Who can send a pop princess to Wonderland, a soccer star to slay a dragon, and an award-winning actress down a magical staircase? Disney, of course. With a little help from celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, various Hollywood stars dressed up as classic Disney characters for a one-of-a-kind photo shoot to promote Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Year of a Million Dreams campaign.
In a recent interview with the media, Leibovitz admitted it didn’t take much to coax her famous friends to transform into Disney characters, including Cinderella, Snow White, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, and Peter Pan.
According to Leibovitz, Scarlett Johansson was the first mega-star to sign on. The A-lister’s ad features her playing Cinderella, dashing down a staircase with the castle aglow in the distance. The image was actually captured on the steps of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial on New York’s Riverside Drive with Disney World’s Cinderella castle digitally imposed behind her.
Another ad features Beyoncé Knowles as Alice in Wonderland alongside Lyle Lovett as the March Hare and Oliver Platt as the mischievous Mad Hatter. Knowles, told reporters Alice was one of her favorite Disney characters growing up. And, she says, “It is my sister’s (Solange Knowles) absolute favorite!”
British soccer superstar David Beckham stars in his own Disney ad with the concept of playing Sleeping Beauty’s Prince. While Beckham was game to participate in the shoot, he couldn’t make the trip to the United States from Spain, so Leibovitz came to him. The image was photographed near a lake outside Madrid, where he had been playing soccer for the team Real Madrid. The castle superimposed in the background is from Disneyland Paris.
The first images in the ongoing series will appear in the March issues of Vogue, Vanity Fair, W, GQ, Conde Nast Traveller, Cookie and The New Yorker.
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