Andreas Deja has a blog!

The famed Disney Animator (and one of my favorites) Andreas Deja, who headed animation in such films as Hercules, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog and the upcoming film Winnie-the-Pooh, has officially set-up his own blog!

It is very interesting and informative for any lover of Disney or animation in general...

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A Great Interview with Lasseter

Briefly: I just finished reading one of the best interviews with Lasseter I've come across. While the title says it's all about The Princess and the Frog, Lasseter covers everything from his inspirations to his Hawaiian shirts to his current workload. It is a terrific read, and I'd highly recommend heading over to The Disney Blog to take a look.

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The 37th Annie Awards' Winners

Getting lost in the sea of celebration resulting from Up's Best Picture nomination by the Academy is the list of winners at the 37th Annual Annie Awards. The big winners were Up and Fantastic Mr. Fox:

Best Animated Feature
Up (Pixar Animation Studios)

Best Animated Television Production
Prep and Landing — (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

Best Home Entertainment Production
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder

Best Animated Short Subject
Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.5

Best Animated Television Production for Children
The Penguins of Madagascar (Nickelodeon and DreamWorks)

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Eric Goldberg for The Princess and the Frog

Character Design in a Feature Production
Shane Prigmore for Coraline

Directing in a Feature Production
Pete Docter “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios

Writing in a Television Production
Daniel Chun - The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XX

Writing in a Feature Production
Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr. Fox

Go here for a complete list of winners (and nominees).

I am very surprised (and pleased) about Robot Chicken and Futurama's wins. I am also very glad that Eric Goldberg's talents were rewarded; Louis really was a great, well-designed and -animated character. Also, unexpectedly, Prep and Landing received several awards.

Congratualtions to Disney, Pixar, and all of the other winners at this year's Annie Awards!

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Shatner to Host 37th Annie Awards

Briefly: ASIFA-Hollywood has announced that William Shatner will host the 37th Annual Annie Awards on February 6, 2010 at the UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, CA. Very cool.

Now the only question is, who will win? Will Pixar continue to sweep the awards season, or will The Princess and the Frog or Coraline or even The Fantastic Mr. Fox win a little, too? We will know soon enough...

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'The Princess and the Frog' Gives Nod to 'Mermaid,' 'Aladdin,' and Disney Legend

Ron Clements and John Musker are two big names in contemporary animation. They are the directors of the beloved Disney classics Aladdin, Hercules, and The Little Mermaid, as well as The Princess and the Frog. In their recent film about an aspiring waitress, they have managed to sneak in some things that you may remember from their past Disney flicks, as well as Disney history (courtesy of Jim Hill Media):

• That – as the film’s title sequence is getting underway while Dr. John is singing “Down in New Orleans” – you can clearly see the carpet from “Aladdin” being shaken out by someone who’s standing on a wrought-iron balcony.

• That – as Mama Odie is quickly digging through a pile of magical objects during “Dig a Little Deeper” – the lamp from “Aladdin” gets tossed to one side.

• That – during this movie’s Mardi Gras sequence – one of the floats in that parade features a figurehead that is clearly modeled after King Triton from “The Little Mermaid.”

• What’s more, riding on that King Triton parade float are caricatured versions of John Musker & Ron Clements, the directors of “Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid” and “The Princess and the Frog.”
  

• In the film’s finale, Louis can be seen playing with a jazz band at Tiana’s restaurant. The lettering on the bass drum says that this band is called “The Firefly Five Plus Lou.” Which is obviously an affectionate tip of the hat to the Firehouse Five Plus Two, that ragtime band from the 1940s & 1950s which was made up of Disney Animation employees.

• What’s more, the piano player in the “Firefly Five Plus Lou” is a caricature of Disney Legend Frank Thomas. Who was the piano player for the Firehouse Five Plus Two.

From my one time seeing the film, I only remember seeing the Triton float and the nod to the Firehouse Five Plus Two, but I will certainly be sure to see The Princess and the Frog again and keep an eye open this time.

Source: Jim Hill Media

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Review of 'The Princess and the Frog'

Disney's return to hand-drawn animation is a welcome ray of light in a sea of 3D and motion capture. While I love Pixar-produced films and everything that comes out of Walt Disney Animation Studios, I will always hold a special place for the world of classic animation, made in the style of the films I grew up with: Pinocchio, Aladdin, and Lady and the Tramp. The Princess and the Frog certainly deserves a seat among these animated greats, and I am very glad that this style of animation has made its comeback after over 5 years of absence. (Spoiler Alert!)


