THE DWARFS
Relativity has already cast a
gang of little people as their seven dwarfs, and there are no household names there. The dwarfs in the film are a rowdy pack of woodland thieves who rob anyone who passes through the forest. At one point, they’re addressed as “midgets,” to which one of them replies, “Actually, it’s ‘little people.’” They constantly bicker back and forth, are extremely difficult, and comically attack their foes with various homemade gadgets. They’re pretty much like Ewoks, to put it bluntly.
Universal has not just seven, but
eight dwarfs that were once court jesters in the kingdom, but were framed for a crime they didn’t commit, and banished. They defend themselves with intricate, makeshift weaponry, don’t talk much but bicker by kicking one another, and although no dwarfs have been cast yet in the film, the screenplay offers some interesting options: Caesar, eldest dwarf with longest beard; Nero the hotheaded dwarf ; Tiberius, the biggest dwarf ; Claudius, a stuttering dwarf; Constantine, a blind dwarf ; Gus, the youngest dwarf ; Hadrian, the strongest dwarf ; Trajan, a slightly camp dwarf . The cast of non-little people leads one to believe that the dwarfs could be created through CGI trickery.
and is chock-full of contemporary references. There are gay jokes, the kingdom’s poor economy is referred to as a “recession,” and the queen (Roberts) exploits her people with unreasonable taxes in exchange for protection from a “beast” that hasn’t attacked the town in ages. In fact, there are several references to the poor economy in this film, with the queen quipping at one point, “You’d think, in this economy, you could find good help.” Ultimately, the film is like a cross between Princess Diaries and Enchanted (yes, there’s a possible dance number involved).
