Happier Than Ever Trailer: Billie Eilish's New Concert Movie Heads To Disney+
Grammy Award winner Billie Eilish is teaming up with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids," "Sin City") for "Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles," a new concert experience which features the acclaimed singer/songwriter performing the entirety of her new album "Happier Than Ever" on stage at the famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. But that's not all: Eilish is also getting animated for the new movie, "taking viewers on a dreamlike journey through [her] hometown of Los Angeles and its most iconic backdrops." Check out the trailer below.
Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles Trailer
Eilish, whose music has so clearly resonated with a generation of listeners in a relatively short amount of time, has been one of the hottest acts in the world for the past couple of years. So it's no surprise that Disney would try to capitalize on her popularity by putting her front and center in a streaming concert experience, and the Mouse House's deep pockets helped turn this into much more than just a filmed version of a traditional live show.
Instead, Eilish finds herself in animated form, looking like a less-sexualized version of Kim Basinger's Holli Would character from Ralph Bakshi's 1992 live-action/animation hybrid "Cool World." That transformation fits right in with Eilish's commentary about having an idealized vision of Los Angeles and the spell the city can cast on its residents and visitors; after all, people have been developing new personas in Tinseltown since the early days of the film business.
Rodriguez, who is adept at using CG to help create sleek and stylized movies like "Alita: Battle Angel" and "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," is joined in the director's chair by Patrick Osborne, who won an Oscar for his directorial debut, the Disney short film "Feast." Before that, Osborne worked as an animator on Disney films like "Bolt" and "Wreck-It Ralph." This will be his first full-length feature, and I'm personally hoping he will be able help curb some of Rodriguez's worst tendencies as a filmmaker. There's a feeling of cheapness to his movies that will clash with the romantic, classic, old Hollywood vibes Eilish is clearly aiming to achieve here, so if he can avoid green screens and flashy tricks and let Eilish's music do most of the work, this could turn out to be an interesting project.
And don't sleep on Gustavo Dudamel, the floppy-haired conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic orchestra (and an inspiration for Simon Helberg's character in the new Amazon curio, "Annette") – from a pure aural perspective, adding a huge orchestra to Eilish's frequently subtle vocals should be a fascinating match.
"Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles" debuts on Disney+ on September 3, 2021.