Just to let everyone know, the official website has received a significant update:
– Mitch
Wow, it looks splendid! I can’t wait till they update the other sections closer to the release date. Thanks for the update, Mitch!
I played ‘Bayou Adventure’ and it’s more difficult than it looks! I can’t get past the fourth level! 
And how do you explain the fact that Prince Naveen the frog ‘dies’ by drowning! 
Wow, thanks for the update, Mitch! The new site looks awesome!
I saw the trailer recently. Looks promising.
thedriveintheatre and woody - No problem, guys! 
Ha! He dies by way of drowning? That’s hilarious.
– Mitch
There was a really cool interview with Ron and John during the primiere of Princess Protection Program tonight. It had some really funny and cool new footage. Quite ironically, the movie took place in Louisiana.
I just saw the newish trailer, and it’s official. I simply cannot sit still for this movie! It looks SO good! I love the character design, animation, voices and story concept so much!
I really hope that this could become the beginning of another Disney Renaissance.
The new trailer is totally awesome, looking at how Disney depicts New Orleans and the swamp just make me amazed; I love that Cajun firefly. =D
I’m trying as much as possible to avoid the featurettes and images so I can go in ‘blind’, so to speak. But I suspect as the release date draws nearer, it would be harder to avoid spoilers through TV spots on Free to Air (which the Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs spots has unduly done for me. Stupid marketing execs! ).
But, anyway, I guess it’s inevitable that there are gonna be some detractors complaining about the characters being stereotyped, even if it’s done respectfully or in good faith. Already some cynics are criticizing Mama Odie, and the author of the article below points out that Ray the cajun firefly should be raising more alarm bells.
Seriously, people, unless it’s outright bigotry (like the centaurs in Fantasia or the crows from Dumbo from more ignorant days) can we stop focusing on the race issue and get on with admiring the hard work the animators and scriptwriters have put into this? I didn’t see a big crapstorm being stirred up over the Adelie penguins from Happy Feet or even Mater the redneck from Cars, so why can’t we just move on and talk about the rest of the movie?
If anything, this film is probably the riskiest gambit Disney has ever wagered. It is no understatement to say that a lot is at stake here, both for the future of 2-D animation and Disney as a production house. I hope this ‘black princess’ controversy doesn’t overshadow its other merits and affect its critical and box-office reception. 
Oh, and to fans, there are five featurettes in the link, so you can ignore the text and just watch the videos. 
Thanks to Wall-E Dragon of the WALL-E forums for the update!
I agree. I find it terrible that here Disney is trying to do something that is new and never done before and people can’t help but point out everything that is the tiniest bit insulting. 
I wasn’t alive for Mulan and Aladdin, but I’m pretty sure this didn’t happen with Mulan and Jasmine. This is really ridiculous. Please shut up and enjoy the movie!
Mulan was actually criticized for stereotyping the Chinese. Some people will find a problem with anything. I say ignore them.
I agree - I think we should ignore those critics and concentrate on the animation or the music or the directors or…well, anything but that!
I saw these two really cool featurettes on AWN about the animation - you get to hear and see some more footage and you get to hear a little bit of Princess Tiana’s song! What I really, really love about the clips is how genuinely excited the animators and directors are about the film - you can tell that they know a lot’s at stake w/ this movie and that they’re putting their heart and soul into it!
I seriously feel like crying tears of joy! This film is shaping up to be everything I ever hoped and wanted it to be! Thanks for the links, CoCoMeister!
I promised myself I wouldn’t watch any vids to spoil as little as possible… but this proved too tempting. Thankfully, it doesn’t give away too much. I’m so excited that everything’s looking good so far…
I can tell the animators share so much enthusiasm for the film. I chuckled at Mr. “Victory Dance”. The pre-vis of Prince Naveen trying to catch a fly was cute! And Mr. Hawaiian Shirt got to say a few words at the end! Horray! I totally agree with him, “the studio that started it all”. And that dude at the end: “We’re back!”
“The Princess and the Animator” offers a nice glimpse of the song and some scenes of Tiana! I can’t wait to hear the whole song! Seems like Mark Henn has had an “illustrious” career… love his sketch of Tiana! I also like how Ms. Rose convinced Mr. Henn to make Tiana [spoil]southpawed[/spoil]. 
Thanks for the vids, CoCoMeister!
Hey, guys - thought I’d post this up here. It’s some footage they showed at Comic-Con last week of some in progress animation (just mostly pencil drawn, no colors, little background). No sound either, but it’s really interesting to see!
[url]The Princess and the Frog Featurette - Hand Drawn Animation (2009)
There’s a bunch of new scenes in there, but since there’s no sound and it’s very early on, I don’t think it’ll be much a spoiler for anybody. Just an FYI.
Thanks very much for sharing those videos, CoCoMeister! The Princess and the Frog looks like it’s going to be a fantastic new Disney Classic! The animation is beautiful and I definitely see some humor coming as well. Oh, I just can’t wait 'til this film comes out!
Awesome video! I am SO happy that they are returning to hand drawn animation. It reminds me a lot of the classic Disney animation movies. This is definitely a movie I am going to see right when it comes out.
Thanks for posting that up, CoCoMeister; the movie looks absolutely terrific! Hopefully, with Lasseter supervising all of Disney Animation’s films, this ends up being another classic, proving that Bolt wasn’t just another one of those occasional rays of light for the studio (a relatively large ray of light, considering that Bolt is my absolute favorite movie, but nonetheless).
Wow, the animation is fabulous! It gives me that nostalgic feeling of all those old Disney cartoons I watched as a kid; the style, the look, the ‘feel’, the whole vibe of it all. Those maestros must be doin’ something right!
My player stops at 00:37 for some reason (when Louis dances on the water), but from the little I’ve seen, I’m thoroughly impressed! I liked how Mama Oldie kissed the snake. 
Thanks for the link, CoCoMeister!