Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 307 Frozen
Originally, Hu Xiaobei and his two companions had already planned to return to China at the end of August.

However, with the global box office success of "Mulan" and the popularity of the first season of "Homecoming," the two stayed a few more days at Disney's invitation.

On the one hand, it is to capitalize on the popularity and carry out a series of promotional activities to further boost the global box office of "Mulan".

On the other hand, it is also hoped that this opportunity will expand An Xiaoqian's influence in the United States and create favorable conditions for her to win an Oscar.

During this period, although Hu Xiaobei would accompany An Xiaoqian to participate in various program promotions, he mostly sat quietly in the audience because he did not like to accept media interviews.

Even so, the TV station would still cleverly capture the moment, switching the camera to him from time to time.

After a period of intensive promotion, Hu Xiaobei and his two companions were warmly invited by Disney to their headquarters.

There, they not only visited the exhibition of original manuscripts from classic Disney animations, but also the creative designs for immersive theme park projects.

They also visited the film and television post-production center, where they observed firsthand the actual application processes of cutting-edge technologies such as special effects compositing and motion capture, and gained a detailed understanding of Disney's innovative experience in the industrialized production system of film and television.

Disney's move serves three purposes: first, to demonstrate its strength and foundation; second, to collaborate on new film projects; and third, to deepen the bond between the two parties and facilitate future cooperation.

Both parties have reached a cooperation agreement on the new film, but preparation time and seeing Disney's sincerity in the collaboration are needed.

In addition, during the visit, Hu Xiaobei also discovered a rather interesting project – Frozen.

At this time, the Frozen project had been shelved for a long time and was not yet fully formed; in fact, the project was still called The Snow Queen.

In fact, the project was proposed as early as the 1940s, but it was shelved due to the impact of World War II and the difficulty in portraying the Snow Queen as a vivid and relatable character.

In the late 1990s and early 21st century, Disney began to consider adapting The Snow Queen into an animated feature film.

However, many difficulties were encountered during the development process, and despite the participation of top artists, progress was very slow.

In late 2009 in the original timeline, the situation changed when Chris Buck, the director of Tarzan, took charge of the film project adapted from The Snow Queen, but the project was still not fully formed at this time.

Until 2010, with the addition of Jennifer Lee, the first woman to direct a Disney animated film, and songwriters Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

Significant changes were made to the film, such as adding Anna, the Snow Queen's sister, and creating the song "Let It Go," which put the project on the right track and into production, finally leading to its release in 2013.

Therefore, at this time, "The Snow Queen" was still a long-term, shelved project in the cold preparation stage.

Even the movie's title wasn't finalized until 2011, when it was finally named "Frozen".

In other words, the current version of "The Snow Queen" is quite different from the "Frozen" released after its release, with different characters and plot.

In this situation, if Hu Xiaobei had an animation production company, he could register scripts and cartoon character designs and directly produce movies.

Whether Disney is involved or not is not really important.

In light of this, Hu Xiaobei's eyes flickered slightly, and he glanced at An Xiaoqian almost imperceptibly.

An Xiaoqian keenly caught Hu Xiaobei's gaze, tilted her head slightly, and silently mouthed, "What's wrong?"

Hu Xiaobei shook his head slightly, indicating that he would talk about it later, but he had given up the idea of ​​going it alone.

Although she was full of doubts, she obediently nodded and continued to listen to the staff's explanation.

In the original timeline, An Xiaoqian really liked Elsa from Frozen.

Her friend Jane Zhang also revealed that An Xiaoqian would record herself singing Elsa-related songs and send them to her so that she could help fix the audio.

Furthermore, "Let It Go," the theme song from "Frozen," is still one of An Xiaoxi's go-to songs at karaoke, and she expressed her greatest wish that Mulan could appear on screen with Elsa. Hu Xiaobei understood the deeper meaning behind Disney's invitation and also recognized the immense value hidden behind the "Snow Queen" project.

He picked up his coffee, took a small sip, and said casually, "I've noticed the Snow Queen project. Actually, the core of Andersen's fairy tales has a lot of potential to be explored."

However, judging from the current progress, it seems you've encountered some bottlenecks?

The Disney creative director, who didn't deserve to be named, raised an eyebrow helplessly, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "Mr. Hu, your vision is really sharp."

That's right, this project has been mentioned many times over the decades.

We tried many approaches, but we couldn't find a breakthrough that would make the character stand out.

Hu Xiaobei put down his coffee cup, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table, as if deep in thought.

"Perhaps we can try a different approach."

After pausing deliberately and considering his words carefully, he tentatively mentioned his interest in the shelved project, his words carrying a sense of caution and confidence.

Upon hearing this, An Xiaoqian's eyes lit up instantly. She leaned forward unconsciously, her gaze fixed on Hu Xiaobei, filled with curiosity and anticipation.

In her opinion, Hu Xiaobei looks really handsome and charming when he gets serious.

As a top director with exceptional talent and ability, Hu Xiaobei is exactly the kind of collaborator that Disney values, and Disney executives hope to deepen their cooperation with him.

After all, Hu Xiaobei's first commercial film grossed $8.25 million.

In their eyes, such a person is nothing more than a walking gold coin manufacturing machine.

Moreover, if Disney can turn the long-stalled "Snow Queen" project into a valuable asset, it would undoubtedly be an unexpected bonus for the company.

After all, if they could do this project, they would have done it long ago. The reason they haven't done it yet is precisely because they lack the opportunity and the necessary conditions for success.

As a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, "The Snow Queen" itself is not subject to copyright. Hu Xiaobei can adapt the story and characters without necessarily having to collaborate with Disney.

Therefore, both parties quickly initiated cooperation negotiations on this matter.

The atmosphere in the conference room instantly became lively, with everyone gathering around, their eyes filled with eagerness and anticipation.

Seeing this, Hu Xiaobei became even more calm and composed.

He spoke fluently and confidently, showing no fear that Disney might change its mind.

After all, he knew in his heart that the progress of a film project could not be determined by a single plot idea.

From initial preparation to post-production, every step was fraught with challenges and difficulties.

He offered a fresh interpretation of the plot of "The Snow Queen" on stage, boldly proposing to add new characters to enhance the story with more emotional conflict and dramatic tension.

"I suggest adding a younger sister to the Snow Queen, perhaps named Anna."

Hu Xiaobei drew a simple character relationship diagram on the whiteboard: "The emotional conflict between the two sisters can enrich the story and make the characters more three-dimensional."

"But there's no such setting in Andersen's original work. Isn't this too far off?" a screenwriter who doesn't deserve to be named questioned.

(End of this chapter)