The First 5 Minutes of The Princess and the Frog

By
on

(via SlashFilm)

Also in Cartoon Brew...

  • Scooby-Doo Performs
    on Fox News

    scoobyfox

  • Meet the First
    (Stone Age)
    Animators

    cave-animation

  • “Dorothy Of Oz”
    trailer

  • kristine b

    I can’t wait to see this!! The song at the very beginning was a bit sugary and doesn’t seem right somehow, thought something more lively being New Orleans based, but i’m sure it’ll fit into the story. Anywhoo, love the animation! And the first five look good, nice little setup for the rest of the movie. Somehow I think something bad’s gonna happen next though.

  • Kevin Schreck

    Gonna wait for the theaters, personally. But thanks for posting this!

  • Tim Hodge

    Nice twist on the whole “wishing on a star” concept.

  • Bugsmer

    This movie has potential. It already looks a lot better than many of the animated features that have been released this decade.

  • Boris

    This really doesn’t seem like it’s supposed to be online. Does anyone know if it was officially released by Disney?

  • http://blissfulignorance551.deviantart.com/ A.J.

    This is a little bit of a let down personally. the animation is great, i especially love John Goodman’s character. But everyone looks a little bland and sometimes misplaced on the ground(this may be bettered when those segments are in colour. Overall, the background art is intriguing(the bits we saw at least) and the staging is especially well done when Tiana is walking in charlottes hallway.(the bit where here father gives her a puppy) i hope this does good though :D

  • tim

    ….man I hope this thing rocks the box offices, I miss this artform! I will be sure to be there opening night!

  • http://thedreamerskingdom.org TK

    It’s good to see TPatF capping off the best year of animation ever. I really hope this 2D revival to be a success especially when people started to question the quality of 3D films.

  • Chappell\\

    My god. A string of boring morals in the first five minutes? Hopefully the fun begins soon thereafter.

  • http://spungella.blogspot.com Jean-Denis Haas

    Worked for me! Even the non finished parts. I want to see the rest now.

  • http://jakehatesyou.blogspot.com jake armstrong

    i’m honestly pretty impressed. there’s a lot of things i could complain about design-wise about it not really pushing as art, but it’s really good movement, cute characters, good acting. i’m pretty excited.

  • ben colbourn

    mmm classic disney returns :) great to see those unfinished parts too.

  • http://amymebberson.blogspot.com Amy Mebberson

    So shall we take bets now that Tiana’s saintly parents will die just before the ‘growing up’ montage?
    (I mean that completely tongue-in-cheek, not as a barb)

    It looks lovely, just what I’d expect from WDFA… the writing, though…
    hmm.
    It seems to be in an enormous rush to set up all the future emotional beats straight out the gate. Tiana will never kiss a frog(riiight..) and her home life just seems a liiiittle too Hallmark Card.

    But it’s five minutes. I’ll still go see it, of course!

  • Chris Sokalofsky

    I’m going to take the high road here and NOT watch this clip. Would rather wait until it comes out completely. And I kinda think it’s a shame that they previewed it at all.

  • working animation artist

    I’m sorry, but who cares about the return of the 2-d American feature when the ideals are stale and dated?.. Seems like one long trip back to the 90′s with no real progression of the art form.

  • Erin Siegel

    Gorgeous, though it strikes me as rather saccharine. Maybe that’s just cuz I’m jaded and I’m not used to seeing my mother’s home town looking so pristine. Or so many people smiling at once (though on Bourbon Street….)

  • dave theron

    makes me sigh very deeply, i am soooooo exicted for this! lets hope that it sets high enough numbers at the box office to make sure that many more are made :)

  • Brak

    I think the pacing is off in this clip. It doesn’t grab you at all. That being said, I have high hopes for the film’s impact on the (public and industry…or should I say industry exectuives’) perception of 2D. The animation and artwork, the tone and art direction, is just brilliant. Absolutely stunning work–let’s hope the story is as good.

