As this decade began, Disney took a look at their books. While their traditional, hand-drawn animated movies were still doing well, computer animated movies were doing far, far better. Making more money. So, the conclusion that Disney drew from this was that people didn't want to watch traditional, hand-drawn animated movies anymore. Peoople only wanted computer animated movies. So, around 5 years ago or so, in a highly controversial move (among animation buffs), Disney shut down their traditional animation division.
So then, around two years ago, it was the great Disney/Pixar merger. Pixar, the makers of the finest computer animated films out there, merged with Disney. As part of the merger, John Lassetter, the head of Pixar, because the big boss of Disney animation. Lassetter was one of those who thought that shutting down the traditional animation division was a bad idea, and now, he was in a position to do something about it.
So, Lassetter got the traditional animation division up and running again. He enlisted his old friends John Musker and Ron Clemmens to direct Disney's first movie from the resurrected traditional animation division. Musker and Clemmens were at the forefront of Disney's resurgance in the 1990s, being the duo responsible for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules.
Musker and Clemmens came up with The Princess and the Frog, a re-telling of The Frog Prince. This time, the setting has been moved to New Orleans, and it draws its mysticism from Cajun folklore.
This image from the film was released on Friday, and doesn't it just remind you of the old days?
And by "the old days," I mean the 1990s, when a new Disney animated film was always a highlight of the summer blockbuster season.
The Princess and the Frog has officially been given a release date of Christmas Day 2009.
And I forget if I blogged this already, but here's the teaser trailer, which went into theatres in front of Bolt:
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