Earlier today I caught a very entertaining panel at WonderCon in San Francisco moderated by Walt Disney Animation Studios visual effects supervisor Marlon West, who has spent the last few years working on Disney's The Princess and the Frog. While he did share a few short behind-the-scenes videos showing his work in that movie so far, the biggest bit of news to come out of the presentation came during the question and answer session, where West mentioned that Disney is looking to continue making one 2D hand drawn animated movie once every two or so years from now on. Good news for everyone? Definitely!
It was easy to tell from the cheer that erupted when West first brought up The Princess and the Frog and 2D hand drawn animation that people still love that animation style. The Princess and the Frog is the first Disney movie since 2004 that is completely hand drawn and not computer animated, and if the hype continues to build as much as it has so far, it's likely to be a huge hit for Disney, which means they'll want more. And as long as John Lasseter stays on board at Disney as well, I'm certain he'll make sure that they keep putting out hand drawn animated movies, even if there's two years of time between each one.
