New Series of Photography from Annie Leibovitz

[Hair_Razor]

I wonder who is going to pose as Ursula - my vote would be Rosie.

Hmmm...I see another thread topic: "which actor/sports hero should Annie choose to pose as______"

That would be great you should start it.

[Thumper03]

Okay..this is like watching a game show with "celebrities" on it and not knowing why the person is famous to begin with. Who are Jessica Biel and Gisele Bundchen? Actresses? Models? Singers? Spoiled heiresses?

[PirateLover]

Okay..this is like watching a game show with "celebrities" on it and not knowing why the person is famous to begin with. Who are Jessica Biel and Gisele Bundchen? Actresses? Models? Singers? Spoiled heiresses?

Jessica Beil is an actress who is actually somewhat famous, and Gisele Bundchen is a supermodel who poses (or used to pose) for Victoria's Secret. She dated Leonardo DiCaprio for a while and now she dates Tom Brady.

[GoinGoofyPlanninThisTrip]

Don't reply if it doesn't interest you - skip the thread or something.

I believe the link reads Discussion Here.

I always thought a discussion was an exchange of views on a particular subject. I clicked to see the pictures...I (like some others) didn't care for them...I gave my opinion. As for the story placement on the site - all the others seem to be about travel...that's why I clicked on it in the first place.

With that said, I didn't intend for my questioning of the story's placement to sound as harsh as it may have - my bad.

[ChipnDaleGal]

The Aladdin Movie was the first one that my daughter saw in the theatre and Jasmine was (and still is) her favorite Princess. So it is very special to her and to me. I can't accept Jennifer Lopez as Jasmine, and Marc Anthony is no Aladdin. Creeps me out a little.

It is nice if someone gets some pleasure out of this series, but it isn't for me.

[scoot241]

Count me in with those who think the first set were better. The Peter Pan picture is probably the best of these, but all of these pale in comparison to the Cinderella picture from the first set.

Tina Fey looks good as Tinkerbell (google Tina Fey Tinkerbell).

[murphy1]

Marc Anthony, I have never seen the mass appeal he has, he looks like the scrappy kid on the playground who gets picked on. I do like Lebovitz, as a fellow artistic person, she has some really great ideas and a great eye. This just shows a different viewpoint of things and I can appreciate that.

[TheFoo]

I agree that the 2nd series may have been miscast...

The only one we really like is the Wendy/Tink/Peter Pan shot.

Pocahontas was composed nicely, and we like Jessica Biel, but we think she was a poor choice for Pocahontas. We wish they had found a different character for her to portray...
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[Disney Doll]

I really enjoyed these photos. Although I do agree the 1st series was better. Jessica Biel is a weird Pocahontas. I wish they would have found someone with more ethnicity- for lack of a better word. I think the Peter Pan scene is excellent. Whoopi is good as the Genie, but something is a little off with JLo and Marc Anthony.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Sorry - hate to be this way, BUT. . .
As much I like these pictures - I believe they are very cool - I don't like the idea of ANYONE being A Disney character, except the Character. I believe the characters should be as anonymus as the characters are in the park.
I don't think any other name or person should be associated with a character. I guess I'm just a purist that way - because I don't think any living person can be as Magical as a Disney character is.
Let the celebrities stars shine in their own Universe - not Disneys.

[Belle619]

I agree that the first set was better. I like the casting of Jennifer Lopez and Tina Fey; however, I'm not thrilled about any of the other celebrity choices - especially a lingerie model playing the part of a child/young adult.

[Dixie Springs]

Sorry - hate to be this way, BUT. . .
As much I like these pictures - I believe they are very cool - I don't like the idea of ANYONE being A Disney character, except the Character. I believe the characters should be as anonymus as the characters are in the park.
I don't think any other name or person should be associated with a character. I guess I'm just a purist that way - because I don't think any living person can be as Magical as a Disney character is.
Let the celebrities stars shine in their own Universe - not Disneys.

I agree - and that's probably why I'm not so nuts about these photo projects. On that same point, I don't even like when characters' voice artists are selected/billed as a selling feature of Disney films ( "...and Robin Williams as Genie...", etc.). They do a fine job, but I'd rather some anonymity (at least until the closing credits).

[MoFrazier05]

Because it's Disney related, many of our members enjoy these as computer wallpaper and I wanted it put on the home page...

Don't reply if it doesn't interest you - skip the thread or something.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT when you reply! Not only do you always echo my sentiments, but its like Dr. Phil-How's that working for U?? !!!!!

