Ron Clements
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Reminiscent of the classic original Disney adventures “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” and “Treasure Planet,” the Mouse House’s latest, an homage to 1950s science fiction called “Strange World”, is a fitting lesson on the ethos of climate change and humanity’s ability to protect their homestead.
There’s a painterly feel to the landscape, which, combined with the film’s sci-fi bent, might trigger memories of Disney’s Treasure Planet.
Not since the back-to-back years of 2001’s “Atlantis” and 2002’s “Treasure Planet” has Disney crafted a throwback, Jules Verne-esque venture this fun and rousing.
The Mouse House's Treasure Planet springs to mind, too, as do Jules Verne's contributions to literature.
Those who came of age (including this critic) right at the moment Disney, like every other major American production studio, gave up on hand-drawn two-dimensional animation and who hold those last unloved movies (“Treasure Planet,” “Titan A.E.,” “The Iron Giant”) as a final glimpse of an era that never was, may see in “Strange World” an attempt to recreate some of that lost magic.
Even outside the limited scope of Disney adventure films dating back to Atlantis and Treasure Planet , or well outside the mouse house to the film’s most obvious influences, which include but aren’t limited to Raiders of the Lost Ark and Journey to the Center of the Earth .
The Lion King (1994)
Directed by Roger Allers
influenced The Princess and the Frog (2009), Treasure Planet (2002)
Characters
"Princess and the Frog" isn't the second coming of "Beauty and the Beast" or "The Lion King."
The Princess and the Frog could fit squarely in the resurgence of Disney that happened with The Little Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast , Aladdin , and The Lion King .
Lead females have included an Arab (Jasmine, Aladdin ), a lioness (Nala, The Lion King ), a Native American ( Pocahontas ), and a Chinese girl ( Mulan ).
The Princess and the Frog may not be in the same league as those gems, but it’s the first Disney film since The Lion King that feels like a real heir to this tradition.
Their heyday was undoubtedly 1991-1994, with the incredible combo of Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King -- a streak that's unmatched, I dare say, even by Pixar.
Compare that to the marketing surrounding "Tangled" 16 years later as the first classic Disney film to use a fairy tale again, or "The Princess and the Frog" as the first classically-animated film in a similar amount of time and it's obvious what a big change the industry has gone through in a short time.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Directed by John Musker
influenced The Princess and the Frog (2009), Hercules (1997), Treasure Planet (2002)
Music
Under the guidance of Ron Clements and John Musker, who wrote and directed "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin," a variation on the old "Frog Prince" fairy tale was devised, set in 1920s New Orleans and featuring all the old hallmarks of a Disney classic: magic spells, talking animals, princes, princesses, and plenty of singing.
Clements and Musker are pretty much Disney born and raised with two of the studio's best musical showstoppers, "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin," heading their résumés.
Co-directors John Musker and Ron Clements, the men behind Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, resurrect all the reliable tropes in a story that moves at a snappy pace, boasts its share of funny moments and features a distinct New Orleans spirit that sets it apart.
While the songs in The Princess and the Frog generally are not up to the high standard of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, Dr. Facilier's showstopping "Friends on the Other Side" is almost as colorful and bouncy as Aladdin's "A Friend Like Me."
Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid), the movie features vibrant songs by Randy Newman and such voice talents as Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard, and Keith David.
But Uncle Walt's nephew, Roy Disney, was not convinced and the following year, The Little Mermaid - directed by Musker and Clements - signalled Disney Animation's return to the big time.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
Directed by Richard Lester
influenced Hercules (1997)
Themes
Kudos is also in order for how deftly the project's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" comic tone has been combined with traditional Disney life lessons for little folks.
But its tone is the borscht-belt burlesque of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."
Another character that's a lot of fun is B.E.N., a beaten down robot voiced by Martin Short (Innerspace) who is reminiscent of old Bob from The Black Hole minus the Western drawl.
The Book of Life (2014)
Directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez
influenced by Hercules (1997)
Characters Plot
Then Perlman brings a thick layer of eager malevolence, reminiscent of James Woods evil underworld ruler in the animate Hercules.
Reminding of a less-inspired variant of 1997's " Hercules ," "The Book of Life" features familiar character types in a story that wears itself down in exposition.
The Sea Beast, which channels Treasure Planet more than The Secret Life of Pets, is swashbuckling fun for kids and adults.
