Progress City, U.S.A.

What’s all this then?

Nice logo, by the way.

Looky - new art:

The site features new unseen development art from The Princess and the Frog…

…and the upcoming short Glago’s Guest

Well, color me surprised. Disney has gone live with their website for next year’s The Princess and the Frog. The site features a brief teaser for the film; it doesn’t show actual scenes from the movie itself but rather breaks the fourth wall to give a sense of the film’s humorous tone and New Orleans atmosphere. This atmospheric vibe is fantastic, from the Blue Bayouesque fireflies blinking in the website background to the wonderful color styling and backgrounds of the teaser itself. Oh sweet traditional animation, how easy you are on the eyes. Exciting stuff.

One more thing of note - Tiana makes reference to the original fairy tale, insinuating that this is not a direct re-telling but rather takes place in a world where the original story is well-known. Also notice how that firefly might possibly give me nightmares.

I can’t wait to see this one - here’s hoping they pull it off.

In an unrelated aside, this is the site’s 100th post. Happy centenary, everyone!

On the heels of its panel at the San Diego Comic Con, Disney has gone live with the new website for Up, Pixar’s 2009 release. It features a brief teaser - the animation looks, as expected, astounding. More details will follow, but for the time being… check it out.

The first video has leaked from Disney’s panel last Thursday at San Diego’s Comic Con, during which they showed a three minute teaser for the heretofore rumored sequel to the 1982 film TRON. The video is, of course, somewhat hard to see and poorly framed, but it gives an unexpectedly good idea of the aesthetic they’re going for with the project and was enough to get me thoroughly excited. I daresay that had I been in the room when that lightcycle first appeared I would have lost my business entirely. The video, while it lasts:

UPDATE: The original video was taken off YouTube by Disney stormtroopers. Below is another, zoomed version of the first.

UPDATE x4: I keep trying to re-post the video as Disney takes it down, but for the moment it can just be found here.

I know it’s a friendly audience, but it’s still great to hear that roar go up when the crowd realizes what they’re seeing. If Disney was trying to test the waters with this one, I hope they got the message.

I’ve been out of town for quite some time, and while I have a few other stories I’m working on I thought it important to get this bit of news online as it has just occurred. Rumors had emerged earlier today that something “unannounced” would be presented during Disney’s panel this afternoon at the San Diego ComicCon. These surprise announcements are the rare treasures of ComicCon, as studios keep their most geek-friendly unveilings for just such occasions. Today was no different.

The panel, which mostly focused on actors Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino promoting their upcoming film Return to Witch Mountain, concluded with a three-minute clip from director Joseph Kosinski’s upcoming sequel to the 1982 cult classic TRON. While we had reported on this project in March, it was not widely known that production, much less filming, had started. Even more shocking was the revelation that actor Jeff Bridges - himself a veteran of the original film - would be taking part in the project.

Hopefully more details will emerge once all the bloggers make their way back to their hotel rooms from the Disney panel; if we’re really lucky some video will leak out. Then again, Disney - if you’re listening - could whip up some fan goodwill by releasing that video online…

We’re also eager to hear more about this production which, as mentioned, no one knew was underway. They’ve already checked off one of my key recommendations for the film by bringing in Jeff Bridges; could Wendy Carlos be far behind? Details, people! We need details! Where are my Bothans?

Props to Ain’t it Cool News for getting the story out…

Updates:

/Film describes the teaser and adds that more footage might not be seen until next year

I should also point out that the film is currently being billed as TR2N. While it’s said to look much better in the film’s trademark font, I have to say that I still prefer TRON 2.0.