The Princess and the Frog: new billboards + the first five minutes

I thought I would be taking a break from discussing this movie since I've been doing a lot of it lately. But, I couldn't pass up on sharing five minutes of the film. The billboards from ComingSoon are just a bonus.

The opening five minutes of The Princess and the Frog were unveiled late yesterday and you get a feel for where the movie is headed. The first few minutes are the completed 2D animation in gorgeous color, but after that some of it is the pencil drawn stuff that isn't finished. I wish we could have gotten a completed five minutes, but I suppose it's interesting to get a look at the different stages the animation goes through before it's totally finished.

Disney princesses: Mandy Moore on Rapunzel and an extended look at The Princess and the Frog

Mandy Moore recently talked to Empire about voicing Rapunzel in the upcoming animated Disney film. Disney is set to release its 50th animated feature, Rapunzel sometime in December of 2010. The project is 3D animation but even though it's 3D animation, the images are designed to look like a traditional 2D film. The visual style is said to be based on Jean-Honoré Fragonard's painting The Swing.

Kristin Chenoweth had been cast as the voice of Rapunzel but was replaced by Mandy Moore after the entire project was overhauled. Moore discusses Rapunzel's personality and her favorite Disney princess:

"She's sort of the quintessential sassy, feisty Disney heroine. She's quite modern, quite a curious girl as well," says Moore of the once-entowered princess. "She's just coming into her own and is anxious to figure out a way to see the world around her that she's been kept away from for so many years."

"I just feel honoured to be in such good company. Being a Disney Princess is kind of every girl's ultimate dream."

"I was always really fond of the Little Mermaid growing up, so I would probably have to go with Ariel."

As pathetic as Ariel is, she's my favorite Disney princess as well. Sounds like this modern incarnation of Rapunzel is the opposite of Ariel.

Awards Daily shares an extended clip from The Princess and the Frog with us:

Get a look at Disney's latest villain

A behind-the-scenes featurette from The Princess and The Frog surfaced a few days ago at Cartoon Brew and it gives us a look at the villainous Doctor Facilier.

Facilier's supervising animator Bruce Smith (Bebe's Kids, The Proud Family) talks about the character and the influences voice actor Keith David has on the character. Keith David is a character actor who has appeared in Platoon and next month's Gamer and All About Steve. If you still can't place him, you'll recognize his voice immediately from cartoons, commercials, and even another animated Disney film, Hercules. And while Facilier may not become one of the most iconic Disney villains - because as MTV Movies points out "he’s male and the majority of great Disney villains have been villainesses," - he'll probably still be a very memorable one:

David describes voodoo magicman Facilier as "a schemer, a conjuror, and a sorcerer of sorts. He's a delicious bad guy, on that roster of wonderful Disney villains." A quick burst of song reveals that Facilier has "friends on the other side" [Empire]

The Princess and the Frog opens in New York and Los Angeles on November 25, and goes into wide release on December 11 in North America.

'The Princess and the Frog' featurette

There is a brand new featurette video below (via GeekTyrant) where John Lasseter, Andreas Deja, Ron Clements, Bruce Smith, and John Musker talk about Disney's return to traditional, hand drawn animation in the upcoming The Princess and the Frog.

Stunning new photos from 'The Princess and the Frog'

Five new photos from Disney's The Princess and the Frog are now online, and shows characters like Louis the alligator and Ray the firefly (awww cute). The film will open in New York and Los Angeles on November 25, and then open in wide release on December 11. The photos are from FirstShowing:

Full trailer for Disney’s 'The Princess and the Frog'

Looks pretty amazing:



From /Film via ONTD!

'The Princess and the Frog' gets an earlier release date

According to Variety Disney has moved the release of The Princess and the Frog from Christmas Day to December 11, 2009. The 2D animated musical will open exclusively in New York and Los Angeles on November 25. If the film had kept its later Christmas Day opening it would have been pitted against Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel (ugh), but with its December 11th release date it will instead open the same day as The Lovely Bones.

I think I'm a little more excited about this film than is humanly possible since Disney is going back to 2D, and its a musical, and its a black Disney princess. Yeah, my rant about what the fuck took Disney so long to have a black princess aside - I am really looking forward to this.