  • ArthurF

    Sorry, love pencil sketches, don’t care about a corporate’s leaked footage as it only shows their art and craft can be strong, but…

    It’s hard to watch after the Family Guy satire on Disney-style cliches two weeks ago. It was time for INVENTION. The movements just seem like old stage-play theater conventions (SMILE so the audience can SEE YOUR EMOTION) rather than modern storytelling ones, do we still need each gesture to involve so many extra curvilinear movements that practically telegraph “this is animation” (when bent down, in order to come back up, head and waist and chest have to move as if a life of their own and the head has to always throw the hair back at the same time turn to one side and so on?). And yes, storytelling, even if ironic, the wish upon a star, prince and frog, GUMBO cooking metaphor to share with the friends and neighbors etc… just seems like warmed over recipes, and DONE already, now just open for parody as FG showed. I would assume the audience for this is VERY young.

    Finally, while it would be interesting this has a New Orleans themed storyline, I’m not convinced it’s set anywhere by having all these old-fashioned, cute, idealized binaries – the white and the black – when New Orleans was much more about the mixing. Sounds more like Disney’s New Orleans so far. Hope it will surprise and this opener is just a teaser of old school style and then when the little girl grows up, it goes all MODERN. That would be great!

  • Jones

    Boris says:
    This really doesn’t seem like it’s supposed to be online. Does anyone know if it was officially released by Disney?
    —

    I believe this is the bonus clip from the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition DVD/Bluray that comes out today October 6th.

  • http://www.abelboddy.com C.Edwards

    A Disney movie about spoiled little girls obsessed with princess stories… isn’t that their market?

    This is exactly what I expected. Seems right on track for Disney, I’m sure it will make a lot of people very happy.

  • http://toiletpuck.blogspot.com/ Zee

    About a decade ago the knock against Disney was that all their movies were the same, the Disney Princess movie, with singing. I remember a part in the documentary “Dream On Silly Dreamer” when one of the animators talks about how she was spotted in a super market wearing a Disney jacket. Someone asked her what the next Disney movie will be and said “It’s not going to be one of those musicals again is it?” So the public did not want another Princess musical. That was almost a decade ago, so the public are not as inundated with the same Princess musical over and over again. But I have a fear that if this movie does well, and I hope it does, that Disney will fall into the same mindset as before, where every movie has to be a blockbuster, every movie has to have songs, every movie has to have a Princess.

  • Angry Anim

    When are they going to learn that they more you emphasize to the audience that these are moving drawings, the more the audience will respond? The pencil tests are way cooler than the overly cleaned up characters and bgs.

  • jip

    Feels more like Anastasia/Swan Princess to me than like Little Mermaid…
    Maybe that’s not a bad thing in everyone’s book, but in mine it is :D

    It doesn’t seem to renew the fairytale film, like Mermaid did. It looks more like they exaggerated the cute, sappy, morally stuff… The things everyone thinks of when they think of Disney, but that have never been in Disney movies as much as people remember it.

    Ariel, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine or Cinderella didn’t have happy childhoods, or wise parents who taught them valuable lessons.
    And their films didn’t show them as being kids either..
    That was Anastasia and The Swan Princess who did that…

    People who make these movies, forget they are working with fairy tales. They’re not supposed to be real or more complicated than necessary. We don’t want to see Snow White crying about her dead parents who were so wise and perfect.
    We don’t need to know the entire town and all it’s inhabitants through song. Lalala this is St Petersburg lalalalala this is New Orleans lalalala I don’t care.
    Imagine if the people from Snow White’s village would have sung a song about their little German town.
    lalalalaa
    we’re from Bavaria!
    (I don’t know if there will be a “Feel the Buzz in New Orleans” kinda song, but guessing from the seen clichés, I think there will be)

    Also what’s up with the: The star won’t do the work for you, you’ll have to work hard and then you can achieve ANYTHING!!!

    That’s no fun! I want magic!!! Who cares if it’s not true..
    A (black) girl from the 1920′s who can achieve anything isn’t true either…
    Yeah, who am I kidding, Im gonna watch it anyway.
    But it won’t be a classic I tell ya!!

