(Source: jimhillmedia.com)
I've been digging Jim Hill Media like an old soul record ever since I discovered his site, not only because I like his "insider" take on the animation business, but also because he seems like a genuine fan of the medium. And I also like his take on the latest controversy in the Mouse House: Disney Animation boss John Lasseter overriding Ron Clements and John Musker's wishes and hiring Randy Newman to score The Frog Princess.
Here's the story: directors Ron Clements & John Musker (The Little Mermaid) wanted to bring in perennial Disney scoremeister Alan Menken to write the music for their latest flick, The Frog Princess. John Lasseter nixed that decision and put in Randy Newman, who's scored pretty much every Pixar flick except Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Lasseter, being the boss, made that decision stick but there have been a lot of angry emails, claiming that Lasseter overstepped his bounds and gave his good buddy the hot assignment. More than a few people writing these e-mails also believe that Newman, as a composer, isn't fit to shine Alan Menken's shoes.
So how hot is The Frog Princess? Very, very hot. First off, it's John Lasseter and company trying to prove to Disney bosses (and the world) that traditional cel animation is not yet dead. Also, it's the first fairy tale-based animated movie since 1992's Aladdin. Not only that, The Frog Princess's storyline (beautiful princess gets turned into an amphibian) is trying to spin fairy tale conventions without going into Shrek territory.
Agreed, Menken is a natural for this movie. He's scored every recent Disney animated movie of note except The Lion King. He's won so many Oscars that the Best Score category was unofficially nicknamed the "Alan Menken Award" before being split (mainly so that other composers could have a shot at Oscar glory). He was a great choice. He was a safe choice.
However, John Lasseter is not always about the safe choice. A lot of people were shocked when Lasseter didn't use Newman for Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, after the memorable scores he cranked out for Toy Story 1 & 2, and Monsters Inc before inviting him back to work on Cars. Lasseter wanted to keep things from getting stale, and the fact that Pixar has been such a reliable hitmaker (not to mention North America's #1 CG animation studio) is a testament that John might be on to something.
Not only that, The Frog Princess isn't the only movie with a princess theme in Disney's work schedule. The partially-animated Enchanted (beautiful princess magically exiled from fantasy world to New York) is Disney's tentpole picture for Christmas of 2007. It has an Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz score. Then there's Rapunzel, another Disney CG animated film, which is tentatively scheduled for 2009. Jeanine Tesori is handling the score for that one.
So Lasseter's not far wrong in worrying that putting Menken on a second Disney-princess movie might be cause for concern. Some of Disney's "animation revival pictures" occasionally had a been there/done that feel to them that mde me wonder if the creative teams on those movies weren't starting to go through the motions.
Menken can score this stuff in his sleep, and Lasseter's job is to ensure he doesn't. Randy Newman, with his pop and Americana background, might not be the best choice for The Frog Princess. Or he might be an inspired choice. I agree with Jim Hill: let's see how The Frog Princess plays before we start criticizing John Lasseter's moves. He might know something we don't.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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