[scoot241]

I agree - and that's probably why I'm not so nuts about these photo projects. On that same point, I don't even like when characters' voice artists are selected/billed as a selling feature of Disney films ( "...and Robin Williams as Genie...", etc.). They do a fine job, but I'd rather some anonymity (at least until the closing credits).

I think for this set, the celebrities are much more apparent. Let's throw Whoopi Goldberg in front of some smoke and call her Genie. In the last set, in general the celebrities blended in better.

[Carol]

Celebrities Flip Their Fins in Latest Installment of Disney Dream Portrait Series

BURBANK, Calif. -- For the latest image in the portrait series of celebrities living out their Disney dreams, photographer Annie Leibovitz followed a simple recipe: Just add water.

Continuing the "Disney Dream Portrait Series" that has put stars in all kinds of Disney fantasies, Leibovitz trained her famous lens this time on the undersea world of Ariel, heroine of "The Little Mermaid." To get there, she dressed actress Julianne Moore and American swimming icon Michael Phelps in tails and scales.

"Yes, Julianne has a big mermaid tail; it's interesting," Leibovitz recalled from the shoot. "Michael, too. His movements were so graceful and beautiful you just felt like you were watching a real merman."

The latest Leibovitz photography is part of her acclaimed series as Disney Parks continue, through 2008, the "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration on both coasts.

In the finished image captioned "Where another world is just a wish away," shafts of light pierce the blue depths as Ariel (Moore) sits in her undersea world amid wavy coral and darting sea life. In the foreground of the frame, Phelps slips past, flipping his fins.

Inside The Shoot

Leibovitz worked her mastery on soundstages on both coasts.

Fitted in his silvery fishtail, Phelps was lowered into a backlot tank in Los Angeles used for underwater movie scenes. Leibovitz was on the outside, snapping away, communicating her instructions to Phelps via members of her crew.

"One of the most complicated shots I have ever done," said Leibovitz. "I didn't know if it was going to work, what to expect. I have to tell you, he was beautiful. Michael put on that tailand . . . he just became like a modern dancer. He just took to it and enjoyed himself and swam through this tank. I was blown away."

For the four-time "World Swimmer of the Year" (as designated by Swimming World Magazine), donning flippers was worlds away from the swimming competitions he's used to.

"It was kind of weird to be able to put on a tail and swim around in a tank," Phelps admitted. "To work with Annie and try these crazy sorts of ideas is really an honor and something I won't forget."

A host of swimming stars, past and present, joined Phelps in the water and final image: Janet Evans, Rowdy Gaines, Brendan Hansen and Cullen Jones.

At a New York soundstage, Leibovitz perched the fishtailed Moore on a rock as the starry-eyed Ariel.

"There's a moment in the shoot where Julianne is sitting on a rock in her mermaid tail and her young daughter comes in, and there is not a dry eye in the house," Leibovitz recalled. "She sat in her mother's lap. Her jaw just dropped. She could not believe her mother was Ariel."

When Moore was asked to play Ariel, she recalls, "I leapt at the chance."

"Ariel is my daughter's favorite princess, so I was just really so excited to do it," Moore said. "All the images I've seen that Annie's shot so far -- Cinderella and Alice and the prince one -- are absolutely exquisite. They are so beautiful and so kind of wonderfully emotional. So I was really thrilled to be asked to work with her and do this."

[SBETigg]

I love the Ariel photo.

Interesting that you post this today. I was just wondering what would happen with the Leibovitz/Disney relatioship after Disney's statement today on the Leibovitz-shot photos of Miley Cyrus for Vanity Fair.

[Buttercup]

I love Annie Leibovitz.
As a photographer, I understand that these aren't meant to be "portraits". They are art. Plain and simple. I've found each and every one to be stunning and the detail is very exciting.

Why does it matter if photoshop is used? Every single photographer, including wedding photographers, portrait photographers, landscape photographers, etc. uses photoshop nowadays. Whether it's for colour correction, changing the depth of field, and more. Annie just uses more of it to give her photos a storybook feel.

The reason you believe these look "too photoshopped" is because they are supposed to look like a fantasy. It's not likely that a woman can sit in the forest with a little bluebird on her hand without a little computer magic. They also look surreal because everything is in crisp detail - something you don't normally see in photos (ie. backgrounds are usually a little out of focus in regular photos, etc.). That's maybe why they look a little strange to some people, but they can't quite put their finger on it.

Anyway, that's a little photography 101 for ya. I still think these photos are amazing and Annie does fantastic work, no matter what she shoots.

[Steve Brown]

Can you purchase these photos anywhere? I would love to own some of them.