  • creepy

    This looks awesome and has a great message already. not just silly fluff, hopefully a timeless classic is about to be released. Love the hand drawn!!

  • http://www.jasondeeble.com Jason Deeble

    Why are they using schmaltzy orchestral strings in the score? They used monastic choirs in Hunchback. They did Ladysmith Black Mambazo stuff for the Lion King. In a locale like New Orleans where music is so important, I’m really surprise Disney is giving it such a banal and bland sound.

  • $#(%)!

    Wow, look at that animation, it looks amazing….zzzzzzzZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
    zzzzzzzzzzzzz”snort”zzzzzzzzZxzzzzz

    Seriously, why should I care about these characters? Why do I care if food puts a smile on people’s faces? Is everyone around you starving or something? Was someone sad and then you gave them food and then they were happy? Ratatouille had a better “food makes everything better” in a quick 5 second flashback and they didn’t have to force it down your throat. You got it, they didn’t even need words. Instead you give me a Disney idea of class warfare with the happy black servant who is more then happy to make dresses for the rich white kid. Meanwhile her pour kid is happy to make gumbo at home for the happy pour village. Everyone is happy all the time and there’s never any trouble. Pour people love being pour and rich people have no backbone. One almost expects a “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” to jump out of someone’s mouth.

    The animators at Disney are amazing. The animation is great, love the style, love the story idea. Just make a good story already. Write a script. These 5 min show me that your still making Treasure Planet type films.

    What sucks most is that I really want this film to do well. Stop navel gazing and start making your own films.

  • Boris

    Ratatouille looked like a real rat and i find it creepy a rat would make my food… Great clip!

  • Brian

    Am I the only one who’s kinda tearing up already? I think this is gonna do just fine.

  • Jason

    Hmmm…kinda contrived. The sappy philosophy made me cringe a little, and the over-the-top cat animation I didn’t find the least amusing. And the music…feh.

    Really, I want this to do well, but it does look a bit too derivative and…underwhelming. Sorry. I’ll go to see it, but honestly, I’m more excited to see Astro Boy than this. And I’m a huge champion of 2D!

  • Jason

    And why, why, WHY Randy Newman? When there are so many great, authentic New Orleans jazz musicians/composers out there? This is no time to play it safe, Diz…

  • http://www.nofateandrazor.com Razor

    @JIP

    I think that part of the whole “this character has a happy childhood and 2 parents” unlike Aurora, Belle, Jasmin, etc, can be traced to some oversensitivity with the race issue.

    If Disney were to present their first black leading lady as being fatherless, living in the slums, etc., many people would have cried foul. As it is already, many people paint Disney as misogynistic for having so many “wicked step mothers” and lament as to why so many Disney characters have a parent missing. Personally, I don’t think it’s political, just good story telling; being an orphan makes someone instantly more sympathetic.

    The other problem is, with the advent of Home Video, the entire Disney canon is instantly accessable to anyone at any time. So, while when Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella was released, there may have been comparisons made to Snow White, but parents did not have to live with their kids playing Snow White twice a day for 2 years, so even if ideas were similar, it was not quite as noticeable to the average person.

    @$#(%)!

    How can you tell there’s never any trouble? Tiana’s mother is a seamstress, not a servant, and the little girl is one of her “best customers”, implying this woman is an entrepreneur – and her father aspires to open a resturaunt. These are actually some wonderful themes to expose children to, in an era when more and more people are looking for quick solutions from politicians that never come true.

    Did you say the Lion King looked beautiful, but why should you care about the characters when The Circle of Life was released as TLK’s trailer? If all you had seen of TLM had been “Fathoms Below”, how would you have known anything about the movie? Ok, there’s a prince and he has a boat, so what?

