The songwriters behind Disney’s Frozen have announced their next project will be the movie musical adaptation of an award-winning graphic novel about a genderqueer prince. Academy Award winners Kristen Anderson-Lopez and husband Robert Lopez (Frozen, Coco, Frozen 2) are working on a movie musical adaptation of Jen Wang’s 2018 The Prince and the Dressmaker, they told Playbill.
Set in Paris at the dawn of the modern age, the book tells the story of 16-year-old Prince Sebastian, whose parents are hoping to find him a suitable bride. He isn’t interested, however, and knows his love of wearing dresses will make him an unsuitable match. He finds support in one loyal servant and in Frances, a dressmaker with dreams of her own.
She helps Sebastian become Lady Crystallia, who goes out on the town and is soon a fashion trendsetter. Will keeping Sebastian’s secret mean her own dreams must be put aside, though? Will Sebastian bow to family pressure?
Prince Sebastian, as portrayed in the book, feels genderqueer or genderfluid, but is never labeled, which feels right for his self-conception and era. “Some days I look at myself in the mirror and think, ‘That’s me, Prince Sebastian! I wear boy clothes and look like my father.’ Other days it doesn’t feel right at all,” he says.