Dear Jennifer Lee,

Let me begin by stating how wholeheartedly I enjoyed your work as writer and director of Disney’s Frozen. The love for the film by critics and audiences is so great that it is, to this day, “Disney’s highest grossing animation,” and children everywhere have “held Frozen parties and sing-alongs.” (Harrington) The success of Frozen has been very long-lived and fortunate for Disney, it is true that a new princess has not come out since 2013. I believe that it is a good time to start entertaining the idea of a new princess, and I have come up with an adaptation that I believe would be very successful if taken on by Disney and with you as director. My adaptation is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which is agreed to be one of the greatest literary works ever written. This, of course, means that many other works have been influenced by it (rather it be a direct remake or a story with similar themes).  Past adaptations of this classic tale have proven to do well with both critics and audiences alike, but with such similar content, any new version will need to stand out as unique in order to attain any real acclaim. That’s why I believe the success of this film relies on combining two incredibly popular pop culture elements into one major motion picture: Disney princesses and Shakespeare.

My adaptation is an animated film (hopefully produced by Walt Disney Studios) that is marketed mainly toward families with children- but of course all Disney lovers will enjoy this film as well. It features a storyline that is very similar, but not exactly the same, to Romeo and Juliet. Instead of “two households, both alike in dignity,” (P1) the story is centered around two small neighboring kingdoms in ancient Italy who have never gotten along and will seemingly never get along, the East Kingdom and the West Kingdom. The two characters mirroring Romeo and Juliet will be named Prince Robert (from the East) and Princess Julianna (from the West), both around 16 years of age. In the opening scene of the movie, a very young Princess Julianna (around five years old) is being read a bedtime story. This story will essentially tell the backstory of the hatred between the two kingdoms. It will tell of how, centuries ago, there was a large kingdom with a cruel and uncaring king who ruled so that only the wealthiest subjects lived happy, healthy lives, and the poor were left to die and the children to starve. Eventually a rebellion arose, and the kingdoms spilt into two: The East Kingdom and the West Kingdom. Both kingdoms forbid contact with the other, and all written history was lost. It does not specify which kingdom split form the other.

Flash forward sixteen years later, and both kingdoms are happy, but a famine has swept through them, so the West Kingdom has invited the East Kingdom to their land for a fortnight to discuss survival strategies and a potential truce. The West Kingdom is ruled by Julianna’s Uncle because her parents died the previous year, and she has two younger siblings (twin boy and girl). There is a lot of tension between the two kingdoms, but they try to bury it in these times of crisis. An extravagant ball is thrown as a welcome ceremony for the royal family of the East Kingdom, and that is where Robert and Julianna meet for the first time. It’s love at first sight, and the ball is followed by a balcony scene very similar to that in Romeo and Juliet. The rest of the plot shows their struggle in their forbidden love, and Julianna’s Uncle is later revealed as the antagonist of the film as he killed her parents and was plotting to overthrow the East Kingdom the whole time. There is a big showdown between her Uncle and Prince Robert. In the end, he is defeated and thrown in jail for the rest of his life, and Robert and Julianna get married, reunite the two kingdoms into one, and become the beloved King and Queen of the new land.

The success of this film could be predicted by the way similar works have been received. Taylor Swifts hit 2007 song “Love Story” told the story of Romeo and Juliet but had a much different ending. In her version, Romeo asked Juliet’s father for her hand in marriage and they lived happily ever after. This song was widely received by audiences and is one of Taylor swift’s most famous songs to date, so it is safe to assume audiences enjoyed having a happy ending to what is traditionally such a tragedy. Another similar work is Disney’s 2011 film Gnomeo and Juliet. In this hit animated film, the characters of Romeo and Juliet are portrayed through garden gnomes whose families each believe their garden is superior to the other. This was also very popular when it came out and did very well in theatres, and it is another example of how audiences enjoy lighthearted and family friendly versions of Shakespeare’s work. Some may say it is unwise to do another Romeo and Juliet inspired film so soon, but I disagree. Gnomeo and Juliet was indeed a Disney animated film, but its storyline is completely different than the one above, and it would be a Disney princess film rather than just an animation. Also, the characters would be actual people and not garden gnomes. These works (and many others) imply that this film would be very profitable for the production company and very popular with audiences.

The major themes and heart of this film is really going to be about treating each other fairly and with kindness. This will be portrayed through the way classism is discussed and dealt with throughout the film. Classism is what initially tore the kingdom apart all those years ago and what they are trying to fix throughout the film. The antagonist (Julianna’s uncle) not only wants to take over both kingdoms, he also wants to take control of the kingdoms’ riches and keep all the money for himself. He does not care if the people have enough to eat or have a place to live. Julianna and Robert fight him for their people as well as themselves. The famine has made it difficult for the lower-class people to acquire food because it gets more and more expensive as the famine goes on, and this is what brings the two kingdoms together in the beginning of the film. Classism was a major problem in early European monarchies, and it is still seen today in the modern world, though perhaps not in the same way.

https://prezi.com/fehlwnu_afzf/shakespeare-vs-disney/

I believe this adaptation would be immensely successful due to its powerful combination of both Shakespeare and Disney, two of the most successful elements in cinema history. This film will draw in those who love Disney films and also those who are even mildly interested in works based on Shakespeare plays. Disney is a very successful production company, and “has had such wide-reaching popular success that it has become part of popular culture, not just in the West where it originated, but across the world.” The alone could be enough to ensure the success of this movie, but with the added element of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it would be unwise to bet against the success of this film. I would like, once again, to say how much I have enjoyed your previous work, not just on Frozen, but also Zootopia (2016)and Wreck-It-Ralph. I believe you would be the perfect fit for my film.I hope you love the idea, and I hope to have your support once I have formally pitched the film to Walt Disney Studios.

Best Wishes,

Betty Holt

Works Cited

Harrington, Seán. The Disney Fetish. Vol. Ebook edition, John Libbey Publishing, 2015.

Gnomeo & Juliet. Touchstone, 2011.

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Edited by Rene Weis, Arden Shakespeare, 2012.

Swift, Taylor. Love Story, 2008

Wills, John. Disney Culture. Rutgers University Press, 2017.

Wreck It Ralph, Walt Disney Studios, 2012.

Zootopia. Walt Disney Studios, 2016.