    Clearly this is just the prologue of the movie. I don’t think any story judgements can really be made from it. I think it looks lovely and I am glad Disney is doing their best to build some momentum for this film. I showed a coworker of mine (we don’t work in anything related to Animation) and she can’t wait. This is going to be her daughter’s first trip to the theater. I haven’t heard such excitement from a non Disney geek like me about an animated movie in forever.

  • John A

    I know some people aren’t going to agree, but everything looks way overanimated. I know animatos like to show off as much as anybody, but where’s the subtlety? I actually got a little more interested when the black and white sequences popped up. At first I thought they were going for something different, but I soon realized that was just the unfinished stuff. The Disney guys need to re-examine some of their older films and realise sometimes less is more.

    As for some people griping about it being another princess musical, I think they’re way off base. It’s been more than 10 years since their last musical cartoon,and there’s a whole new generation of kids that this is all brand new to. Disney understood the value of the seven year cycle between rereleases; it brought in a whole new audience.

    If this doesn’t interest you, maybe you should just sit this one out, it’s possible that this movie wasn’t meant for you, or maybe you’re just too old.

  • http://www.elliotelliotelliot.com Elliot Cowan

    When did the words “bland” and “appealing” become the base adjectives to describe personality in animated designs?

  • Topher

    Why is the dad giving her wholesome life lessons? Doesn’t he know that’s a recipe for death in a Disney movie?

  • Jose Manuel!

    HEY DISNEY!!

    what about making a movie about a bunch of grown up men that complain alot about family movies!

    btw the animation is superb stagging is exelent we cant wait to see in theaters, and yes I was expecting something different from thisney but C`mon! sometimes movies are just made to put a smile in your face and in times like this WE NEED TO SMILE!

  • http://borismaras.blogspot.com Boris Maras

    Ah it’s confusing when there’s two Boris’ posting.

    Jones says:
    I believe this is the bonus clip from the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition DVD/Bluray that comes out today October 6th.
    ———————————————————————————–

    Thanks for the info! At the very bottom of this link it says that there are 8 minutes on the dvd, though:
    http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Snow-White-and-the-Seven-Dwarfs-Blu-ray-Review/5220/

  • http://www.abelboddy.com C.Edwards

    Unfortunately Topher, HE does not. But we do, which is why this whole thing isn’t as impressive as it’s supposed to be.

    Everything about this production doesn’t help me get over the idea that the final Disney product is so without edge, creativity or integrity that they can no longer do the unexpected. Which we all know is the key to any great story.

    And I think Jip is right, all these forced happy childhoods and valuable “work ethic” lessons just make things complicated in the wrong kind of ways.

  • http://MrFunsBlog Floyd Norman

    Congratulations Ron and John and your suburb team for doing what needed to be done.

    Hate the game, not the player…

  • $#(%)!

    Razor

    I loved the Circle of Life opening, that was great. That had exactly what I’m talking about. It had lots of exciting music and I cared about the little kid because he was animated with a lot of innocence, he obviously had parents that loved him and when the fun little monkey held him up for the rest of the animal kingdom to see I realized that this innocent little kid had the weight of the entire kingdom on his shoulders. Not only did this excite me but it gave me a clue as to what this movie was going to be about. And it did it with no words. I loved it, it was amazing and it got me excited to see the rest of the film.

    This movie is the first 5 min of a 100million+ feature film, you think they could do better. Look at film history, you can see hundreds of amazing openings to movies. The first 5 min tends to be the most important, it’s where people decide if they are going to like the movie or not. Also, it’s basic visual story telling 101, never have your character come out and say what they want. Show what they want, and why they want it. Yes having a father wanting to open a restraunt with his daughter is a great idea. I’d love to expose that idea to my own kids. But show it to me, don’t tell it to me. Why is it so important to him? Why does he like good food? How does it make people happy? Show me, don’t force it down my throat.

    I never got the idea that she was the seamstress. She was taking care of two kids reading them a story and making a dress I thought they were trying to show me how good she was at her job. My mistake.

    Yes the movie could be really good and I hope so, I hope the intro to the film isn’t an example of what the movie will be like.

