Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #49: The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Last Week’s: Munir’s Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #48: Bolt (2008).


One of the most exciting things in 2009 was the release of The Princess and the Frog. After a decade of releasing (mostly) misfires and giving traditional animation the death sentence after the abysmal Home on the Range, Disney was finally ready to go back to the technique they practically invented and perfected for over 70 years. Thanks to John Lasseter and his vision, traditional animation was back firing on all cylinders at the studio and with a new fairy tale to boot. Better still, the helmers of this new movie were none others than studio veterans John Musker and Ron Clements and handling the music was Pixar veteran Randy Newman. With all this talent behind it, we could only expect the best film possible and, thankfully, the movie delivered on all fronts.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - The Revival Era (2007 - Present) Introduction

Last Week’s: Munir’s Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #46: Chicken Little (2005).

After a very difficult early/mid-2000s, Walt Disney Animation Studios could've easily ceased to exist and no one would've cared. Yes, the oldest animation studio was in such a crisis that putting it out of its misery was a very viable and merciful option at the time. Thank goodness for John Lasseter. Yes, I just said that. The man often reviled nowadays, John Lasseter, completely rehauled the studio, giving it back its identity, putting it back on the map and making it a worthy competitor to the other animation studios again. He healed the heart of the Disney Company and released a string of films that, step-by-step, created a stronger studio, a confident studio that not only embraced its rich history but also wasn't afraid of trying new things and delivering fresh stories with wonderful characters and heartfelt messages. Better still, the studio was no longer a DreamWorks or Pixar wannabe, but had its own style to differentiate it from the others. That wasn't an easy feat. Critical reception and box office started to grow slowly but surely, and now, seven years after Lasseter took over, the studio is back where it was always meant to be: at the very top of the pack. Whether it's a musical fairy-tale that pays homage to the Renaissance features while also offering something new and exciting, or a completely fresh story set in the video gaming world or a shiny future, Walt Disney Animation Studios has returned from the dead, risen like the phoenix, and taken the world by storm. We can only hope that this comeback will never subside again, as the studio's recent output has been simply outstanding to say the least. Welcome back Disney Animation, I hope you're here to stay!

Guest Editorial: Is Disney Animated Princess Marketing Sexist?

Disney's next princess movie, Frozen. Note the lack of focus on, y'know, the
princesses.

This is a guest post by Morgan Stradling, of The Rotoscopers.

It seems every time a new Disney animated princess film rolls around nowadays that people pick up their pitch forks and begin chanting the war cry that Disney is sexist. That “they’ve forgotten their core audience,” “they are catering to the boys,” and have ignored the women.

Ron Clements Talks Disney, The Little Mermaid and Moana - Which Is Apparently a Musical

Photo credit: Sioux City Journal

Ron Clements, alongside directing partner John Musker, is a legendary name in animation, having directed Disney classics like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and, more recently, The Princess and the Frog. Clements and Musker are now hard at work on their seventh feature film, a film we've previously learned is called Moana. In a new interview with Sioux City Journal, Clements talks about his tenure at Disney and speaks a little about Moana.

Editorial: Thank You, Mr. Lasseter. Or, An Analysis of Walt Disney Animation Studios' Spectacular Comeback (2007-2012 and Beyond)

With Disney's Frozen just around the corner, I think it's time to look back and see the slow-but-sure comeback of Walt Disney Animation Studios since John Lasseter took over. With the Disney Company owning some of the most influential brands in the world (Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel), the Disney Animation Studios sometimes gets lost amidst its more media-frenzy-inducing siblings. Nonetheless, since Walt founded it back in 1923, the Animation Studio has been, and continues to be, the cornerstone of the Disney company (even if sometimes that's not apparent).

Winnie the Pooh Review - No Bother

This review is of a film that I very much wanted to see, the classically animated and wonderfully charming, Winnie the Pooh. However, as regular blog followers will know, I was unsure how good it would be. I knew a Winnie the Pooh film would be charming, funny and nostalgic, but would it be "the defining film"? Would it be great? Or just good? Would it be purely a nostalgia film, or could it sustain itself? I found that Winnie the Pooh faced some of the same questions that I aimed at Toy Story 3. Fortunately, Winnie the Pooh - like TS3 - did not disappoint.

Are We in The Third Golden Age?

Disney. The word that embodies animation. When you think animation you think Disney and vice versa. Yet, Disney hardly has the best track record when it comes to animated films, sure when you think of Disney animated films, you'll think of the classics; The Lion King, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Beauty and the Beast etc..., but since the end of the second Golden Age (or Renaissance) Disney has been a bit down in the dumps. Particularly in the majority of the 2000s we've had a lot of flunks (in terms of critical consensus and box office revenue), with Chicken Little, Brother Bear, Home on the Range and Atlantis (among others) with some exceptions i.e. Lilo and Stitch.

Through all of the turbulence, there's been so much speculation about when - if ever - the third Golden Age of Disney will begin.