I grew up on Disney cartoons. I remember my grandparents taking me to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio in theaters. I remember seeing Bambi and The Rescuers that way as well. The Sword and the Stone and Robin Hood used to be on in reruns all the time while I was growing up. My mom rented Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo, The Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, The Artistocats, and The Fox and the Hound for us. We owned 101 Dalmations. I even vaguely recall seeing The Black Cauldron once upon a time.
When Disney began their first 2D resurgence with Oliver and Company, my sister and I were the right age. While that flick just missed the mark, I clearly recall being caught up in the fantasy aspects of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and especially Aladdin, which has been my favorite Disney movie since the first time that I saw it. The Lion King just missed the mark for me (apparently, that’s everyone else’s favorite). And then after that, I was “too old” to watch Disney cartoons.
Admittedly, I’ve caught a couple of the movies that were released after The Lion King. Tarzan was alright, Lilo and Stitch was funny, but nothing that I’d seen captured the same kind of magic that the old school Disney flicks had - with the possible exception of the stuff that Pixar has been putting out. But Disney on its own seemed a ghost of its former self, which I thought was a shame as they’d put out some quality cartoons back in the day.
So, when Disney bought out Pixar in 2006 and it was announced that John Lasseter (who’d executive produced all of Pixar’s flicks) was made Chief Creative Officer of both Disney and Pixar and that he was interested in returning Disney to its classic 2D roots, I automatically took an interest. Could the company that had created so many movies which had helped shape my childhood (and undoubtedly countless others) get back to making good ol’ fashioned, fun, 2D animated masterpieces? I certainly hoped so and I decided to keep an eye on what they were up to.
Well, now there is something to be seen. The Princess and the Frog, Disney’s first traditionally animated feature in five years, finally has a trailer:
My thoughts? I think it might be a winner. It’s definitely giving off the vibe of the earlier Disney flicks and stylistically looks like it’d be right at home with any of the Disney greats. Now, hopefully they will be able to keep that up with the storytelling and the acting, without having some has-been comedian spouting pop culture references non-stop. I’m still not 100% sold, but I’d certainly say it appears that they’re going in the right direction and I’m going to continue tracking this one until its December release.
Tags: cartoon, classic, disney, masterpiece, pixar, princess and the frog