San Diego Comic Con Welcomes John Lasseter and Hayao Miyazaki - July 24, 2009
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Musker went on to discuss the plot and characters in detail. Princess Tiana will be played by Anika Noni Rose of Dream Girls, and her Prince Naveen, by Bruno Campos. The wicked, tarot card reading, fortune telling, voodoo practicing villain is Dr. Facilier, is played by Keith David.
�Among the many returns this movie represents is the return of the Disney animated musical,� Clements proudly added. As he went on to describe the singing, dancing, and seven new songs by Randy Newman, the crowd erupted in cheers. The song styles, he promised, would range from jazz and Dixieland to gospel and zydeco.
As Clements went on to discuss the return of Disney�s hand drawn animation, brief clips of rough animation filled the screen overhead. �It felt very right for the story we�re telling in this movie,� he said. He went on to laud the all star cast of animators who are working on The Princess and the Frog. They include Tiana animator Mark Henn , who previously animated Disney heroines Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and Mulan. Eric Goldberg, animator of the Genie in Aladdin will be creating the jazz loving alligator Louis. Tiana�s �fairy godmother,� the ancient Mama Odie, along with her seeing eye snake is animated by Andreas Deja, who created such memorable villains as Gaston, Jafar, and Scar. The villain of The Princess and the Frog, Dr. Facilier is animated by Bruce Smith, who animated Kerchak in Tarzan and created The Proud Family. The lovesick Cajun firefly Ray is animated by Mike Surrey, best remembered for his animation of Timon in The Lion King. Prince Naveen is animated by Randy Haycock who previously created Clayton in Tarzan, as well as young Hercules.
To the delight of the crowd, two sequences from The Princess and the Frog were screened. First was a musical number featuring the nefarious Dr. Facilier and Prince Naveen, newly arrived in New Orleans, accompanied by his stuffy valet Lawrence. It was followed by a second clip that emphasized comedy. As Clements explained, Naveen, now a frog, spies Tiana at a fancy dress costume ball and assumes she is a real princess. Summoning up all his charm, Naveen persuades her to kiss him, but as she is not a real princess, she is also transformed into a frog. The clip that followed depicted part of their misadventure in the bayou, as a clumsy Louis attempts to help them untangle their unfamiliar frog tongues and seek out Mama Odie.
As the clips came to an end, John Lasseter said, �You have never, ever met a group of artists who have more to prove to the world that this art form is something to continue doing.� There was hearty applause punctuated by cheers as John Musker and Ron Clements joined the other Disney film makers on the panel.
But the crowd was only warmed up for the next guest, a filmmaker who seldom makes personal appearances, even in his own country. �I have the honor to bring out to you someone that is so important to me and influential to me,� Lasseter began. He continued, �I think this guy is one of the most important filmmakers working today, without question in the animation community.� Lasseter went on to say that he had had the privilege of counting him among his friends, starting with a first meeting in October of 1987. With each mention of a film title�Spirited Away, Howl�s Moving Castle, Ponyo� loud vocal approval was offered. When Hayao Miyazaki took the stage, the hall erupted in sustained cheers and applause, as the crowd jumped to their feet.
Speaking through a translator, Miyazaki simply stated, �I am here due to my friendship with John Lasseter.� As they settled into their chairs, Lasseter asked about Miyazaki�s process in creating his imaginative films. After a moment�s thought, Miyazaki said, �My process is thinking, thinking, and thinking about my stories for a long time.� He mischievously added, �If you have a better way, please let me know.� After marveling over Miyazaki�s degree of personal control over his creations, Lasseter admitted, �I�m gushing. �Cause I�m sitting next to Hayao Miyazaki.�
Lasseter next asked, �How did you come up with the idea for Ponyo?� Miyazaki explained that the idea began with a little boy picking up a frog. After realizing he couldn�t work out a good character for a frog, he turned it into a goldfish. Lasseter next addressed Miyazaki�s use of color, especially as it was used in Ponyo. �I wanted to make it a simple story,� Miyazaki replied, �And to show simplicity through the colors.� He explained that since the main character was a bright red goldfish, he did not want her to overwhelm the other colors used in the film. So Ponyo ended up as a very colorful film.
Music was the subject of Lasseter�s next question. He asked when composer and long time collaborator Joe Hisaishi would begin work on a typical film. �Fairly early on I bring Mr. Hisaishi in to discuss what kind of film I�m going to make,� Miyazaki began. With a smile he continued, �I give Mr. Hisaishi some notes, regarding, for example, that Ponyo is a small goldfish, what kind of world she lives in, and I give him indications of what kind of motifs I would like to have in the film. Then he composes the music as he sees fit in a free way.� He went to explain that an image album is then produced, which will contain more music than may actually appear in the final film. As the production process continues and the story develops, more specific conversations and meetings ensue. �Sometimes he loses the memos that I give him!� Miyazaki noted. And sometimes they disagree. �There is some music that I left out of the film My Neighbor Totoro and he is still telling me that I should have used that music,� Miyazaki said, concluding, �But I insist that it was good that I didn�t use that music.�
A clip of Ponyo was then screened for the appreciative crowd. John Lasseter described it as follows: �The clip follows Ponyo�s journey from the floor of the ocean to the surface as she chases a little boy named Sosuke.� He went on to describe the imagery of water in the film, and specifically in the clip that followed.
Following the clip, a pause was taken for a presentation. Both Hayao Miyazaki and John Lasseter were awarded the San Diego Comic Con International�s highest honor, The Inkpot Award for Achievement in Animation. After acknowledging cheers of the crowd, and noting that the trophy was an anthropomorphic inkpot, Miyazaki queried, �Can we use this ink?� As the crowd�s chuckles died down, he added, �I am very honored to receive this. Thank you very much.�
The event concluded with a short discussion with the entire panel, and questions from the audience. Patton Oswalt, the voice of Chef Remy from Ratatouille, moderated. Lasseter mentioned a new online effort, including a video blog on FaceBook, which would share directly with the fans what was going on in both Pixar and Disney animation. Oswalt warned that the first few videos may be somewhat indulgent, consisting of Lasseter lip synching to a Rihanna song, and ranting about American Idol. A long line of fans asked questions ranging over a variety of topics, until, all too soon it seemed, it was time for the seminar to end. John Lasseter summed up the afternoon, saying, �We�re so excited and proud of Pixar and of Disney Animation Studios. You won�t believe the films that are coming from both studios. Both of them are filmmaker led studios, and we�re dedicated to making great movies. That�s what it�s all about.�
Note: Click this link for pictures and complete video of this presentation on LP Lotion
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-- Posted August 13, 2009
-- Text by Doug Marsh