Disney is creating Penelope, a brand-new musical comedy that puts a fresh spin on the beloved fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. Robert Sudduth, who has a wealth of experience in the musical comedy genre, will pen the script for the movie. Sudduth, who recently starred in the NBC smash Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, is presently filming Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies for Paramount+. This musical comedy is a precursor to the John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John movie from 1978.
The Princess and the Pea, a well-known fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, will serve as a loose inspiration for Penelope. The most well-known rendition of this tale on the big screen is the Carol Burnett–starring 1959 Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress. Later, in 2005, The Wonderful World of Disney produced an adaptation for television. Disney has frequently used Andersen’s other works as inspiration over the years, starting with the Silly Symphony short The Ugly Duckling in 1931.
The film is apparently being developed for a theatrical release, rather than going straight to Disney+. The project hasn’t been formally announced by Disney, so no narrative information have been made public. The famous fairy tale about a prince who wants to marry a princess but is having trouble finding a suitable wife will serve as a loose inspiration for the story. Everyone he meets has a flaw, and he can never be sure if they are true princesses because they have poor manners or are not his style.
Will Gluck’s Olive Bridge production company will handle the production of Penelope. Glick previously contributed to the James Corden-starring Peter Rabbit movies and the 2014 musical adaptation of Annie. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Gluck is working with Keith Bunin on a script for the live-action remake of Disney’s 1970 animated film The Aristocats. This is Gluck’s second publicly announced project with the studio. The limited series Down the Rabbit Hole, starring Samara Weaving, is also executive produced by Gluck.