  • http://brandonjamesscott.com Brandon James Scott

    Disney stopped pushing the boundaries of animation a long time ago – this clip shouldn’t surprise anyone.

    But I have to agree with the comments on the moral lessons. This is overload in the first 5 minutes… Whatever happened to setting up you characters so the audience actually cares about them before weighing them down with the serious stuff?

  • http://jessicaplummer.blogspot.com Jessica Plummer

    I could critique the hell out of this like so many others, but waiting until I get to see it as a whole and to put it bluntly: for Disney getting back into 2D animation, this is just fine. While a little contrived with the themes and acting, it’s not as over the top as I was afraid it was going to be. It’s actually paced very well for only 5 minutes, and hopefully uses a nice window of the next 5 to 10 minutes afterwards to set up the story completely before getting into too much detail. It’s sweet and simple, which is a good ground to get the studio started off on again.

    I’m actually pretty pleased with this, and it should be a nice hit at the box office. Which it sure better be: I know I’m not the only one who wants to see more 2D after this comes out.

    Kudos to all who worked on this.

  • Sammy

    Does it bother anyone that that guy just pulled out a puppy out of nowhere? There was no sign of the puppy being with him and he was carrying the little princess with two arms and all… Is that father of the little princess suppose to be a Witch Doctor too?

  • Russell H

    Anybody who can take the time to make sure that the streetcar is an exact detailed rendition of a 1922 Perley Thomas, as would have been operating on that line at that time, is OK in my book.

    Once word gets around, they’re going to get a lot of trolley buffs watching this movie, believe me.

  • Rodrigo

    That was boring.

  • K

    Thanks for showing us the first 5 minutes. Now I know I don’t need to see this movie!

  • Mike Johnson

    I agree with Sammy. The sudden appearance of that dog out of nowhere totally threw me. Of course, this is Disney and talking frogs and dancing alligators and all kinds of fantasy stuff is to be expected, but the dog still puts a question mark over my head. Maybe the father is a distant relative of David Copperfield?

  • Dave O.

    Underwhelming to say the least, but I’m reserving full judgment until next month.

  • Mac

    I really want this to be a film I want to see, but the first 5 minutes were disappointing for me. People always make fun of Disney for its smaltz and sugary morals, but in most of the ‘classics’ it’s never actually that *bad* and is actually worse in films that try and imitate the Disney style. But this is coming across as one of those imitations with it’s overload of sickly sweet American messages and clichés. Work hard as well as wish, share the gumbo, achieve anything you want, it’s family and love that’s important, don’t torment the kitty… To be fair the forced moral crap didn’t last the whole 5 minutes, so hopefully they’re getting it out the way so the rest of the movie can be funny, surprising, clever and exciting. If not I could always wish on a star and work hard at making my own animated feature and see how well I do.

    BTW I thought that guy producing the puppy out of no where was the best bit.

  • http://blissfulignorance551.deviantart.com/ A.J.

    The trailer looked much cooler than this by the way

  • http://none Zack Mays

    Looks great,lets hope the fans comes in the millons !!!

  • http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/ Michael Sporn

    This is the first children’s film where a child says, “I would do the frog.”
    It’s good line reading from the child, but repulsive writing just the same. I’m sure there’ll be more where that came from. The animation looks excellent, but it can only be as good as the story and dialogue. Let’s hope it gets better.

  • http://pittsburghartistregistry.org/jeffreymcandrew Jeffrey T. McAndrew

    I don’t expect that this will be the greatest animation production in history but what the hell, I’ll take it anyways and be thankfull for it. I realize that not everything is going to be a masterpiece, but I’ve seen so much worse that I am starving for something that comes even close to the artistic integrity evident in just the first 5 minutes of this film. Story and music is secondary to me personally, I’m an artist and I watch animation for the art. It doesn’t matter to me if the story involves pretty pink princesses or crackheads living in slums. What I do see some very interesting character designs, some wonderful backgrounds, and I want to share my appreciation for the talented artists who made it possible. Thank you.

