The Princess and the Frog (Opens December 11, 2009)

[AndrewJackson]

From AP:

New Orleans the Site of New Disney Film
Thursday March 8 4:59 PM ET

The Walt Disney Co. has started production on an animated musical fairy tale called "The Frog Princess," which will be set in New Orleans and feature the Walt Disney Studio's first black princess.

The company unveiled the plans Thursday at its annual shareholders' meeting in New Orleans.

John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Disney and the Disney-owned unit Pixar Animation Studios, said the movie would return to the classic hand-drawn animation process, instead of using computer animation that has become the industry standard. He called the film "an American fairy tale."

"The film's New Orleans setting and strong princess character give the film lots of excitement and texture," Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook said.

The movie will be scored by Randy Newman, who also wrote the music for Disney's "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life" "Toy Story 2," "Monsters, Inc." and "Cars."

Newman performed a song from the score for the shareholders.

John Musker and Ron Clements, who co-directed "The Little Mermaid" "Aladdin," and "Hercules" will co-direct the movie. The pair also wrote the story for the film.

Disney said its new animated princess Maddy will be added to its collection of animated princesses used at the company's theme parks and on consumer products.

The film is set for release in 2009.

[robyn221]

Cool!

It's well past time for Disney to introduce a black princess and I, for one, couldn't be more pleased that they will use New Orleans as the back drop for that story. New Orleans is a big part of both DL and WDW, it was only a matter of time before it got its own movie (Devil's Bayou in The Rescuers doesn't count).

Robyn

[WDWFanatic]

Two for Disney. I hope it turns out to be a great movie!

[5 Mousekteers]

Here is another article with some additional information on the new Disney annimation movie.

Disney Goes Back to the Drawing Board

by Natalie Finn
Fri, 9 Mar 2007 09:10:14 PM PST
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As it steps into the future, Disney is borrowing a page from its past.
The house that the mouse built will be returning to its hand-drawn roots with The Frog Princess, slated to hit theaters in 2009, Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday.
Set in New Orleans' French Quarter, the feature-length musical will follow in the tradition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio in that its creators will rely solely on drawings rather than on the computer-generated imagery that has become the industry standard.
Taking a cue from its more modern predecessors, however, The Frog Princess will feature songs by 17-time Oscar nominee Randy Newman, who most recently was up for Best Original Song for "Our Town," from the CGI-fueled hit Cars. The singer-songwriter won the Oscar in 2002 for "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters Inc.
"We're really proud and excited about this," John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Disney and Pixar, said at the company's annual shareholders meeting. Disney snatched up Pixar Animation Studios in January 2006 for $7.4 billion in an all-stock transaction, although the Bay Area-based Pixar still operates as a separate unit.
"Like many of Disney's most popular fairytales, it has elements of magic, fantasy, adventure, heart, humor and music," Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook said. "The film's New Orleans setting and strong princess character give the film lots of excitement and texture."
The story, which will feature the usual whimsical Disney touches, such as a "soulful singing alligator" and voodoo magic, was created by John Musker and Ron Clements, the minds behind The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, and will be produced by Disney animation veteran Peter Del Vecho.
The fairytale's heroine, Maddy, will also be the first African-American princess in the Disney cartoon canon. Meaning, not only is Disney making a significant step in reflecting the diversity of its audience, but Maddy will soon be joining Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan and the others on a lunchbox or t-shirt near you, as well.
Whether Disney's return to the drawing board is the start of a trend remains to be seen. Lasseter said nothing Thursday about the studio planning a lineup of hand-drawn projects, but if the nostalgia factor runs high in 2009, you can bet other animation houses will want in on the old-school action.
Audiences will still be able to get their CGI fix many times over before the 2-D Frog Princess meets her prince, of course. Disney's Meet the Robinsons, is due out Mar. 30, DreamWorks Animation's Shrek The Third lumbers into theaters May 18 and Bee Movie is on tap for Nov. 2, Pixar's Ratatouille is slated for June 28…and that's just an incomplete list from this year.
Disney's return to hand-drawn animation is also going to require that the company hire more artists who can wield a pencil and ink as easily as the current crop can navigate a Mac.

[asrai555]

I am soo excited for this. Its wonderful and long past due!

[DizneyFreak2002]

Hopefully this turns out to be a great film... Looking forward to it....

[JPL]

Let's hope the story is up to standards so traditional hand drawn animation doesn't take another hit with a poor performance at the box office.

[Niecyboo]

The description sounds like win-win, I hope it's as good as it sounds, because I'm getting excited to see it just from this description.

[Patricia]

I've been looking forward to the return of Disney's classic Broadway musical style.

From the Manhattan Theatre Source, I have a list of Characters that were auditioned for back in November. Front runners for the title role, Maddy, include Oscar-nominee Jennifer Hudson and her Dreamgirls costar and Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose. Alicia Keys is also after that role and has been reported to have called Disney's studio chief Dick Cook after the auditions.


