Last year, it was announced that a new movie called Flora & Ulysses, would be coming to Disney+ and according to a new article from Forbes, the film will be arriving this Fall.

“Flora & Ulysses” tells the story of 10-year-old Flora, an avid comic book fan and a self-avowed cynic, who saves a squirrel she names Ulysses only to have its unique superhero powers wreak havoc in a series of humorous, antic-filled adventures that ultimately change Flora’s life—and her outlook—forever.

The film stars Matilda Lawler as Flora, Alyson Hannigan as Flora’s romance-writer mother, Phyllis, and Ben Schwartz as her estranged father, George.

This new Disney+ Original film is being directed by Lena Khan, who spoke about the issues the Coronavirus has been having on the film.  There was going to be some last minute second photography to finalize some scenes, however that can’t happen anymore, so the team are working remotely on editing the film together with what they have.  However this is proving difficult as child care and unstable internet connections are causing delays in them working.

“Oh gosh it’s brutal. We’re like a slave to our internet connection. Somedays we can’t even work”

However, the team are using different techniques to get the content they require, since many of Disney’s film departments are either closed down or also working from home.  The director explained:

“We were like, ‘Well we have this footage. Maybe we can dig around. And if she was actually standing instead of sitting, and somebody said something else, and then we flip the screen, and on the left side we use this other footage?’ We literally made something that was never supposed to be,”

One issue has been that Disney’s sound department isn’t around to provide additional audio for the film’s titular CGI squirrel, so the director is providing the voice of the squirrel.  Then when the sound department is finally back to work, the professional voice actor will come in and mimic the sounds she has already recorded.  There are other issues that the team are working around to get the film completed and she added:

“In constrained circumstances you actually end up being a lot more creative.  I actually think some of the solutions that came up here ended up better for the movie.”

With filming shut down on shows and movies, it’s important that Disney continue to try to get as much pre and post production done as possible as Lena Khan stated:

“We all know Disney+ needs content. Because a third of the country is on it.”

She went on to explain:

“We are trying to preserve quality while rushing to get it out as soon as possible. I think people don’t want to compromise the movie for the sake of a temporary thing.”

Obviously everybody wants shows and movies to arrive on Disney+, but its good to hear, while they are trying to make small changes to keep the move on schedule, its not going to effect the quality of the movie.  And there are some upsides to the current situation:

“The one good thing of this pandemic is everybody in this entire country is gonna see this movie. And when you’ve put that much time and effort into a project, it’s nice to know that it will get the full appreciation that it deserves.”

Disney’s “Flora & Ulysses” looks set to come to Disney+ in the fall and its great to hear from the director that the film is still being worked on from home.

Are you looking forward to “Flora & Ulysses”?

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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