It’s based on an early Philip K. Dick story of the same name that appeared in the September 1953 number of Beyond Fantasy Fiction, a short-lived (10 issues) pulp digest published by Galaxy Publishing Corp. as a companion to its more popular Galaxy Science Fiction digest.
Can’t say I’ve read the story, but Lawrence Sutin in his book Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick calls it “Phil’s best fantasy story.” He provides this brief summary: “Shadrach Jones, an old man in a desolate small town, offers shelter from the rain to a tattered troup of Elves, whose ailing King dies in Shadrach’s bed. The Elves are battered from their fierce war with the Trolls; they badly need a new King and convince Shadrach to lead them. His neighbor, Phineas Judd, tries to persuade Shadrach that he is losing his mind – but…” Well, I won’t spoil the ending for you.
The film will be computer generated and, as seven of the other movies on Disney’s slate, will be released in 3-D.
– William