And this being the Disney kingdom under the beneficent creative rule of veteran directors Ron Clements and John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin) and composer Randy Newman (Cars, Toy Story), the frolic also includes songs of gumption (''Almost There''), mischief (''Friends on the Other Side''), optimism (''When We're Human''), spiritual uplift (''Dig a Little Deeper''), and the love of something up above in this case, an evening star (''Ma Belle Evangeline'').
Clements and Musker -- with guidance from Disney/Pixar's resident Midas, John Lasseter ("Toy Story, " "A Bug's Life, " "Cars"), a longtime appreciator of New Orleans -- reached for their old copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales for inspiration.
What keeps "Hercules" from becoming trite (for adults anyway) are the inspired currenty jabs co-writers and directors John Musker and Ron Clements take at everything from "Midnight Cowboy" to Disney's own overbearing marketing.
First, we could look at it as the directorial debut of Sergio Pablos, an animator who rose through Disney in the 1990s, ending up getting his first supervising animator credits on 1999's Tarzan and 2002's Treasure Planet , after which point it was bad business being a supervising animator at Disney as it shuttered and re-tooled its feature animation division.
Reminiscent of Tarzan and Treasure Planet (both of which Pablos worked on), the design work creates appealing and compelling characters.
Pablos has a background in animation, having worked as an animator on movies like Disney hand-drawn animated features like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, as well as Treasure Planet, which combined these traditional techniques with emerging computer animation.
Pablos worked on Disney’s Treasure Planet and Tarzan, and that lineage is readily apparent in the bouncy, vibrant life that runs through all the character movements.
Pablos -- who, along with writing the story for the two aforementioned films, had a hand in animating Disney classics like Tarzan , Hercules , Treasure Planet , and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame -- begins his latest work with a sentimental recollection of the lost art of letter-writing.
Both the "Greek" and the "mythology" are pretty much tossed away with the washing-up water, making way for rousing up-tempo songs (what the "Gospel Truth" has to do with matters mythical we can't quite figure out) and a high-profile voice cast that includes Danny De Vito, Rip Torn, Samantha Eggar, Hal Holbrook, Amanda Plummer, comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, Wayne Knight (of TV's Seinfeld) and Matt Frewer (TV's Max Headroom).
Frozen (2013)
Directed by Chris Buck
influenced by The Princess and the Frog (2009), Treasure Planet (2002)
Visuals Music Themes
Yet because of the underperformance of terrific hand-drawn movies like The Princess and the Frog (2009) and Winnie-the-Pooh (2011), Disney has balked and headed for computer animation.
It's a worthy follow-up to 2009's The Princess and the Frog and 2010's Tangled in terms of musical score and magical appeal.
The last time Disney did something like this, with the hand-animated "The Princess and the Frog" in 2009, the attempt to break the princess template was almost overly earnest.
Sadly, Frozen feels like a step in the wrong direction, precisely because Disney is so obviously trying to recapture the Princess brand that they were so wise to avoid previously ( The Princess and the Frog notwithstanding).
Still, even with eye-popping animation, solid voiceover performances and a feisty feminist slant, Frozen falls short of recent Disney princess high points Tangled and, especially, the live-action Enchanted, instead delivering mixed results closer to The Princess and the Frog and Pixar’s Brave.
Better Tagline: "From the creators of The Aristocats and Treasure Planet ."
Moana (2016)
Directed by John Musker
influenced by The Princess and the Frog (2009), Hercules (1997), Treasure Planet (2002)
And as with Musker and Clements’ previous film, “The Princess and the Frog” (2009), which featured a rare African American heroine in a 1920s New Orleans setting, a conscientious effort to diversify the company stable has already met with appreciation and trepidation alike.
The directors of Moana are John Musker and Ron Clements, as close to living legends within Walt Disney Animation Studios as you can find; they’ve also directed The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, and The Princess and the Frog, among others.
Directed with confidence, care, and a deep-seated respect for Polynesian culture by John Musker and Ron Clements (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess And The Frog”) under Jared Bush’s equally touching, heartfelt original screenplay, it’s a buoyant, impressively lovely work of popping visuals, textured storytelling and toe-tapping music numbers, all of which come naturally and progressively during its smoothly realized 103 minutes.
