http://www.actressarchives.com/news.php?id=4500Animation power house Disney has announced their latest animated feature, The Frog Princess, which the studio says will feature their first black princess, as well as a return to the old style of hand drawn animation that the studio was once famous for. In addition to the Frog Princess, Disney's Pixar division is also working on Toy Story 3.
According to Variety, Walt Disney Feature Animation Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter announced at the company's shareholders meeting in New Orleans yesterday that the studio's next project will be The Frog Princess, which is slated to hit theaters in 2009. While Variety points out that the project has been known to exist for some time, yesterday was the first official announcement of the project to the public. The film will be set in New Orleans and tell the story of a young girl named Maddy, who will also be Disney's first ever African-American princess to join the ranks of the successful line of Disney princesses. The Frog Princess will also see the return of directors John Musker and Ron Clements, who helmed The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules, but left the studio years ago. John Lasseter managed to convince the duo into coming back to the studio last year after Disney acquired Pixar. As The Frog Princess is slated to be a musical, it only made sense to slide the song writing duties to Disney's favorite music man, Randy Newman. In addition to being the first Disney animated feature to showcase a black princess, The Frog Princess will also see the return to hand drawn animation, which the studio abandoned in 2005.
The other big story to come out of the annual Disney shareholders meeting in New Orleans yesterday was the confirmation that Pixar will be working on Toy Story 3, according to the . John Lasseter revealed to the assembled audience of shareholders that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are back on board for the "Toy Story" sequel to voice Woody and Buzz Lightyear. He also mentioned that, "We got a great story.", which was penned by Michael Arndt, the Oscar winning scribe of Little Miss Sunshine. John Lasseter discussed both Disney Animation and Pixar's other projects in development as well, including, American Dog for Disney, which follows the tale of a dog with superpowers who suddenly realizes he is only a TV character and must learn to live in the real world. The film will be directed by Chris Williams, who was a writer on Mulan and The Emperor's New Groove. Pixar will be working on Wall-E, which is set 700 years in the future and centers on Wally, a little robot on Earth cleaning the trash-covered planet after the humans have evacuated it. Wal-E was written and directed by Finding Nemo helmer Andrew Stanton.
The Walt Disney Company has a long history and tradition of creating many classic cartoons and animated features over the years which include, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, Robin Hood, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Lilo & Stitch.
Pixar Studio's first collaboration with Disney was with Toy Story and the two companies continued to work together on such films as, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Cars. As of last year Pixar was purchased by Disney for an incredible $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal.
And here's Disney's newest Princess, Maddy:
Thanks for sharing.
