The Drag Queen Posse

Disney had shut down its hand-drawn 2D animation unit, and laid off all of its animators after the success of the latest 3D animated films and its subsequent acquisition of Pixar. At the time, DisneyCo. thought that no one would enjoy 2D animated films anymore. When Disney acquired Pixar, John Lasseter, head of Pixar and a former Disney cartoonist himself: re-launched the entire unit, and hired back nearly all of the fired animators - such is his love and respect for the art of hand-drawn animated features.

This new film, The Princess & The Frog, has been gestating for quite some time, as it languished during this on-off period. Thankfully, it is the first of a new era of 2D films from Disney. The next scheduled release is: Rapunzel, Unbraided.

Enjoy!

Update in the comments section: We should perhaps clear up what we mean when we say "3D." There is 2D animation - the physical creation process - (done by hand), and 3D animation done in a computer. The latter can be made to appear like hand-drawn animation, but it's not very consistent, and it lacks the "soul" of an individual artist. It can also be difficult to match the style done by freehand with a computer. Even in the newer "2D" films there is "3D" animation. It's usually saved for tedious or complex items, which are often done in a computer to enhance, but not overtake the production; i.e: the lava & confetti in Aladdin, or multiplying the number of creatures in The Lion King, etc.

There is also the WAY the film is projected, which is 2D (flat), or 3D - where one wears lenticular (blue-red) glasses, polarized (for left/right eye), and "shutter" glasses (like the IMAX ones) where the left and right eye of the glasses turn opaque and transparent about 48 times per second (24 frames per second for each eye) to give one the illusion of depth on a flat surface. Disney is retooling some of its biggest, blockbuster, animated features into 3D projection with the help of new techniques - much like turning black and white films into color. Among those to be retooled and re-released (for $$) is Beauty and the Beast.

Rapunzel will be a 3D projection release, though the animation in it (for the most part), was done by hand. Supervised by the legendary artist Glen Keane, it was ultimately taken from him by John Lasseter (who above all things, has the "story" come first), because Keane could not seem to get the story "right" despite 5 years of toil on the project. Friends for over 20 years, that could not have been easy, but Keane can perhaps take solace in the praise by fellow animators, that it is perhaps the most beautifully produced Disney Feature Animation ever made. We'll know in 2010.