Do or Do Not.

Almost three years ago, I got my enthusiasm all up because then-newly-promoted Chief Creative Officer at Disney John Lasseter announced the Mouse would be returning to making traditional cel-animated features. This holiday season, we’ll finally see the payoff from that announcement when The Princess and the Frog hits theaters.  Below, enjoy the initial trailer for the new film.  (I especially liked the pencil-markings-becoming-beloved-characters bit at the beginning…nice bit of symbolism.)

The trailer itself seems promising; some of the humor seems a little awkward, but the New Orleans setting should make for some splendid art direction.  I’m reasonably sure this one will require a first-weekend visit, even if it looks like there might be some scary elements in there [1]…but don’t most of the good Disney cartoons?  

I won’t blather on again about how happy I am to see hand-drawn (for some 21st-century version of “hand-drawn”) animation coming out of Disney again, but that’s only because I’d just be repeating what I said three years ago — just go read that, because it all still applies.

[1] I meant scary elements in the movie, not scary elements in New Orleans, though there are plenty of those, too.