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It’s a shame that we’ve waited this long to discuss Escape from Tomorrow, a film that’s dominating the scene at every new festival it showcases in. Written and directed by Full Sail University graduate and valedictorian Randy Moore, much of the film was shot illegally inside Disneyland and Walt Disney World theme The Film Disney Doesnt Want You to See is Coming to Fantastic Festparks in Burbank, California and Orlando, Florida. Check out the official Sundance synopsis below:
Jim White is an average American family man, mostly content to exist within his humdrum reality. At the tail end of a theme park vacation with his loving wife and two beautiful children, he is awakened by an unsettling phone call from his boss, who tells him that he has lost his job. Unwilling to disturb their sabbatical, Jim holds off on breaking the news to his family so they can enjoy their last day at the idyllic and beloved tourist destination. In desperate need of a distraction, he finds one amidst the long lines at the park—two attractive and fun-loving teenage girls. In his fractured state, Jim falls obsessively in love, making any excuse he can to follow them everywhere. Along the way, his paranoid psyche spirals even further downward, and the fine line between fantasy and reality becomes blurred.
Is it just me or did that synopsis just make you want to throw money in their faces? Although Disney hasn’t officially made a statement, the Mouse apparently does not have legal grounds to sue according to Columbia Law Professor Tim Wu, and falls under “fair use” law.
Unable to sneak lighting equipment into the park, the crew had to plot the sun’s locations sometimes weeks in advance and rehearsed their lines in hotel rooms. Moore says, “We must have walked through the entire movie at least eight or nine times during multiple scouting trips before we ever rolled camera.” Talk about exhausting in that Florida sun…
Former Ain’t It Cool News editor and HitFix contributor, Drew McWeeny, had this to say about the film after viewing it at Sundance:
It is not possible that this film exists. It is not possible that they shot long scripted sequences on the actual rides. It is not possible that I just saw a film in which it is suggested and then shown that the various Disney princesses all work as high-priced hookers who sell their wares to wealthy Asian businessmen. It simply cannot be true. I grew up in Florida, and I have been going to Walt Disney World my entire life. I worked at that park. I’ve been there as a child, as a teenager, as an employee, and as a parent. I’ve done Disney sitting on my father’s shoulders, and I’ve done the Disney parks with my kids sitting on my shoulders. It is a huge part of my DNA, and I can tell you that there is no way Randy Moore pulled off what I saw tonight. It is a film that should not exist by any rational definition. And yet… not only does it exist, but it’s fascinating.
Needless to say, I think everybody should figure out a way to go see this right this second. Escape from Tomorrow was recently added to the line up of Austin’s annual Fantastic Fest, which begins on the 19th of this month through the 26th.
