Do you remember a week+ ago I
posted an article highlighting a new Tumblr titled "Wicked Leaks" with news of an animated
Wicked in production at a major animation studio (and that it wasn't Disney)? Well that Tumblr has since disappeared. No notes as to why and we can only speculate... BUT....
Not long after that, on December 4th, one of the trio of artists originally interested in bringing Wicked to animation, Minkyu Lee posted his old visual development portfolio on
his personal Tumblr for an animated Wicked, done in his student days while still at CalArts. Now working for Disney, Mr. Lee was one of the trio of (then-budding) animation artists who loved Wicked and thought it would make a great animated film.
It was his friend, Heidi Jo Gilbert who storyboarded the
Wicked song
Defying Gravity in her spare time as a personal project and has garnered much positive critical attention ever since she released an animatic video (a "movie" of the storyboard with soundtrack). (You can see it in my post
HERE.)
Just yesterday, December 7th, Broadway World picked up Minkyu Lee's Tumblr posts and once again, within days and weeks of renewed interest in the idea, word is buzzing about the possibility - and the potential - of a feature-quality animated film based on the musical.
From
Broadway World:
Minkyu Lee, an animator and visual development artist for Disney whose credits include The Princess and the Frog and Frozen, revealed on his blog sketches based on a possible animated version of the Broadway blockbuster musical WICKED. Check out images from his developmental portfolio!
Lee first created these WICKED concept drawings while studying at CalArts and interning for Disney. Aside from his work on 'Frog' and Frozen, Lee directed the Oscar-nominated short film Adam and Dog, which he also wrote and animated.
The only problem I see is that, after seeing
Frozen last night (yes, I'm working on a review for you), it's pretty clear that the themes are rather similar, not to mention the way they're executed, using
Wicked's most famous Elphaba, Idina Menzel, as one of the stars. A misunderstood enchantress with Idina Menzel Beautifully singing her lungs out would be a difficult pitch to Executives at any studio at the moment with
Frozen quickly becoming the current youngest generation's new favorite animated film.
Let's hope the idea doesn't get completely shot down though. From the response to
Frozen, to the
Wicked animation artwork on the Tumblrs and the current upward-trends in misunderstood villains at present, I have no doubt it would be a win. Make it a truly great animated feature and you'll have an instant-classic making cash hand-over-fist at the box office, not to mention the merchandising potential. I'd love to see this happen if it was done with love, passion and excellence!