The Princess Who Would Be a Prince

The Princess Who Would Be a Prince would be a 2029 American adventure fantasy film directed by Byron Howard and Chris Buck from an screenplay by Howard and Jared Bush, who would also co-write the story along side Buck and Aaron & Jordan Kandell. Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distribuited by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film would star the voices of Sir Lady Java and Brian Michael Smith as the lead role, with Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, and Idris Elba in secondary roles, while James Newton Howard would compose the score. The film would center on Sam, the prince of a magical kingdom, who is turned into a princess after a magical accident, and now tries to find a way to revert it.
Development on a gender-swapping animated Disney film would begin in early 2025, with Howard set to direct the film, and Buck joining as co-director and co-writer alongside Howard later that year. Java and Michael Smith would join the cast as the lead voices in early 2026. Nyong'o and Gurira would join in late 2026, with Elba joining the cast in early 2027. The Kandells and Bush would join the film's writing team througth the following two years, with Bush and Howard receiving final screenwriting credit. The filmmakers would consult with transgenders activists in order to potray transgenders accurately within the film.
The Princess Who Would Be a Prince would be released in November 13, 2029, and would become a critical and commercial success. Critics would praise the film for its use of a transgender lead character, direction, voice acting, storyline, themes, screenplay, score, and animation. The film would earn 1 billion dollars at the worldwide box office over a budget of 130 million dollars. The Princess Who Would Be a Prince would earn a GLAAD for Outstanding Film – Wide Release, and would earn three Academy Award nomnations for Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Film.
== Synopsis ==
Long ago, there was a prince named Samuel, who was happy with his life, and a wizard-in-training named Laura, who has yet to master her skills in magic.. These lacks of skill eventually came to affect Prince Samuel, as one day, while trying to see how Laura's skills have improved, he is accidentally turned into a woman named Samantha by Laura. Now the two, alongside Samuel/Samanthat's caretaker, Kate, try to reverse the spell, but it requieres several ingrdients, forcing them to travel througth their land in order to get them. However, this puts them in conflict with a intelligent lizard named Amadeus, who wants to get the spell himself. As they travel, Samanthat begins to aske herself whether she truly wants to be Samuel again.
== Voice cast ==
* Brian Michael Smith & Sir Lady Java as Prince Samuel/Princess Samantha, a prince with a happy life, who is accidentally turned into a woman named Samantha by a spell. Director Byron Howard would describe her arc in the film as "not simply the story of a 'man' realizing he's a woman on the inside, but the universal story of somebody finding himself and discovering what kind of person she is and is meant to be".
* Lupita Nyong'o as Kate, Prince Samuel/Princess Samantha's caretaker, who is overreactive when it comes to danger, but accepting when it comes to her friends.
* Danai Gurira as Laura, the royal family's personal wizard-in-training, who accidentally turns Prince Samuel into a woman. Gurira would descrbe her as "a very insecure charactert with an empowering arc".
* Idris Elba as Amadeus, an intelligent anthropomorphic lizard, who soughts a transformation spell for himself. Elba would describe him as "somebody who is more than what meets the eye".
== Music ==
James Newton Howard, who previously composed the score for Disney's Dinosaur (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002), would compose the film's score. Newton Howard would describe his score as "something philosphocal, magical, and adventurous". Newton Howard would describe Samuel/Samantha's theme as "a very confident one, that alowly becomes more phhilosophical as the story moves on", while Laura's theme "starts insecure, but slowly feels more confident". Newton Howard would compose a "mysterious and dangerous theme" for Amadeus, and a "parent-like, overreactive theme" for Kate.
== Reception ==
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 95%, with an average rating of 9.3/10, based on 220 reviews. The website's critical consensus would read, "It may be Disney's first attempt to tackle transgender themes, but The Princess Who Would Be a Prince feels as more than just an attempt to diversify its characters, delivering a very powerful coming-of-age story about identity that is supported by a wonderful cast and incredible animation". On Metacritic, the film would have a weighted rating of 81 out of 100, based on 53 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
== Trivia ==
* This would be the first Disney film to star a transgender character.