

John Lasseter—co-founder of Pixar, the history-making computer animation studio, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios; and the principal creative advisor to Walt Disney Imagineering— is one busy guy. Always at the forefront of what can be accomplished within animation, Lasseter is so excited for Walt Disney Animation Studio’s release, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG - on DVD and Blu-ray June 21^st - which marks the return of the musical fairytale with a Princess at the center. Q: John, how did THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG come about? Ed Catmull and I, the day I returned to the Walt Disney Animation Studios, said that we wanted to bring back John Musker and Ron Clements. So, once we brought them back, I empowered them to come up with their own project. I mentioned to them one idea that I had, just a nugget of an idea at Pixar. I love the story of “The Frog Prince,” and I love New Orleans. And I thought that it would be a great place to set a story like that…and that’s all I mentioned to them. We always ask for the directors to come back to us with not just one idea, but three ideas…and they came back with nine ideas. These guys were so prolific, they’re fantastic. And one of them was THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG—they had this wonderful twist on the story, where the main character, Tiana, kisses the frog, but she’s not a real princess, she gets turned into a frog as well. That was their clever twist on it. They wanted it to be a musical, set in New Orleans, and they wanted Randy Newman to write the music which, of course, I loved, because I’ve worked with Randy Newman on all of the movies that I’ve directed. Randy grew up in both New Orleans and Los Angeles. He would go every summer to New Orleans, so he knows the city and its music. It’s like he was born with it. It’s in his DNA, and so I think he was a phenomenal choice for it. Q: Why the return to fairy tale animation now? I’ve always loved animation it’s the reason why I do what I do for a living - the films of Walt Disney. This art form is so spectacular and beautiful. And I never quite understood the feeling amongst animation studios that audiences today only wanted to see computer animation. It’s never about the medium that a film is made in, it’s about the story. It’s about how good the movie is. And so one of the first things that I did when I came back to the Walt Disney Animation Studios was to ask John Musker and Ron Clements to come back to the studio and just empowered them to say, “Come up with a movie that you really want to tell.” And THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG was born. In glorious Disney fairy tale animation. It’s just spectacular. Q: How is THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG a continuation of this incredibly rich legacy that is Disney Animation? You know, what’s exciting about THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, is that it’s the return to the sincere fairy tale. It’s a return to the musical, which hasn’t been done in quite a while. You know, it’s so classically Disney in every way, yet it’s brand new, it’s something you’ve never seen before. And that’s what’s so exciting about this. When you sit and watch THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, I mean, I helped make the movie, but I sit there and I watch it and I think, “I forgot how much I love this!” It’s all those things combined, the animation, the sincere fairy tale, the musical, the great characters, the talking animals, the princess, the prince, all these things combined, it’s so classically Disney yet it’s so completely original. Want to learn more about the characters from The Princess And The Frog - and watch the film's fantastic trailer?		Q: Could you talk about the filmmakers? It was really exciting to get John Musker and Ron Clements to come back to the Studio. I went to College with John Musker, so we’ve known each other for a long, long time. I think they are Disney. When you think about the movies they made, especially THE LITTLE MERMAID and ALADDIN, I mean, those are two of the great Disney animated films. And I think that it was so exciting to get them to come back to the Disney Studios. In the end, when they came back, we just wanted them back at the Studio, because they belong at the Disney Studios. So when they came back, I said, I want you to do a movie that you really want to do, something from your heart. And so we had talked about a bunch of ideas and there was just a nugget of an idea that I have had up at Pixar, which is to do a retelling of “The Frog Prince” set in New Orleans, and that’s all I had. And so I just mentioned that to them and they took it and created the most original and fresh twist to the story, and they came up with THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. And they wanted it set in New Orleans and they wanted it to be a Musical. So it was so exciting. I think John Musker and Ron Clements are just phenomenal in their leadership, their storytelling, their creativity, their knowledge of animation, their knowledge of filmmaking, it’s just fantastic. ©Disney Q: Could you tell us a little more about the research that you’ve done in New Orleans in terms of music, specifically? We went down to New Orleans. We listened to a lot of music. We studied jazz and the history of jazz and zydeco. The New Orleans Jazz Fest was a great place, because they had different stages for all the different styles of music. And the problem was we wanted to have it all, because all the music is so appealing, and I think that’s what’s so great about the music from that area, is it’s so unique. It only comes from there and it’s so appealing, jazz and zydeco and Dixieland and gospel, there’s something about it. Randy Newman was so familiar with all those styles. It’s a part of him. And, you know, it’s funny, it has seeped into the scores and the music he’s done for all the movies I’ve worked on. There’s a little bit of jazz that finds its way into Randy’s music. I knew he would be perfect to work with us. And he was fantastic, and I think that the opening song is a real anthem to New Orleans. It’s so special. And getting his friend, Dr. John, to sing the song, it’s one of the great moments in my entire career. We went to New Orleans to record that song, and sitting there with Randy Newman and Dr. John in a New Orleans recording studio with these fantastic New Orleans musicians playing this music, and going out and having a great meal, it was absolutely fantastic. And it was right around the time of the Jazz Fest, too, so we were able to see Randy Newman and Dr. John perform as well, and it was just really a magical time.