Yahoo News Young Woman and the Sea is "a perfect Disney movie"
Young Woman and the Sea producer Jerry Bruckheimer has called the film "a perfect Disney movie".
The film sees Star Wars actor Daisy Ridley take the lead as real-life US Olympic swimmer Gertrude 'Trudy' Ederle as she embarks on her quest to (successfully) become the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926.
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, Bruckheimer explained why he thinks Young Woman and the Sea will appeal to Disney fans.
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"It’s the highest-testing movie I’ve ever made, let’s start there," he told us. "And I’ve made pretty successful films in my career. So that’s a good thing.
"Audiences just loved this movie. It was 100% excellent for women and 97% for men, which is extraordinary if you think about it.
"It’s a perfect Disney movie, because it’s family-oriented, you can take your kids to watch it, and you walk out and you’re inspired. It’s emotional."
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The film, opening in UK cinemas today (May 31), is based on Glenn Stout's 2009 book of the same name, which tells Ederle's story and the societal challenges she faced to achieve her record.
Bruckheimer hopes that the film will bring back public recognition for Ederle, who is relatively unknown to the public today.
"We like to tell stories about individuals that got lost in time," he told Digital Spy. "And when you see the real parade, she was enormously famous back in the '20s, but hey, nobody has ever heard of her a hundred years later. She got lost.
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"And she should be remembered. She paved the way for all the great female athletes of today. She is an exceptional individual."
The Young Woman and the Sea producer also highlighted factors against Ederle that make her record even more impressive, saying: "She was an immigrant, she was partially deaf, she had every individual try to stop her.
"Her family, her father didn’t want her to do it, the men in her life didn’t want her to do it, and yet she persevered and it’s an amazing accomplishment."
Ederle was just 19 years old when she became the first woman to swim the English Channel, with her time beating the men's record by two hours at the time. She passed away in 2003.
Young Woman and the Sea is out now in cinemas.
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