The Princess and the Frog Discussion - Part III

[Sotiris]

This might come as a surprise to you, but I was involved in a bunch of scenes featuring Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog. I remember that at the time story material and layouts for Mama Odie were still being worked on. So I was asked to help out in the Facilier unit, which was lead by Bruce Smith, an amazing animator. These are some of the scenes I animated. I drew the reacting characters as well. I recall that two or three of my scenes were cut in order to improve story continuity. And Bruce re-animated a couple of my scenes because my timing wasn't up to Facilier. But I really enjoyed animating him in this terrific, spooky Voodoo sequence.

Source: https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2019/0 ... ilier.html

[Disney's Divinity]

So there had been more scenes with Facilier originally... I wonder whose idea it could've been to cut them.

[Sotiris]

The scenes Andreas Deja is referring to are in the finished film. If you check the link, he posted screenshots of what he animated.

[Disney's Divinity]

I know, I was referring to this part:

I recall that two or three of my scenes were cut in order to improve story continuity.

Source: https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2019/0 ... ilier.html

[Sotiris]

Oh, right. I hadn't noticed that part. I wonder what those scenes were too now. Facilier wasn't featured in any of the four deleted scenes on the Blu-ray.

[Sotiris]

"She and I are super similar in that we were both driven from a young age to fulfill a dream. Tiana's dream of one day owning her own restaurant mirrored my own desire to work in animation at Disney. I'm so proud to have helped bring her to life on the big screen." - Rachel Bibb, Lead Key Cleanup Animator for Princess Tiana, Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/DisneyPrincess ... 472402620/

[Disney Duster]

I love that, it's pretty, but I swear it's a pose we have already seen?

[Sotiris]

It is. This clip-art used on various merch is based on that drawing.

[Vlad]

Really purrrrty

[Disney Duster]

Oh, I see. Thank you Sotiris.

[Atlantica]

There hasn't been much for TPATF anniversary yet ... wonder why ? Feel like TLM has been everywhere, plus her movie came out again. Sleeping Beauty too, and the movie hasn't even been rereleased or anything.

Hope it gets the respect it deserves

[Disney's Divinity]

I saw a bit of this on TV the other day. I need to sit down and watch it again, since it’s been a while. It was at the scene Naveen is trying to propose to Tiana, and for some reason a part of that scene stuck out to me and several things tied themselves together for me while watching the ending. Tiana talks about her restaurant and uses the word “we”; Naveen think she’s talking about the two of them at first, but she’s referring to herself and her father, which is why he doesn’t propose because there’s no room in her dream for him. Also striking is how, during the vision of her dreams come true Facilier tempts her with, the first thing she does is look for Naveen and she’s disappointed he isn’t there. When Tiana finally looks into the window at her family, the moment she realizes she wants to be with Naveen even more than attain her dream, all three are wearing green. I like the connection they tie between choosing to live together in the present with Naveen (rather than live solitary “in the past” with her father’s memory), and a soothing green color.

I know there are all different sorts of ways the color has meaning in the story though. There’s money (which both Naveen / Tiana are seeking at the beginning and Facilier explicitly refers to as “it’s the green you need”), and in the reverse it takes on a warm, healing, familial meaning by the end. Of course it’s also used as otherworldly during Facilier’s song sequence and several bayou scenes, making nature itself marked as supernatural. I’m surprised they didn’t go further and have Facilier himself wear more green, to accent his envious personality. But, I suppose, purple is the opposite of green—signifying Facilier’s ultimate rejection of anything and anyone beyond himself, unlike Tiana. Facilier also chooses to live in the past, wanting revenge on those with privilege like Charlotte’s family for what he didn’t have, and even sells his soul to get what he wants. That’s why, even though Facilier and Tiana have little direct connection to one another in the story, they are reflections of one another, which makes him a good villain for her, imo.

[Disney Duster]

Glamour - Are The Princess and the Frog's Costumes Historically Accurate?

[Sotiris]

AMPAS is screening the film in honor of its 10th anniversary and having members from the cast and crew to talk about the film.

The Academy is proud to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. This hand-drawn animated comedy set in New Orleans introduced audiences to a spirited young African American woman named Tiana, a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana. Featuring a soundtrack brimming with jazz, zydeco and blues, the film also offered a fresh, uniquely American take on the beloved Disney musical tradition.

Hosted by Quvenzhané Wallis

With special guests:
Anika Noni Rose, “Tiana”
Jenifer Lewis, “Mama Odie”
Michael-Leon Wooley, “Louis”
Keith David, “Dr. Facilier”
Ron Clements, director
Peter Del Vecho, producer
Rob Edwards, screenwriter
Marlon West, head of effects
Bruce W. Smith, animator “Dr. Facilier”

Source: https://www.oscars.org/events/princess-and-frog-2009

[D82]

I can't believe a whole decade has passed since its release! I hope they share at least part of the conversation with the cast and crew later online.

[disneyprincess11]

Oof. Disney just loves stealing ideas from the powerless, don't they?

