Walt Disney Studios announced plans for its next 10 animated films on Tuesday, April 8. There was no mention of the John Carter series. But buried way down was reference to a Christmas 2012 feature: King of the Elves.
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
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