Disney Back to 2D with "The Frog Princess"

DisneyChris · Post by **DisneyChris** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:08 am

I'm sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I just discovered some websites saying that Disney will be making their first fully 2D-animated film since "Home on the Range", called "The Frog Princess". According to the websites, this piece of news was announced at Comic-Con. "The Little Mermaid" directors Ron Clements and John Musker will be directing, and Alan Menken will handle the music. Sounds cool!

Some links:
http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top ... m_no=17512
http://thedisneyblog.typepad.com/tdb/20 ... or_wa.html
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/060727d.php

IMDb has an entry that looks suspicious (could be for this film), but it can only be viewed by IMDbPro subscribers:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780521/

*UPDATE: According to this http://imdb.com/news/sb/2006-07-27/, the above entry is indeed for the film, but its 2008 release date seems highly unlikely.

TheSequelOfDisney · Post by **TheSequelOfDisney** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:10 am

This is FANTASTIC!!! 2-D is coming back! Thanks for the info!

Added: On the first link, it says that Ron Clements and John Musker will be directing. And on the third link it says that Alan Menken will be doing the music. Now I know that this movie will be awesome!

Billy Moon · Post by **Billy Moon** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:19 am

TheSequelofDisney wrote:...Ron Clements and John Musker will be directing. ... Now I know that this movie will be awesome!

Treasure Planet wasn't.

Anyway, I, too am delighted that Alan Menken is back doing Disney projects.

Jake Lipson · Post by **Jake Lipson** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:08 am

Billy Moon wrote:Treasure Planet wasn't.

Many of us will beg to differ on that, myself included.

I'm a bit wary of it being a female version simply because it seems like they should be doing a straight fairy tale instead of Shreking it, but in my book Musker and Clements can do no wrong, and that it is them directing this solidifies it.

I never thought I would see Disney do traditional feature animation again, especially not within the next few years, so I think I am about to cry of happiness. Thank You John Lassater, Ed Cutmil, Ron Clements and John Lassater, in advance.

If Enchanted is the equivilant of Little Mermaid from last time that got them back on track, I can see this one being the Beauty and the Beast confirming the return.

I can't wait.

TheSequelOfDisney · Post by **TheSequelOfDisney** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:21 am

Billy Moon wrote:
TheSequelofDisney wrote:...Ron Clements and John Musker will be directing. ... Now I know that this movie will be awesome!
Treasure Planet wasn't.

I think that Treasure Planet is an awesome movie.

crunkcourt · Post by **crunkcourt** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:38 am

Wow this is exciting news! Let's just hope they make this a traditional fairy tale. With a line up like they have this has the potential to be an amazing film.

Mr. Toad · Post by **Mr. Toad** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:55 am

Most of treasure planet's problems were not the result of Clement and Musker's work. There was a lot of interference in that movie both by Michael Eisner and Roy Disney. The animation in Treasure Planet was very good, breathtaking in a couple of instances. The problems were with plot, characterizion and marketing. The entire marketing campaign was aimed at 15 year old boys the exact demographic that does not want to go to animated movies(I know there will be 15 year old boys on this site that big to differ but for the most part it is true).

I thnik this is really good news. As we have rehashed over and over the problem wasnt the type of animation at Disney it was the quality of the actual movies.

Fidget1234 · Post by **Fidget1234** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:56 am

GOOD. I like the traditional animation I grew up with.

CG is good too- but it should only be a treat feature every once in a while so we remain in AWE to its awesome animation instead of taking it for granted like i think we seem to be reaching.

remember how amazed we were w/ the animation in Toy Story when it came out? & again w/ Monsters Inc, Incredibles, ect?

Haven't heard much praise over the CG animation on Chicken Little or The Wild...maybe that's just me.

Jules · Post by **Jules** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:20 am

I already know of this, but I have a question to ask.

Will the actual animation be done by Disney or will it be outsourced?

I hope it will be done by Disney IN the actual Disney building.

GIANTfraggle · Post by **GIANTfraggle** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:40 am

This is good news. Hopefully it'll be a return to form. I've been complaining alot in recent years that most animated movies these days are all slap-stick with very little drama. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

crunkcourt · Post by **crunkcourt** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:41 am

Here's the article on it from Hollywood Reporter:

Dis leaps at chance with 'Frog'

By Sheigh Crabtree

Walt Disney Feature Animation is getting back into the business of traditional animation with "Frog Princess," a new twist on a classic fairy tale.

Disney Animation's new leaders Ed Catmull and John Lasseter may have earned their reputation as computer-animation maestros at Pixar Animation Studios, but now that they are overseeing Disney's animation efforts, they also are interested in exploring Disney's 2-D tradition.

The studio is putting John Musker and Ron Clements in charge of developing "Frog," which promises, according to sources, to put a female spin on the tale of the Frog Prince.

