Mickey Mouse Documentary Coming To Disney+ From Morgan Neville; Gillian Jacobs & Paul Scheer To Direct Episodes Of 'Marvel's 616'
Today's Disney+ non-fiction presentation in Hollywood provided a plethora of information about more upcoming projects for the nascent streaming service, including news that a new Mickey Mouse documentary is in the works with the high aspiration of being "the definitive analysis of Mickey as a cultural icon." The untitled movie will be directed by Jeff Malmberg, the filmmaker behind the 2010 doc Marwencol, and produced by Morgan Neville, who is perhaps best known for last year's beloved Mr. Rogers doc Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Plus, we learned that actors Gillian Jacob (Community, Love) and Paul Scheer (The League, Veep) will be directing episodes of Marvel's 616. Get the details below.
Mickey Mouse Documentary
Neville, the Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award-winning documentarian, is producing the new untitled Mickey Mouse Documentary for Disney+. His credits also include 20 Feet From Stardom, Ugly Delicious, and Troubadours. Malmberg, who directed the 2010 documentary Marwencol that served as the inspiration for Robert Zemeckis's Welcome to Marwen and whose work often deals with the intersection of reality and fantasy, will direct. According to a press release, "the film will work to decode Mickey's deeper significance, getting to the core of what his cultural impact says about each of us, and about our world. From Tremolo Productions and Lincoln Square Productions, the film will strive to be the definitive analysis of Mickey as a cultural icon."
Marvel's 616 Finds Some Directors
In case you missed the initial announcement about this new show, Marvel's 616 is "an anthological documentary series exploring the intersection between Marvel's rich legacy of stories, characters and creators and the world outside your window. Told through the lens of a diverse group of filmmakers, each documentary will dive into the rich historical, cultural and societal context that has become inseparable from stories of the Marvel Universe." Now we know who two of those filmmakers are: Paul Scheer and Gillian Jacobs.
Jacobs is directing the first episode of the documentary series, which is entitled "Higher, Further, Faster" after the Captain Marvel tagline. Here's the description of her episode:
"From the perspective of what it means to be a woman in what's perceived to be a male-driven industry, 'Higher, Further, Faster' will shine a light on the trailblazing women of Marvel Comics and explores how they found ways to tell stories of representation and inclusion."
Paul Scheer, David Gelb (who's also directing that Wolfgang Puck documentary for the streamer), and Andrew Rossi will be some of the other filmmakers to direct episodes of this show. The press release says those episodes "will focus on a range of topics including an intimate look at the cosplay community, Marvel's influence and relationship with hip-hop, illustrators who live and work internationally, and following a high school theater production of Marvel and Disney's 'Spotlight' program."
Marvel's 616 will hit Disney+ sometime in 2020.