Clements and Musker were behind Disney animated classics The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, but they were also responsible for 2009’s mediocre The Princess and the Frog, which similarly attempted to blend an underrepresented cultural tradition with familiar Disney storytelling styles.
Whereas Clements and Musker’s last film, The Princess and the Frog, got bogged down in storytelling cul-de-sacs and less than inspiring music from Randy Newman, Moana has a buoyancy that allows it to glide across its gorgeous renderings of aquatic life.
That's not an easy task, and if you doubt that check out 2009's Creole-spiced "The Princess and the Frog," the movie "Moana" directors Ron Clements and John Musker set in 1920s New Orleans.
Directors Ron Clements and John Musker have been virtually silent since the double-barreled success of "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin."
The duo also created other Disney blockbusters including "The Little Mermaid" (1989) and "Aladdin" (1992).
Indeed, Musker and Clements (the team behind "Aladdin") bring considerable wit to the proceedings.
Directors Ron Clements and John Musker, who also piloted Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, bring all their creative muscle to bear on this film.
Rather than completely jettisoning Stevenson's setting, the animators led by veteran directors Ron Clements and John Musker ("The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin") take an anachronistic approach that leaves room for both pirates and cyborgs, not to mention oddities such as cannons that shoot laser balls.
In this animated version from directors Ron Clements and John Musker (“Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid”), Jim Hawkins (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a bit of a delinquent at a crossroads.
Encanto (2021)
Directed by Byron Howard
influenced by Hercules (1997), The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Visuals
The approach also allows for some of the most distinctive and imaginatively conceived animated sequences since 1997’s Hercules .
The character designs and animation style are most reminiscent of The Princess and the Frog , but brought to life in 3D whilst still capturing the bounce and rhythm of 2D animation; even some of Disney’s best CG-animated films don’t recreate that feel as well as they do here.
Unlike last year’s The Princess and the Frog, where Disney stuck to its traditional hand-drawn animation and storytelling formula, Tangled takes all the familiar elements of the “princess movies” (think The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin) and combines them with Disney’s application of new technology -- CGI and 3D.
But in spite of its pedigree, Tangled doesn’t come across as a traditional Disney film, certainly not in the spirit of 2009’s conscious old-school throwback The Princess And The Frog .
In 2009 there was the lovely, hopeful Tiana in The Princess and the Frog, and now there's another fairy tale heroine who's worthy of adoration: Tangled's Rapunzel.
But their fiftieth animated feature as a solo studio continues the re-emergence of the romantic fable after 2009’s The Princess and the Frog , and marks a return to the big tales that guarantee big success.
Like the traditionally animated The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled returns to the older style of Disney storytelling that incorporates musical numbers into the narrative.
Facilier from The Princess and the Frog , Mother Gothel wants to preserve—not destroy—our protagonist.
Disney’s beloved Princess tales are no stranger to classic mythology, and everything from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to “The Princess and the Frog” have pulled liberally from existing material to craft family-friendly animated outings centered on inspirational women.
Disney is in a good habit of strengthening and deepening its female protagonists here in the 21st century — Frozen is the biggie, but underrated gems like The Princess and the Frog and 2015’s live-action Cinderella remake more than ably carry the torch.
So while it's not Disney's first time at dipping a toe in multicultural waters -- "Aladdin," "Mulan" and " Pocahontas " were there first -- "The Princess and the Frog" still feels like baby steps.
Lead females have included an Arab (Jasmine, Aladdin ), a lioness (Nala, The Lion King ), a Native American ( Pocahontas ), and a Chinese girl ( Mulan ).
Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who revived the Disney animation tradition (and the company's fortunes) when they created "The Little Mermaid" in 1989, "The Princess and the Frog" is an attempt to re-establish the "princess" brand that has been ignored (on the big screen, if not in Disney merchandise) since "Mulan" in 1998.
"Hercules" is a throwback to the good ol' days of "Aladdin" -- funny, fast-paced, with references to everything from "The Karate Kid" to "I Love Lucy," and some dead-on satire of merchandising, mass-marketing, and the icons we falsely consider to be "heroes."
Other irrational creative decisions follow: Danny DeVito as the New Yawkish satyr/trainer to our bland hero Hercules; a femme fatale romantic interest who swings her hips like Jessica Rabbit and talks like she’s in The Big Sleep .