character, who hid his insecurity and good heart with wisecracks and who must learn to be less conceited and concerned with wealth. Disney could do worse than to emulate him. Few could forget Flynn’s name.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Prince Charming: Everything we know about this new Disney live-action film
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2015/0707/Prince-Charming-Everything-we-know-about-this-new-Disney-live-action-film
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe