Posted in: Conventions, D23, Disney, Movies | Tagged: d23, disney, HRL, Nutcracker, wrinkle in time

Inside The Disney Live Panel At D23, Part 1: 'A Wrinkle In Time' And 'Nutcracker'

Check out Part 2 and Part 3 of our Disney Live panel coverage.

Most of the little details have already come out about the Disney Live panel that just finished a little while ago. However, I was in the room and down in the trenches for the panel itself. It was an overnight camping situation where I got to team up with a few Star Wars podcasters I met back at Star Wars Celebration Orlando. As far as campouts go, it was pretty standard — though Disney decided to leave the monitors playing various Disney movies all night.

Once we finally made our way into the panel and it began, Disney kicked off with their live-action movies first. The first movie we got to see the cast and trailer for is A Wrinkle In Time:

They brought out most of the cast, including director Ava DuVernay and cast members Storm Reid, Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and Oprah Winfrey. DuVernay talked about how excited she was to walk around the con and that she felt like she's finally found her people. Reid, despite saying she was nervous, was elegant on stage and talked about how thankful she was for the opportunity, her cast mates, and DuVernay. Pine received congratulations on Wonder Woman and was asked about what drew him to this project. Witherspoon talked about being fan of Disney since she was a kid, and how happy she was for the chance to be in this project. Kaling talked about how she learned a lot from her character, since she only speaks in the words of others. Winfrey was elated to take on such a role, and when it was announced that everyone in the audience would be getting a poster, she did a "You get a poster and you get a poster! Everyone gets a poster!" bit. The trailer itself was fantastic, and at least one person next to me declared that he was going to read the book.

Next, we saw was some brief footage and some information about The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Disney announced the movie will have a November 2nd, 2018 and shows off some early footage for the movie.

Clara (Mackenzie Foy) is following a strange thread through her house as the voice is Morgan Freeman, who plays Drosselmeyer, says that it is Christmas Eve and a time of mystery. She follows the string until she walks into a world covered in snow. The footage and concept art looked more along the lines of high fantasy rather than fairytale, with some pieces looking like Lord of the Rings or Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with the dials set at 50%.

We also got the rest of the cast: Keira Knightley will play the Sugar Plum Fairy, Freeman will play Drosselmeyer, Eugenio Derbez will play the Flower Realm King, Helen Mirren will play Mother Ginger, Miranda Hart plays Dew Drop Fairy, Ellie Bamber plays Louise, and ballerina Misty Copeland will star as The Ballerina. Copeland and Sergei Polunin, two of the world's most accomplished modern dancers, will be composing the routines for the movie. The Mouse King will be envisioned by CGI with help by the movements of Charles "Lil Buck" Riley who performed an amazing dance piece for the audience. Riley's movements make it look like he has no joints, and it was incredible to watch.

Clara will be visiting four distinct realms on her journey with a different ruler over each: the Land of Flowers, ruled by Hawthorn; The Land of Snowflakes, ruled by Shiver; the Land of Sweets, dominated by Sugar Plum Fairy; and the fourth realm, belonging to the villainous Mother Ginger.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!