Animator, Mark Henn, described Tiana as being "a little more vulnerable right off the bat, so I think you can more easily identify with her or want to cheer her on". She subsequently follows the trope of being an underdog, which gives the audience hope. The book also explains that Tiana is similar to Mulan in such she "has her own motivating desire and decisions that drive her and make her interesting and sympathetic". I thought this was an interesting point, since Tiana and Mulan and two of my favourite Princesses that similarity is probably why I like them both. Their traits align with postfeminist qualities, making them great female role models. In my own narrative I will have a female protagonist and I'd like the audience to be able to relate to her through a feminist perspective.
The Princess and the Frog was Disney's final hand-drawn animation. The last hand-drawn animation before that was Home on the Range (2004). This is one of the reasons why I thought it was relevant to my own project as I will be hand-drawing most of my imagery before digitally animating. The majority of mainstream animated films are now CGI and 3D, so I had to ask myself where would my animation fit into a contemporary market. However The Princess and the Frog demonstrates how the resurgence of seemingly outdated practices can still be relevant.
The designers travelled to New Orleans to get first hand experience of location. I would like to base my animation in a place that I've already been to; if not I'd like to travel to the setting. I think it's important to have an understanding of setting to be able to fully put yourself in the character's shoes.
The art design was also inspired by style of the early 1900s such as art deco, art nouveau and "the ethnic American art from Harlem renaissance artists". Inspirtation was also taken from real life architecture, similar to the style used in Lady and the Tramp (1954). "They took something that incredibly complex and painted only what was important". I will take this into consideration which designing my own locations in order to avoid overcomplicating them.
In terms of colour design, the artists tried to avoid a lot of overt style. The imagery above is during the musical number for Almost There in which the aesthetic is changed from the rest of the film. I used this scene as inspiration when using Toon Boom for the first time (see post: ToonBoom test). I love the use of flat design and the warm colour scheme. The scene was supposed to look like a 1920s poster brought to life.
They also took inspiration from Impressionist artists and their use of light; "their whole lives were devoted to trying to capture light, and the feeling of air between the viewer and the subject". They stated that the use of lighting makes it feel realistic. In my own animation, I'd like to pay close attention to lighting, as this was something I didn't put into consideration in my last animation project.
"Effects animation is anything that moves that isn't the characters, and is typically environmental, such as water, fire, smoke, explosions - or pixie dust". The animators paid careful attention to this and how it affects the characters.
I included the image above as a reference to myself in creating my storyboard. They have put in so much detail into the characters expressions so that you can tell what movement is taking place. I would like to use a similar amount of detail when creating my pilot.
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