The Princess and the Frog is the tale of Tiana, a girl from New Orleans, who dreams of owning her own restaurant. Her philosophy is that you can't just dream on the evening star to get what you want--you have to work hard. Her dream, however, takes a turn for the worse when she is greeted with a talking frog that want to be kissed. The frog is actually Prince Naveen, a worthless layabout who came to New Orleans to marry a wealthy girl after his parents kicked him out. The prince and Tiana's adventure to become human again is one of great New Orleans atmosphere, a very scary villain, an amazingly animated, trumpet-playing crocodile named Louis, and a Cajun firefly named Ray.


The animation is beautiful. The animators captured the perfect style to achieve the feeling of New Orleans during the Jazz era. The characters' exaggerated features make them true works of art, and I especially loved the landscape scenes in the Louisiana Bayou. I cannot imagine how Disney, at one time, vowed to never make this type of film again. CG has its place, but so does the warmth and style of hand-drawn animation--after all, Disney wouldn't exist today were it not for hand-drawn animation.


Another way that the filmmakers really nailed the style of New Orleans was in the music. And the music is great. While there aren't any songs I'd consider equal to the soundtracks of Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin, I love the jazz style that emanates from Newman's score and soundtrack.


Academy Award-winner Newman, as you know, has composed music for the Toy Story series of films, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., and plenty of other great films. He certainly has another winner on his hands with The Princess and the Frog. With a score that sits in the background but subconsciously makes the action have more impact and the emotion more deeply felt and a soundtrack of tunes that are both catchy and make for glorious scenes, I'll most definitely say that I loved the music of The Princess and the Frog.


Although it is a great movie, there are some things about it that I am less than thrilled about. First, the plot seemed very formulaic. It was almost as if the story guys sat down in a room with a generic outline of fairy tale films and just plugged in character names and locations, occasionally having to come up with plot devices to keep things interesting.


In addition to feeling very cliche, I think that the plot was also somewhat rushed. There are parts in the movie (like when the two frogs fall in love) when you think "How and when did that happen? They've known each other for about a day and they've already fallen in love? Tiana hated him in the beginning..." That being said, I didn't realize any of this until I looked back on the film. And, after all, most of the original Disney films are very formulaic, but, I guess what makes Disney uniquely Disney is how they hide their formulaic plots with stunning animation, original and great soundtracks, pitch-perfect scores, and wonderful characters.


In fact, The Princess and the Frog did several things plot-wise that I thought were very good and unexpected. I am glad, first off, that they get the message across that you need to do more than just wish upon a star to make your dreams come true--you have to work hard. It's an important lesson, and, surprisingly, it goes against almost all other Disney films that preach the practice of wishing upon a star, then sitting back to let the magic happen.


Another lesson that gets across (due to a song sung by Mama Odie) is that you have to think hard about what you want and what you need--these things are different, and it's important to focus on what you need. The other unexpected twist in the plot was the death of a sidekick (the firefly Ray). Disney rarely kills the characters that are created for comic relief and that we become emotionally invested in through the course of the movie, but it was a welcome plot twist since it offered more emotion to the audience.


The Princess and the Frog is a great film. It perfectly captures the style of New Orleans during the height of Jazz with its swingin' score and soundtrack, beautiful Bayou landscapes, and stylized, well-animated characters. The animation is gorgeous, the character acting is hilarious, and the humor is very funny and fitting for the plot. I'd place The Princess and the Frog in the same category as the original Disney classics. I will certainly watch it again and again and even buy the soundtrack. Directors John Musker and Ron Clements made the return to hand-drawn animation and fairy tales wonderful, and have made me excited to see just what classically-animated film will come next.

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Annie Awards Nominations Announced

Well, the Annie Awards are here once more. The biggest animation awards' nominations have been released. Pixar's Up has 9 nominations and Disney's The Princess and the Frog has eight. It's also worth mentioning that Partly Cloudy was not nominated, and that William Reeves (a founding member at Pixar) will be receiving the honorary Ub Iwerks award.

