The recent news that the previously shelved Dumbo II (due to story problems that apparently mirrored Babe: Pig In The City‘s plot) is back on the cards has opened the floodgates for more sequels to Walt Disney’s original classics. Following next year’s Bambi And The Great Prince and the in-production Cinderella III and Tinkerbell Movie, it is expected that Disney will officially slate a sequel to Walt’s previously thought untouchable first feature in an announcement to be made over the weekend or on Monday. An insider at Disney’s direct-to-video operation in Australia has let us know that the film, currently titled Snow White And The Eighth Dwarf, will introduce “the newest addition to our family”, a long-lost dwarf named Jumpy, who the Dwarfs thought was lost in the mine years ago. “He’s been wandering all alone trying to find his way home all this time” says the scooper. “Having been lost in the deep, dark forest, he’s naturally nervous. When he reveals he can’t even remember his own name, this leads Snowy [the Dwarfs’ new nickname for the Princess] to remark ‘I think we’ll call you…Jumpy’, to which Jumpy leaps up and peeks through the bedsheets, losing Dopey a bed and causing further comic sequences”.
The source finishes his message with more plot: “All this takes place while Snowy is on a visit to the Dwarfs following her honeymoon. Meanwhile, Prince Charming has been hypnotised by the dead spirit of the Wicked Queen, who managed to encase her soul in the castle’s Magic Mirror. Jumpy has to prove himself by waking all the others up to the scam and lead the Dwarfs on a quest to destroy the mirror once and for all” – well, until Snow White III anyway! Though it is unconfirmed, the insider claims it is understood that Ward Kimball’s legendary Soup Song scene, cut from the original, will be finished up and used with new animation of Jumpy added to the mix, for his first night’s return celebrations. It is unknown as to whether the sequel will be a theatrical or DVD premiere, but it is expected to be released to mark the first film’s 70th Anniversary in 2007. For a low-resolution sneak-peek at early promotional art, follow this link:
