Friday, August 21, 2009

Disney's The Princess and the Frog - Conjuring the Villain NEW Featurette

Just a little something that popped up today - getting a behind-the-scenes look at what went into creating the villain in the Princess and the Frog.

Have you ever noticed that in fairy tales the greatest villains are the humans? It's not the witches, the Baba Yaga's etc - they're just forces of nature. Dangerous, yes - if you meet a wolf you'd better know how wolves behave in order to survive the encounter - but these individuals are rarely downright evil. It's the humans like Vassilisa's stepmother, scheming to make life miserable (occasionally aiming to kill their family members), that are the truly scary characters in a story. Give these malicious people access to a little magic and, well, let's just say it's a lot harder to escape their clutches.

In Disney's The Princess and the Frog, Dr Facilier is a smooth-talking, scheming, nasty piece of a human, who also happens to be a witch doctor - one who really know his voodoo. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at his creation, courtesy of Cartoon Brew:

6 comments:

  1. Also villains tend to be skinny- look at Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin etc.. all very tall and skinny.

    So i guess id be a villain then!

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  2. I particularly like the motions of Keith David's mouth as he talks. The villain's design in stills does not look that interesting or dynamic, but now I very much look forward to seeing more of him animated!

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  3. I have to admit, the villain is the only thing that makes me leery about the movie. The moment I heard it was set in creole-land, it was a foregone conclusion that there'd be some evil vodou, which is kind of dissapointing from a stereotype PoV. I haven't seen the movie, of course, but I'm just willing to bet there isn't a positive Vodou practicioner in it, just the creepy witch-doctor guy. As someone with a long interest in Haiti and the diasporic religions, it's kind of sad.

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  4. I feel that Keith David is not just a sexy actor but has a deep voice range that is very sultry. The voodoo thing is very creepy and it's not like we don't know that's what goes in New Orleans. I happen to like the theme of the movie and I hope to hear more of Keith's voice especially when he laughs.

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  5. Haitian voodoo God, Ghede. Disney fails.

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  6. omg i am *in love* with him!!!!!!!!!!! even though hes fake

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