With the first hand-drawn animated Disney film since 2004 set to be nationally released this December, The Princess & The Frog marks the first attempt at renewing the animation canon of the company. It also marks the first African-American princess to grace the animated screen, something that has taken far too long to happen. Although not a musical, as the characters are not singing within the diegesis (filmic world) and thus not within the story, the film setting, in the New Orleans Jazz era gives it a specific context and musical meaning within history. Thus allowing The Princess & The Frog to act as a seg-way for the development, production and release of a new Disney animated musical.
The Disney Legacy is More Than a Theme-park
In the past, the Walt Disney company held a niche over not only animated children films, but also the ability to meld music and image or song and story together in a seamless fashion. With the release and Academy Award (Best Picture) win for Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Walt Disney set the precedent for animation early on. This would continue throughout the next decades, supersede Walt's own death, and eventually lead to the mastering of computer animation through the subsidiary company, Pixar Animation Studios. However, for musicals, Disney was able to maintain interest in music and song throughout the years, creating feature films that are revered and remembered not only for their beauty, but also for their music.
Rapunzel, slated for a December 2010 release, represents another step in Disney's return to the traditional animation process and fairy-tale storytelling. Although sporting some sort of modern twist (something close to a runaway chase adventure), the film will seek to return to the roots of Disney's first triumph. But will there be singing? Alan Menken, who is credited as composer, among other things, on such modern Disney classics as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty & The Beast (1991), Aladdin (1993) and most recently 2007's live action film, Enchanted, has been excluded from this newest project due an industry belief of his music's notoriety and his work on Enchanted. However, merely looking at his roster would prove to anyone Menken's talent and ability to adapt to different story lines.
Rapunzel, Rapunzel Let's Sing us a Song
At this stage in production, however, it is still difficult to tell if Rapunzel's score and songs will be the center piece of the film. With the casting of pop singer Mandy Moore as the voice of Rapunzel herself it is quite clear the sound of the damsel in distress will be decidedly modern. And what is refreshing is that the voice cast remains rather restrained as if to remind audiences and the industry that star-status does not necessarily sell in animation. But how traditional looking will this film be? Stills and trailers of The Princess & The Frog still have a cheeky modern edge to them, but would that work in a traditional Grimm's fairy-tale? What is to be assumed is that a modern twist on a female centered story-line will simply mean she, Rapunzel, is not a damsel in distress, but rather the maker of her own destiny. However, one must also ask for some greater purpose for the male character other than to rescue a princess and fall in love. But then what would there be to sing about?
So, yes, the future of the musical is nebulous, especially within animation, but it is safe to claim that it has not been lost and children's programming is still saturated with song and the yearning to perform. As The High School Musical craze continues to steal teenagers, Fame is rebooted, and Miss Miley Cyrus rules the adolescents with her Hannah Montana, there is hope yet that artful, appropriate, and inventive musical programming will reach the big screen for children. And there is always hope.