"The Frog Princess" is an animated American fairy tale musical, set in New Orleans, in the 1920's Jazz Age. SINGING ROLES:
[MADDY] A 19-year-old African American chambermaid. Bright, resourceful, ambitious, intense. A little too grown-up for her age. Dialect: Mild southern colloquial.
[CHARLOTTE] 18 years old. A spoiled, southern debutante. A diva. Comic "steel magnolia". Bossy but insecure. Dialect: Southern belle.
[DR. DUVALIER] A 30-40 year old Voodoo magician/fortune teller. African American. Charming, charismatic, smooth and a sinister bad guy. Theatrical and grandiose. Dialect: Elegant, possibly New Orleans Creole.
[MAMA ODIE] An elderly, 200 year old Voodoo priestess/fairy god-mother. African American. Broad, comic, eccentric. Benevolent, wise and all knowing. A mixture of Moms Mabley & Yoda. Dialect: Southern colloquial.
[RAY] A 25-35 year old lovesick Cajun firefly. Warm, friendly, laid back and easygoing. Comically obtuse. Missing front tooth, has a lisp and occasionally speaks in Cajun French. LOOKING FOR AUTHENTIC CAJUN ACTORS.
[LOUIS] A 20-40 year old Jazz singer alligator. Comic, manic, high strung. Can be African American or white. Has extraordinary jazz singing voice since he, in effect, "sold his soul" to get it. Dialect: New Orleans hipster.
NON-SINGING ROLES:
[PRINCE HARRY] A gregarious, fun-loving European Prince, in his early twenties. A young Cary Grant. Charming, witty but irresponsible and immature. Loves jazz. Dialect: British upper-class.
[LAWRENCE] Harry's pompous roly poly valet. In his forties. Stiff, snobbish and sarcastic. Secretly envious and resentful of Harry. Dialect: Overly affected British upper crust.
[BIG DADDY LA BOUFF] Wealthy, Southern plantation landowner. Doting father of Charlotte La Bouff. A "good ol' boy." Warm, affable, courtly, imposing and powerful. Dialect: Thick southern drawl.
[EUDORA] Maddy's mother. In her fifties. Eudora used to be Charlotte's nurse maid. Warm, homespun and nurturing. Overly fretful.
[GEORGE] The cook for the La Bouff family. African American 50s-60s. Curmudgeonly.
[YOUNG MADDY] Six years old, African American.
[YOUNG CHARLOTTE] Six years old.

[Patricia]

Disney has released this photo of Maddy.

[JPL]

Thanks for the picture Patricia

[Jasper]

When I first read the line about a princess in New Orleans I thought how in the world does a princess fit in ANY American city? But, after reading the character descriptions it begins to makes sense and hopefully will be as good as the premise makes it sound!

I do have to say though that I am probably the only person on the planet who is NOT a Jennifer Hudson fan. Don't ask me to define it, but there is just something about her that doesn't work for me.

[Figment!]

See also the posting for this article on WebDisney. We have another released sketch from the movie there.

[honeybear]

Disney first: black princess in animated film
‘The Frog Princess’ will be set in New Orleans, scored by Randy Newman


MSNBC News Services
Updated: 12:20 p.m. ET March 12, 2007
NEW ORLEANS - The Walt Disney Co. has started production on an animated musical fairy tale called “The Frog Princess,” which will be set in New Orleans and feature the Walt Disney Studio’s first black princess.

The film, set for release in 2009, also is the first hand-drawn film Disney has committed to since pledging last month to return to the traditional animation that made it a worldwide brand.

“The Frog Princess,” a musical scored by composer Randy Newman, is “an American fairy tale” starring a girl named Maddy who lives in the French Quarter in New Orleans, said John Lasseter, chief creative director for Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

Disney did not provide details of the plot, but the company showed shareholders preliminary drawings from the movie. Newman and a jazz band played a song from the movie’s score.

Maddy joins eight other Disney princess characters, who have generated $3 billion in global retail sales since 1999. Disney Princesses is the fastest-growing brand for the company’s Consumer Products division.

Disney introduced its first non-white animated heroine in 1992's “Aladdin”: a Middle Eastern character named Jasmine. Three years later an American Indian princess appeared in “Pocahontas.”

The creation of the Chinese heroine from “Mulan” came in 1998. Other Disney princesses are the main characters from “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid.”

Disney aggregated the eight characters in 1999 under the banner Disney Princesses and has rolled out toys, books, clothing, furniture and other merchandise aimed at girls ages 3 to 8.

Disney chief executive Robert Iger said the company wanted to show its support for New Orleans, only partially rebuilt 18 months after it was flooded by Hurricane Katrina, by holding its annual meeting and setting its newest animated film in the city.

“The film’s New Orleans setting and strong princess character give the film lots of excitement and texture,” Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook said.

John Musker and Ron Clements, who co-directed “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin” and “Hercules” will co-direct the movie. The pair also wrote the story for the film.

[jmmc]

Sounds a little different than their usual movies, which is a good thing. I wonder how long it'll take before some of this movie invades Port Orleans?

Now, I don't wanna cause trouble here, but, I just want to add a possible premonition here. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but does anyone see the potential for someone to complain about this movie and find something in it offensive? Disney's first animated movie starring African-American characters, and the heroine is a maid, and it features voodoo practicers? And then there's the rich white employers.

I dunno, I'm just seeing some sort of race issue coming out here, at least from the most easily offended people out there. Hmm....

[Patricia]

Looking at the casting, I'm still not sure how the whole Frog Princess story crosses over from the traditional FairyTale manuscript of Frog Prince. We should have a Princess being turned into a frog somewhere. A traditional happy ending is emanant.

Voodoo is like jazz or Mardi Gras in New Orleans. You couldn't have that setting without the diverse culture they are famous for.

[Belle619]

Hooray for Disney for:
1. Supporting diversity
2. Going back to hand drawn animation
3. Honoring the beautiful city of New Orleans

[NotaGeek]

Here's a pic I found that looks a bit more magic princess:



Super excited for this movie!

[Melanie]

Here's a pic I found that looks a bit more magic princess:

When I saw the one Michael posted, I immediately thought of the Muses from Hercules.

But the one posted earlier in the thread doesn't.

[NotaGeek]

When I saw the one Michael posted, I immediately thought of the Muses from Hercules.

But the one posted earlier in the thread doesn't.

That's what I thought Mel! Weird. Even stranger they would have Randy Newman do the music since his voice is SO Pixar!