The Nixie of the Millpond

The Nixie of the Millpond would be a 2033 computer-animated fantasy romance musical film directed by Bruce W. Smith and Jared Bush from an screenplay by Bush and Dan Fogelman, produced by Roy Conli, and loosely based on the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm. Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film would star the voices of Raven-Symone, Brenda Song, Queen Letifah, Anna Akana, Amanda Leighton, and Alan Tudyk. The film's songs would be written by Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda, with Menken also composing the score.

Development on an animated Nixie of the Millpond adaptation would begin in January 2030, with Smith and Bush set to direct the film. Bush would be hired as screenwriter in June 2030, with Fogelman joining as co-screenwriter in August 2030. Symone and Song would join the cast in November 2030, while Letifah would join in February 2031, and Akana and Leighton would join in July 2031. The filmmakers would make the lead couple lesbian in order to make the film's plot more female-centered. The fairy tale's plot would also be altered in order to create "a more straight-forward, adventurous tale" in the spirit of the Indiana Jones franchise.

The Nixie of the Millpond would be released in May 16, 2033, and would become a critical and commercial success. Critics would praise Symone and Akana's performances and dynamic, as well as the film's screenplay, direction, musical numbers, animation, score, and action sequences. The film would earn 980 million dollars at the worldwide box office over a budget of 120 million dollars. The Nixie of the Millpond would earn two Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, as well as an Annie Award nomination for Best Film and a Grammy for Best Original Song.

Synopsis
Set many years ago, Disney's The Nixie of the Millpond tells the story of a young married couple who lived in a mill, who became terribly impoverished. However, that luck changes when Harriet, the wife of the Mill's owner, Janet, makes a deal with the mysterious Nixie, who promises to make things better for the couple in exchange for "a little something". The mill soon becomes a hit, gaining the couple a big fortune. However, the Nixie eventually returns, and takes the "little something" she vowed she would take from Harriet, which turns out to be Janet herself, as the Nixie needs a human sacrifice for a spell she's preparing. Horrified at having lost her wife, Harriet goes on a quest to get her back, traveling througth earth and water alongside a woman from a cottage se found in order to obtain a series of objects that will allow her to go to the Nixie's realm and get Harriet back.

Voice cast

 * Raven-Symone as Harriet, an insecure girl who goes througth a quest to rescue her wife after a deal with the Nixie causes her to kidnap her. Symone would say that Harriet "begins to stand-up to the problems life throws her througth the film".
 * Anna Akana as Juliet, an overconfident miller who is kidnapped by the Nixie. According to Akana, her character arc througth the film would consist on "learning her limitations".
 * Queen Letifah as the Nixie, a mystical creature who kidnaps Juliet for her own dark plans after making a deal with Harriet. Letifah would describe her as "a sly con artist with the voice of a carsaleswoman, who can become a scary threat in an snap". The character would be modeled as "a combination between Ariel and Ursula".
 * Brenda Song as Jennifer, a mysterious woman from a cottage with a connection to magic, who is recruited by Harriet into her quest to rescue Juliet. Song would describe her a "a mysterious rebel fairy godmother-like mentor figure".
 * Amanda Leighton as Eve, an anthropomorphic frog with a "determined-but-cynical" actitude, who is Jennifer's best friend. Leighton would describe her as the film's "comic relief character".
 * Alan Tudyk as Herbert, a talking fish and the Nixie's minion, who is determined to help her, even if he can come on as annoying.

Music
Alan Menken would compose the score for the film. Menken would describe his score as "half-The Little Mermaid and half-Beauty and the Beast", as he would want it to "capture the aquatic fairy tale magic inside the story". Menken would compose a theme for Harriet that "starts weak but becomes stronger and stronger as the film goes by", while Juliet's theme would be "sort of the contrary". The Nixie's theme would be strongly inspired by bothe Ursula and Hades' themes for The Little Mermaid (1989) and Hercules (1997), as Menken would feel "she's sort of like both". Menken would create a "enigmatic but rebellious theme" for Jennifer.

Menken would also compose the songs for the film as well, with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. According to director Bruce W. Smith, Menken and Miranda would be hired as songwriters due to their work in the live-action The Little Mermaid remake, as he would feel that "Little Mermaid-like songs would really fit with this story. According to Miranda, he and Menken would draw inspiraton for Frozen (2013) and Tangled (2010), as well as The Little Mermaid, when writing the film's songs.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 92%, with an average rating of 9.1/10, based on 245 reviews. The website's critical consensus would say, "A nice throwback to earlier Disney films, The Nixie of the Millpond is a magical and romantic adventure with enough old magic and songs to attract old Disney fans and enough adventure and awesome visuals to attract modern Disney fans, creating an experience that all fans can enjoy". On Metacritic, the fim would have a weighted rating of 79 out of 100, based on 54 reviews, indicating "generally positive reviews".

Trivia

 * The film would be Jared Bush's second musical film as director, after Encanto (2021).
 * This would also be Lin-Manuel Miranda's third musical animated Disney film, after Moana (2016) and Encanto.
 * Brenda Song, Anna Akana, and Amanda Leighton previously worked together on Disney's Amphibia (2019-present).
 * Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda previously worked together on Disney's The Little Mermaid.
 * Queen Letifah previously starred in The Little Mermaid Live! (2019), which featured several songs composed by Alan Menken.
 * According to co-director Bruce W. Smith, the couple at the start of the fairy tale and the main couple would be combined because he would feel the first couple "had some potential for a few good character arcs".