Musker and Clements demonstrated their ability to spin a popular tale around a female protagonist with 1989's "The Little Mermaid." They also worked together on such traditionally animated Disney musicals as "Aladdin" and "Hercules." However, their last film for the studio was "Treasure Planet," an animated adventure tale that proved a boxoffice disappointment when it grossed $38 million domestically in 2002.

Shortly thereafter, they left the studio.

One of Lasseter's first initiatives following Disney's acquisition of Pixar this year was to woo Musker and Clements back into the fold, and they were engaged by WDFA executive Don Hahn to develop original new projects (HR 3/1).

The directing team had been working on the lot in Burbank, discussing story ideas with Lasseter and Catmull on a daily basis while they also oversee the digital remastering of "Little Mermaid," which Disney is preparing to release on DVD.

Musker and Clements are repped by CAA.

It sounds to me like it will be made by Disney in the Disney studios.

PixarFan2006 · Post by **PixarFan2006** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:45 am

Personally, I found Treasure Planet mediocre compared to other disney films such as Aladdin and Lion King. It's nice that Disney is doing 2D films again. Let's hope that it will be good.

Wonderlicious · Post by **Wonderlicious** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:12 am

Jake Lipson wrote:I'm a bit wary of it being a female version simply because it seems like they should be doing a straight fairy tale instead of Shreking it, but in my book Musker and Clements can do no wrong, and that it is them directing this solidifies it.

As Leonia pointed in the Snow Queen thread, there is a Russian fairy tale called The Frog Princess. For all we know, the movie could be a version of that...

Timon/Pumbaa fan · Post by **Timon/Pumbaa fan** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:13 am

Before some of us loose our heads (

) I just want to warn you that a draft of a story alone isn't going to be complete until the end of 2006. As far as we know, this film won't come out until at least 2012.

skyler888 · Post by **skyler888** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:26 am

who cares! a new 2D disney movie is awsome!!

Soulbrotha432 · Post by **Soulbrotha432** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:01 pm

Would I be hoping for too much if I hoped for this to be a musical?

In my opinion, the only way the glory days of traditional animation will return is if they make a COMPLETE return, aka animated MUSICALS.

I have got to say, however, that this better have a solid, magical, amazing storyline, and must not be rushed into..... I'm afraid, however, that traditional animation will be completely forgotten by the general public if it takes too long.

While I'm excited, I have a terrible feeling that the future of traditional animation at Disney rests on the success of this film.

Harbinger · Post by **Harbinger** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:14 pm

Yay. I can't wait. Hopefully it will be good!

Jake Lipson · Post by **Jake Lipson** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:18 pm

Soulbrotha432 wrote:Would I be hoping for too much if I hoped for this to be a musical?

Well, with it being based on a popular fairy tale and having Alan Menken involved, I'm pretty sure it is. Except for Home on the Range, he hasn't done any animation work for Disney that hasn't been a traditional musical with the cast singing. And even in Home on the Range when all the other songs were sung by an omniciant "narrator," he got in Alemita Slim's song which was sung by the character.

So, long story short, yeah, it's a musical. I'd be shocked if it weren't.

Soulbrotha432 wrote:I'm afraid, however, that traditional animation will be completely forgotten by the general public if it takes too long.

It might not be the "in" thing like CG is, but it won't be forgotten. The fond memories and availability of the established classics on DVD will ensure that. Furthermore, this seems poised to give people more of that, and that's a good thing.

Soulbrotha432 wrote:While I'm excited, I have a terrible feeling that the future of traditional animation at Disney rests on the success of this film.

This and Enchanted, which is coming next year and will have roughly 20 minutes or so of animated footage before Princess Griselle is hurled into Manhattan. But as we are seeeing now with the glut of CGI movies this year (three of them in three weeks right now, none of which are going to do anywhere near as well as Pixar's work), CGI is burning out a little bit, too.

Jules · Post by **Jules** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:32 pm

Timon/Pumbaa fan wrote:As far as we know, this film won't come out until at least 2012.

Well, you didn't shock me.

I was expecting that from the beginning. I'll electrocute myself if it's released before 2010.

Soulbrotha432 · Post by **Soulbrotha432** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:38 pm

I agree that CG seems to be burning out a bit. I think for so long we have been in awe of how realistic the animation is.... and now we are tired of reality. We need magic back in our lives, to escape from reality.

I am excited, anyway... maybe I shouldn't have shelved my childhood dream of being a disney animator. Good thing I didn't lose my dream of being a singer/songwriter, maybe one day I can be the singing voice of the next "Aladdin" type character, LOL.

And on a side note, I'm also excited about the Wilbur Robinson movie, due to the fact that it deals with actual PEOPLE... not animals. But that's a whole other issue.

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Disney Back to 2D with "The Frog Princess"

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