As mentioned in a post over on our sister site, Cold Hard Flash, The Princess and the Frog DVD was released yesterday, and while we highlighted the role Toonboom’s paperless animation software played in bringing this traditionally animated feature into the running for an Oscar, I happened to stumble upon a number of pencil tests from the movie from the amazingly talented Hand Drawn Nomad, Matt Williames. I have been a huge fan of his blog for a while, as he often posts videos of pencils tests, as well as some fantastic artwork, animation tutorials, and other little bits of animation wisdom. And with his recent post, he promises a detailed account of his experience working on the film, so be sure to keep an eye out for it!

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 2D feature The Princess and the Frog was nominated earlier this month for the Best Animated Feature category, and I think it should get an award (along with Secret of Kells) for simply helping bring 2D back into the limelight. Here’s a little vignette about Drawing Prince Naveen to help tide you over until the DVD arrives on March 16th. It’s not really a tutorial on how to draw Prince Naveen, but more of an homage to Duck Amuck, where the animator and his pencil mess with Daffy.

Back in November, the Lineboil audience was nearly perfect in selecting the Oscar nominations, getting 4 or 5 correct. For Best Animated Feature Film, you chose Ponyo, as opposed to Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson’s stop-motion feature, which ended up snagging the nomination instead. Up stands out from the bunch, taking a total of 5 nominations, including Original Screenplay and a Best Picture nod. It’s only the second time an animated feature has been mentioned amongst the live-action films in this category (Beuaty and the Beast). Not to diminish this achievement, but BATB did it when only 5 films were nominated, while this year its 10. That said, I’d argue that if there were still 5 slots, Up would likely be amongst them. After all, it was the best-reviewed widely-released film of 2009, animated or not.

The other interesting development here is that a pair of 2D features (The Princess and the Frog and The Secret of Kells) were included. Only Persepolis (2007) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2005) had cracked this category in the past 5 years, while the onslaught of CG features basked in the limelight. Kells pulled off perhaps the biggest win by getting a nomination, as the film had such a small release in the US.

Here’s the nominations (5 this year, while previous years there were only 3):

• Coraline (Focus Features), Henry Selick
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (20th Century Fox), Wes Anderson
• The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney), John Musker and Ron Clements
• The Secret of Kells (GKIDS), Tomm Moore
• Up (Disney/Pixar), Pete Docter

 
Congrats to all of the teams involved!

We’ve uploaded what seems like a few dozen clips and behind-the-scenes videos promoting The Princess and the Frog, the traditionally-animated feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios. So today, as the film opens wide across the US, how about a look at the making-of book? Here’s a video assembled by the gang at the Character Design Blog, detailing the highlights of The Art of The Princess and the Frog, which is available next Wednesday.

The countdown continues to the release of The Princess and the Frog (December 11th). Here’s a new clip about gumbo. Will this film help lead the return of 2D animation?

About two weeks until Walt Disney Animation Studios’ latest feature arrives in theaters. The Princess and the Frog is getting some rather strong reviews, and the animation looks top notch. Here’s a clip titled It Didn’t End Well.

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ soon-to-be-released 2D animated featureThe Princess and the Frog carries a large burden into the cinemas. Many in the animation community were dubious of claims that 2D was dead, as many claimed 6 years ago, but now as the studio that brought the medium to prominence returns to its roots, we all hold our breath. But it’s not about the medium in the end – it all comes down to story, and in this clip below, we get a good glimpse of the set-up. The feature, which was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, is in theaters December 11, 2009.