Romance wasn’t dead, it was just sleeping under a curse. Lee Loechler, a filmmaker in Massachusets has set the hearts of the internet on fire with one of the best proposals we’ve seen maybe ever?
Loechler, who credits include working with John Legend on A Legendary Christmas, worked for months to animate a special version of his girlfriend, Stuthi David’s favorite movie, working with Australian animator Kayla Coombs to animate a new ending that saw Princess Aurora become Stuthi as Prince Lee kissed her and presented her with a ring that he then threw to the real Lee. Not only was this so sweet and surprising, but the animated character broke the fourth wall to watch the proposal.
Loechler wrote on YouTube: “It’s not every day you get to propose to your High School sweetheart. For the past six months, I’ve been working with an illustrator to animate my girlfriend and myself into her favorite movie, Sleeping Beauty. On 12/30/19 I popped the question in a theater filled with our friends and family.”
David had no idea this was coming, which is maybe my favorite part of watching this. She was, apparently, the one that thought she was inviting her boyfriend to a screening of her favorite movie and had no idea the theater was filled with their friends and family – and a few folks from Reddit. I also love that Loechler makes the proposal personal in other ways – tailoring it to David’s cardiologist background and including her M.D. in the big ask. (Those degrees take work and should be honored!)
Since posting the proposal on YouTube and Instagram, Loechler’s spot has blown up, as the kids say. The video has over 2million views on YouTube. His press email is “PlzDontSueMeDisney” and he’s been careful to be clear about who owns Sleeping Beauty. But Lee shouldn’t be worried – this is clearly a transformative work, not done for profit and should fall under fair use just like fan fiction!
Honestly though, Disney shouldn’t just not sue, they should hook Lee and Stuthi up with a Sleeping Beauty Castle wedding and keep the theme going!
This is such a lovely little story in a world full of terrible ones and it shows not just creativity, but real respect, care and devotion that’s totally moving. We wish Lee and Stuthi the best as they go forward in life and the happiest of endings.
(via: IndieWire, featured image: Kayla Coombs/Instagram)
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