Nik, I inadvertently pitched to Disney what was to become "Princess and The Frog" my idea wasn't about the fable, but an original idea called "Mystic Bayou" about an autistic child, who was a witch lived in an orphanage, her mother who passed away was also a witch advised her daughter to find a book in the deep bayou of Louisiana and Destroy it before the other evil witches got a hold of it. When I pitched it, it was in the office at Disney not a gong show so it was at closed doors, the guy that I pitched it to was enthralled, he said he liked that the protagonist was African American and that it was based in New Orleans and that it had magic to the story. He told me that he would get back to me, two weeks they called me later only to tell me that he wasn't interested anymore. I guess he didn't want to pay residuals for my idea and took it for himself. I even heard a podcast back in 2009 where John Lasseter was promoting Princess and the Frog and he himself was explaining what the movie was about and he uttered "Princess and the Frog a story about a Mystic Bayou", when I heard that I was infuriated because I knew they told my concept and kept me from any residuals. Here are my concept designs from "Mystic Bayou"......

Concept art are in his thread.

https://www.facebook.com/NikRanieriAnim ... =3&theater

[Disney's Divinity]

I'll have to look at the concept art at a later time when I can get the page to work properly, but I thought there was something else that was the inspiration for TP&TF? I'm going by this post of Sotiris', where a PIXAR employee whose last name is Klubien claimed he came up with an idea called The Spirit of New Orleans that he believes may have morphed into TP&TF?

Maybe Ranieri's concept art shows more of a link, since the story doesn't sound anything like TP&TF. I wonder if there's proof John Lasseter actually called the film "Mystic Bayou" somewhere in the annals of the Internet.

[RyGuy]

I'll have to look at the concept art at a later time when I can get the page to work properly, but I thought there was something else that was the inspiration for TP&TF? I'm going by this post of Sotiris', where a PIXAR employee whose last name is Klubien claimed he came up with an idea called The Spirit of New Orleans that he believes may have morphed into TP&TF?

Maybe Ranieri's concept art shows more of a link, since the story doesn't sound anything like TP&TF. I wonder if there's proof John Lasseter actually called the film "Mystic Bayou" somewhere in the annals of the Internet.

I thought I remembered reading (or hearing) that at one point that WDAS had been developing a Frog Prince feature that was set in Chicago during Prohibition? The Production section of the Wikipedia page for The Princess and the Frog said that two Frog Prince projects (one at WDAS and one at Pixar) we’re merged together. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pri ... d_the_Frog

[Sotiris]

I'm going by this post of Sotiris', where a PIXAR employee whose last name is Klubien claimed he came up with an idea called The Spirit of New Orleans that he believes may have morphed into TP&TF?

That was Jorgen Klubien who allegedly pitched "The Spirit of New Orleans" at Pixar where he worked from 1993-2003. It's possible more than one person pitched a film set in New Orleans over the years.

Maybe Ranieri's concept art shows more of a link, since the story doesn't sound anything like TP&TF. I wonder if there's proof John Lasseter actually called the film "Mystic Bayou" somewhere in the annals of the Internet.

It's not Nik Ranieri who's making this claim but Danny Santos on the comment section of Ranieri's page. Danny Santos worked as an inbetweener and a clean-up artist at WDAS from 1997-2003, according to his resume. Lasseter mentioned the phrase "mystic bayou" during the 2007 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on March 08, 2007 but didn't refer to the film as such. He referred to it as "The Frog Princess".

The movie is completely set in New Orleans, with the fabulous French Quarter, the beautiful Garden District, the mystic bayou, the mighty Mississippi. It's full of what this city has that's so wonderful that I love so much. It's got the jazz, the Mardi Gras; it's got the voodoo spells. In fact, it even has a soulful, singing alligator, and it's great.

Source: http://cdn.media.ir.thewaltdisneycompan ... script.pdf

I thought I remembered reading (or hearing) that at one point that WDAS had been developing a Frog Prince feature that was set in Chicago during Prohibition?

That was Pixar. According to the film's 'Art of' book, Pixar at one point was developing a version set in Chicago in the '30s. WDAS tried to adapt the tale twice. Once in the late '80s and another in the early '00s. The latter was developed by Eric Goldberg which was a satirical take on the tale that took place in Venice and was a period piece.

[Disney's Divinity]

The movie is completely set in New Orleans, with the fabulous French Quarter, the beautiful Garden District, the mystic bayou, the mighty Mississippi. It's full of what this city has that's so wonderful that I love so much. It's got the jazz, the Mardi Gras; it's got the voodoo spells. In fact, it even has a soulful, singing alligator, and it's great.

Source: http://cdn.media.ir.thewaltdisneycompan ... script.pdf

I don’t know. I’m sure Disney does take from people all the time and everyone knows I don’t like John Lasseter, but that quote doesn’t seem significant enough for me to believe TP&TF was stolen from that “Mystic Bayou” plot / pitch. The plotline doesn't sound similar at all. The only connection I could maybe make is that Odie and Facilier could be similar to the good witches v. the bad witches, although the plot doesn't center on a conflict between them in TP&TF at all....