  • chipper

    I liked the part where the cat was slinking away. I hope there’s more funny stuff like that.

    The film looks cute. I don’t know if it will be the big thing, like Little Mermaid was. Although I never really cared for that film because the mermaid was horribly bratty. And I don’t see why Lion King is considered the best Disney film EVER by so many people. But I’ll be quiet before I go too off topic.

  • Vixie

    Is it just me, or does the little blond girl look like Darla Dimple from Cats Don’t Dance?

    One thing that struck me about this clip, will any boys want to see this? Definitely a girls’ movie, I hope that doesn’t limit the potential market for it

  • Mandy

    I don’t think Disney should be leaking all this out to the public. First the 5 minute clip of the frog sequence, now the first 5 minutes of the movie. Leave some surprises!

  • David

    Vixie – she doesn’t look like Darla Dimple to me , so I think it’s just you.

    Mandy – Disney didn’t leak this , someone else leaked it. The clip has now been removed from YouTube due to claim of copyright infringement by the Walt Disney Co.

  • David

    Michael Sporn – she doesn’t say “I would do the frog” .

    She says: “I would do it : I would kiss a frog ! I would kiss a 100 frogs if I could marry a prince and be a princess”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzeJnBPaayE

  • http://yeldarb86.deviantart.com Mr. Semaj

    I didn’t see this, and I probably won’t anytime soon.

    Disney needs to stop spoiling the surprise for everyone.

  • Lando

    I’m a fan of hand drawn animation. I do enjoy computer animation but not nearly as much as the traditional hand drawn stuff. I’m a fan of Disney animation. Theirs seems the best work out there. And while everything they produce is not a masterpiece, it’s always good in it’s own way. I suspect that if not for the tug-of-war the artists have with the executives we would be given more innovation. But it’s all about “making money” after all. I won’t complain about what I’m not getting because for too long I wasn’t getting hand drawn Disney animation.

    I will see this film. I expect to enjoy it. And I hope it resurrects hand drawn animation at the Disney studios.

  • Iritscen

    Haha, looks like Disney didn’t approve of this clip being online after all.

  • http://bloghorsedui.blogspot.com/ Blkhorse

    Happy about it being 2D and all, but it’s just more of the same Disney garbage that they’ve been shoving down our throat for years.

  • http://chippyandloopus.com/ John S

    From the opening bars that song makes me gag.
    The whole thing is pretty painful to watch.

  • Brad Constantine

    it is nice to see Darla Dimple working again…

  • http://jackmunchproductions.blogspot.com/ Malcolm Thomas

    Jose, You pretty much hit the nail on the head with that first sentence.

  • Andy

    Clip has been removed. Thanks!!

  • http://www.spiteyourface.com Tony Mines

    This is that Family Guy clip, right? Yeah, I already saw it.

    Seriously though, is this what you guys want? Is this what you want animation to look like? Is this what you think our art form is for? You can relate to those characters, you think that’s what human interaction is like? That those backgrounds, those colors look nice. I mean, is it? IS IT??

    *weeps uncontrollably into hands*

  • http://christianscartooncorner.blogspot.com Christian

    “Seriously though, is this what you guys want? Is this what you want animation to look like?”

    I don’t think ANYONE’S saying all animation should be exactly like this.

  • アリース

    I’m so happy to see a feature 2D film from Disney again. And seeing as I’m a fan of musicals, the singing doesn’t bother me at all; just adds to it.
    As for them going back to their princess recipe, I have to admit I’ve missed it. With all the feel good Pixar movies that have been coming out these past few years, its nice to have a simple fairy tale make its way back into the mainstream. Fairy tales are, after all, part of the oldest form of entertainment (folk tales), and can therefore relate well to everyone because they carry ideas that can be found in all cultures.
    I didn’t get a chance to the video posted here, but I looked at some of the other ones on youtube, and I thought the acting was really nice. It reminded me of 101 Dalmatians. The backgrounds did call to mind Anastasia though.