The Princess and the Frog Teaser
Back when I stated out in art school, everyone in my classes aspired to be a Disney animator, including myself. Unfortunately, these were the years when the quality of their movies had started to wane. Disney had gotten itself into a rut, to the point where every animated feature was slapped with a musical number, whether it needed one or not. The few times they deviated from this formula, it failed so spectacularly in other fundamental ways (storytelling in the case of Atlantis, marketing in the case of Lilo and Stitch) but always managed to blame it on the medium. Meanwhile Pixar’s Toy Story hit the world like a lightning bolt, and got everything right. Computer animation became the hot new thing, and Disney laid off its traditional animation artists.
While I never expect traditional animation to regain its status in the movie theaters, I still think the medium has a lot of potential. So when it was acquired by Disney back in 2004, I was pleased that John Lasseter and the folks at Pixar were planning to help bring back traditional animation to the Mouse House. The first of their efforts, the upcoming The Princess and the Frog, is set in New Orleans and features the first African American Disney Princess.
I don’t know how long it’s been out there, but I just found the first trailer online today, and I’m not sure how to feel. The animation is pretty enough, but the tone feels wrong. The last thing that will help Disney bring audiences back to their hand drawn animated features is to fall prey to the cliches that buried them in the first place.
It’s too early to judge. Maybe, the Pixar influence will felt in these new animations. Maybe it will be a good idea for Disney to not take on anything too challenging, to get the artists in a groove before tackling on something a bit more adventurous, but if audiences have moved on, and if singing princesses and frogs aren’t enough to bring them back, I hope they don’t blame the medium.
Here’s to hoping. See the trailer by clicking here.
