Even grown ups still dream about being a princess and having a fairy tale wedding. Well, Sthuthi David is half way there after her boyfriend Lee Loechler proposed in one of the most creative and romantic ways ever! The amazing proposal took place in a movie theatre because Lee had spent around 6 months putting animations of them both in Sthuthi’s favorite movie Sleeping Beauty. The cartoon couple appeared in the movie with Prince “Lee” proposing to Princess Sthuthi.
“It’s not every day you get to propose to your high school sweetheart,”
Of course, she said yes! A video of the event is now online and it has over 1.1 million views!
Sthuthi knew that part of the movie was different
But where did the idea come from? Let Lee tell you!
“A few years back, a friend of mine told me he was planning to propose to his then-girlfriend, and I suggested he should “Forrest Gump” himself into her favorite movie, and then have his on-screen character “toss” the ring to his real-life self. I don’t know where that idea came from, but it felt fun and magical, and it played into my skill set as a filmmaker. He didn’t think it was right for him, so I filed it away for later use.”
“When things started getting serious with Sthuthi, I started thinking about how I might propose. I still thought that idea had potential, but her favorite movie was animated. And my experience was all in live-action. I know some After Effects, but I am by no means an animator, let alone capable of generating something that would hold up side-by-side with Disney. But, on a whim, I scrubbed through Sleeping Beauty and noted that in the climactic scene there was very little movement. Maybe, if it’s mostly static, I can still pull this off. I went on Instagram and started following various Disney art hashtags, hoping to find an illustrator who was up to the task. It wasn’t until I stumbled on Kayla’s work that the first inkling set in that “this might be possible after all…”
Not only that but Sthuthi’s family and friends were in the movie theatre to and she was so happy
Lee went to a lot of effort to make sure that Sthuthi didn’t see anyone. Anyone recognizable sat at the back of the theatre
“I worked with the projectionist to make sure all ambient lighting would be off when she entered, to help conceal the familiar faces. Unfortunately, the projector was so bright that the light from the screen still illuminated the whole room. To combat this, we decided to show trailers ahead of the film, which we manually darkened so there wouldn’t be as much light spill onto the audience. So at 7:30 PM when we walked into the room together, it was nice and dark as we found our seats.”
As far as the actual wedding, it seems there may be a Disney theme.
“I’m sure there will be Disney elements to the wedding, but we’re still in the nascent stages of planning. That said, if Disney wants to chalk it up as marketing dollars and hook us up with an Aulani honeymoon, we are for sure not above selling out.”
Lee Spent Half A Year Creating The Perfect Proposal
So, Lee got some help from illustrator Kayla Coombs to create the animation. The proposal scene is where Princess Aurora wakes up after a kiss from Prince Phillip. So, this time it was Prince Lee and he instead took out a ring box. It was so clever how the animated Prince threw the box to the Lee in real life and he caught it. The catching of the ring must have took so much practice and he pulled it off perfectly. Sthuthi is one lucky girlfriend!
Not only was it a special occasion for the couple but also for the movie itself. Last year it was Sleeping Beauty’s 60th anniversary. Here is a fact you may not know. In 1959 the movie wasn’t a hit at first. Over time it has been re-released and now the movie is a success.
Since the release of the movie critics loved the music and charm of the story. However, some were not happy as they thought it was very similar to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They made a good point. In fact some sections of the story are from Snow White but are not present in the movie.
So, back to the Lee and Sthuthi. What did you think? Are you a little green with envy? Do you have any other epic ways to propose? Maybe you know of a strange proposal? Comment and let us know!
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Lee’s romantic proposal features them both in the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty.
Source: YouTube