I hope we don't have a repeat of last year when WALL-E was shut out in favor of Kung Fu Panda; even paid-off judges couldn't call the gimmick-y Monsters vs. Aliens better than the masterpiece that was Up. Here is the complete nominations list (I have bolded which ones I'm pulling for to win):

Best Animated Feature

* Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
* Coraline — Laika
* Fantastic Mr. Fox — 20th Century Fox
* The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* The Secret of Kells — Cartoon Saloon
* Up — Pixar Animation Studios

Best Animated Television Production

* Glenn Martin, DDS — Tornante, Cuppa Coffee Studios & Rogers Communications
* Merry Madagascar — DreamWorks Animation
* Prep and Landing — ABC Family/Walt Disney Animation Studios
* The Simpsons — Gracie Films

Best Animated Television Production for Children

* Mickey Mouse Clubhouse — Disney Television Animation
* SpongeBob SquarePants — Nickelodeon
* The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack — Cartoon Network Studios
* The Mighty B! — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper Kite Productions
* The Penguins of Madagascar — Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation

Animated Effects

* Scott Cegielski “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
* Alexander Feigin “9” — 9 L.L.C.
* Eric Froemling “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Tom Kluyskens “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation
* James Mansfield “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Television Production

* Mark Donald “B.O.B.’s Big Break” — DreamWorks Animation
* Mark Mitchell “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Kevan Shorey “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
* Tony Smeed “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Phillip To “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space” — DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production

* Andreas Deja “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Eric Goldberg “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Travis Knight “Coraline” — Laika
* Daniel Nguyen “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Bruce Smith “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Design in a Television Production

* Bryan Arnett “The Mighty B! – Catatonic” — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper Kite Productions
* Ben Balistreri “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” — Cartoon Network Studios
* Craig Kellman “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
* Bill Schwab “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Design in a Feature Production

* Daniel Lopez Munoz “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Shane Prigmore “Coraline” — Laika
* Shannon Tindle “Coraline” — Laika

Directing in a Feature Production

* Wes Anderson “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
* Pete Docter “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Christopher Miller, Phil Lord “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation
* Hayao Miyazaki “Ponyo” — Studio Ghibli
* Henry Selick “Coraline” — Laika

Music in a Television Production

* Michael Giacchino “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Kevin Kiner “Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Weapons Factory” — Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
* Guy Moon “The Fairly OddParents: “Wishology-The Big Beginning” — Nickelodeon

Music in a Feature Production

* Bruno Coulais “Coraline” — Laika
* Michael Giacchino “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Joe Hisaishi “Ponyo” — Studio Ghibli
* John Powell “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” — Blue Sky Studios

Writing in a Feature Production

* Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach – “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
* Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy – “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Timothy Hyde Harris and David Bowers – “Astro Boy” — Imagi Studios
* Christopher Miller and Phil Lord – “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation

There are many other nominations at the website here. The awards are slated to take place on Saturday, February 6, 2009 at UCLA's Royce Hall in LA.

Source: The Disney Blog and The Pixar Blog

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Day One of D23 and Other News

With the D23 Expo underway, as well as the Disney Studio always wheelin' and dealin', I've got a lot of news for you. Right here, right now:

• This first piece of news is Disney-related, but not D23-related. Guillermo Del Toro, one of my favorite writer/directors of such films as Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, has opened up an animation studio. This studio is known as "Disney's Double Dare You!". That's right: Disney's. One of Hollywood's best obscure/creepy filmmakers has opened an animation company within the walls of Disney Studios. The studio will be under the watch of Dick Cook and (hooray!) John Lasseter. Del Toro is very busy with his current slate of upcoming films, but will direct for DDDY (Disney's Double Dare You!) in the future. The current project at DDDY is Trollhunters, written (but not directed) by Guillermo who is also producing. So what should we expect from this new studio? Will the films be truly creepy, or just Coraline creepy? Will they appeal to kids, or to adults? I don't know...

• The Associated Press is reporting that 'Pirates 4' is officially official. It has a real title: "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," and Johnny Depp is, of course, its star. The film will be released in 2011. I can't wait! Although I am not a huge fan of the 2nd and 3rd 'Pirate' films, I do love the character of Jack Sparrow.

• The D23 Expo is going on right now! To see what happened on day one, I'd recommend you check out the following links:

1. WDWNewsToday; Some stuff from the CarsLand room, and, mostly, the Disney Legends ceremony.
2. Disney and More: The really great-looking Imagineering Legends session.
3. Cinematical has an article about Tron at the D23 Expo, as well as a huge gallery of pictures from it.
4. The LA Times documents both days of the expo thus far, but mainly the stars that showed up, which include John Travolta, Johnny Depp, and Tim Burton. (The OC Register has a similar article.)
5. Jim Hill discusses an upcoming D23 presentation which will showcase what The Muppets ( I sure do love those little guys) will be up to in the next couple of years.

