The King and I

The King and I (1999)

The All New Animated Family Spectacular Adapted From The Musical By Rodgers And Hammerstein

Widowed Welsh mother Anna Loenowens becomes a governess and English tutor to the wives and many children of the stubborn King Mongkut of Siam. Anna and the King have a clash of personalities as she works to teach the royal family about the English language, customs and etiquette, and rushes to prepare a party for a group of European diplomats who must change their opinions about the King.

Date of release
1999-03-19
TMDB
5.4 / 10 (120)
Runtime
1h 27m
Genres
Animation, Family, Music, Romance
Director
Richard Rich

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Box office: A$12M
  • Based on: Anna and the King of Siam and The King and I

The King and I is a 1999 American animated musical film directed by Richard Rich. It is the only animated feature film produced by Morgan Creek Productions. Loosely based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1951 stage musical of the same name, it portrays a fictionalized account of English school teacher Anna Leonowens' historical encounter with king Mongkut of Siam and the royal court. The voice cast stars Miranda Richardson and Martin Vidnovic as Leonowens and Mongkut, respectively, with Ian Richardson, Darrell Hammond, Allen D. Hong, Armi Arabe, and Adam Wylie. The score, songs, and some of the character names come from the stage musical.

Production

After the success of Walt Disney Feature Animation's The Little Mermaid (1989), Warner Bros. Pictures began distributing several animated films, such as The Nutcracker Prince (1990) and Rover Dangerfield (1991), while also distributing Disney films theatrically in overseas markets until 1992. However, it was the success of The Lion King (1994) that convinced other Hollywood studios to consider producing in-house animated feature films.

In 1991, Morgan Creek Entertainment began a distribution deal with Warner Bros. to release its films within the United States. In 1994, the company established Warner Bros. Feature Animation, hiring Max Howard a year later to preside over the new division. In 1994, Arthur Rankin Jr., the head of Rankin/Bass Productions, had toured Thailand, where he considered adapting The King and I into an animated feature film.

Prior to the release of Quest for Camelot (1998), screenwriters David Seidler and Jacqueline Feather were contracted to adapt the film for Morgan Creek, to be released under the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label. In 1998, it was revealed the plot had been "slightly altered" from the original musical "in the interest of family viewing." However, no changes could be made without the approval of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.

Each of the characters in the film was designed by a team of animators consisting of Bronwen Barry, Elena Kravets, and Michael Coppieters. The final design of each character had to receive final approval from James G. Robinson, the head of Morgan Creek Entertainment. Over one thousand animators were hired in over 24 countries across four different continents to hand draw each second of the film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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