Frog Princess officially announced
Disney returns to cel animation with film about black princess
Yeah, I've already written one or two articles about Disney's latest mega-project, The Frog Princess, due to hit theatres in 2009. Well, here's another because it's now official.
On March 8th, Disney senior executives Dick Cook and John Lasseter used the Walt Disney Company's Annual Shareholders Meeting (held in New Orleans no less) to announce the project.
"We're pleased to be here in the heart of New Orleans to announce The Frog Princess, a great story with all the ingredients that go into making an extraordinary motion picture experience," said Cook. "We're also thrilled to have John Musker, Ron Clements and Randy Newman lending their talents and creative energies to this project. John and Ron helped to usher in Disney's second golden age of animation nearly two decades ago with The Little Mermaid, and are on track to create the Studio's next great fairy tale adventure."
"Aside from being longtime friends and colleagues," Lasseter added, "John and Ron are two of the most influential and imaginative filmmakers in the animation medium, and I am so excited to be working with them in bringing their creative vision for The Frog Princess to the big screen . . . Randy Newman brings fun and excitement to every project, and I couldn't think of a better choice to deliver some wonderful New Orleans style music."
Newman then premiered some tunes from the flick, accompanied by New Orleans mainstays The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Early images from the movie accompanied the performance.
The Frog Princess will be Disney's first cel animated movie since then-CEO Michael Eisner killed the division in 2005. It's also notable because the title character will be "the first black Disney Princess."
(With files from Disney's website and Yahoo News)