There is even more Disney news out there. Upcoming Pixar is reporting that Cars 2 is going to be a "Hitchcockian Spy Thriller." Their source is Mr. Lasseter who is quoted to have said:

Mater, who we know from the series of cartoon shorts Mater’s Tall Tales (more on that in our blog in a minute) is prone to exaggeration, gets involved in a "Hitchcockian" case of mistaken identity, saves the life of a British secret agent called Finn McMissile (who looks a heck of a lot like an Aston Martin) and becomes embroiled in a huge spy thriller. Only no-one believes him.

And, finally, here is the newest trailer for the upcoming Disney film, The Princess and the Frog. This movie keeps looking better and better:



That's all the news for now, but stay posted since we still have more Expo news headin' your way.

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'Princess and the Frog' Pencil Test

Briefly: Here is a short video that was shown at Comic-Con. It is a pencil test for The Princess and the Frog, and, being such, it contains a scene from the movie while showcasing the animation and style, as well. The scene is one from the movie that has yet to be seen, and is very interesting (especially to the animation enthusiast like myself), since it is a pencil test which, as defined by Wikipedia, is the following:

In traditional animation, a preliminary version of the final animated scene. The pencil drawings are quickly photographed or scanned and synced with the necessary soundtracks. This allows the animation to be reviewed and improved upon before being passed to assistant animators, who will add details and some of the missing frames in the scene. In European studios, the pencil test is called the “line test”, because it happens before the cels get their colour.

Enjoy the video which will make you even more excited for December 11...

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Six 'Princess and the Frog' Featurettes

I cannot tell you how excited I am that Disney is returning to hand-drawn animation. Hand-drawn animation, if you ask me, is absolutely wonderful. Don't get me wrong; I love computer animation, but I don't think it is a suitable replacement for the animation of Walt Disney's age. CG animation and hand-drawn animation are just different, I think we should have both (unlike a certain ex-Disney CEO...). Anyways, Disney is returning to the classic animation of Walt Disney with their upcoming film The Princess and the Frog. So, since I know how excited you are to see this film, here are six, count 'em, six featurettes all about Disney's newest film which is bringing back the magic to Disney:













This last featurette comes from AWNTV and is all about the fact that The Princess and the Frog signifies Disney's return to classic animation. It is a very short, very good video. Watch it here.

Well, I hope that all of those will hold you off until December 11 when the film is finally released. It will be Disney's 49th animated feature, and their first 2D film since 2004's Home on the Range. It is being directed by Musker and Clements who also directed The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules--all truly great animated films, some of which I am proud to call my favorites.

Read more about The Princess and the Frog here. I hope you enjoy the film this December. I think you will...

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Monday Link Roundup [UPDATED]

Update: Here is the just-released Princess and the Frog official movie poster!

Here is a quick list of brief links that you oughta check out if you want to keep up with the latest Disney, Pixar, Movie, Gadget, and everything in-between news:

• Disney's upcoming 2D feature, The Princess and the Frog, has a newly released trailer! Here it is:

The Princess and the Frog looks different from what I expected, but it looks like it (hopefully) will be a great animated film. I cannot wait to see more of the Louis Armstrong-inspired character Louis the Alligator, animated by everybody's favorite lead animator Eric Goldberg, who was also the lead animator for the Genie in Aladdin.

• The LA Times has a great article documenting the history of Star Tours 2.0, the just-opened renovation to Star Tours in Anaheim.

• Upcoming Pixar has an article that discusses the line of brand new, vintage Up posters, similar to the one above.

• Here is a video of "Cluster Ballooning" that took place at Pixar as a part of Up's marketing campaign.

• DisneyStore.com has a ton of new Up merchandise, including a Dug the Dog plush, a Wilderness Explorer T-shirt, and more!

• Forbes has an interesting article about animation that I don't absolutely agree with, but it is still a good read.

• The re-release of Toy Story in 3D is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Read about it at /Film, read all about it here.

• Pixar has released their updated versions of RenderMan for Maya and RenderMan Studio.

• And, finally, the big news of the week is that Pixar is opening a new studio for shorts and other smaller Pixar projects in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada!

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