Kids
Disney animators return to hand-drawn animation
MUMBAI: While the Pixar division was making money and winning awards by using computer animation, animators at Disney concentrated on the drawing board.
Disney‘s The Princess and the Frog is a return to the technique that made Disney synonymous with animation: hand drawing, one frame at a time.
It‘s a worthy cause and an honorable film, the first full-length Disney cartoon with an African-American heroine. When first announced in 2007, the project was called The Frog Princess and the heroine was a chambermaid in 1920s New Orleans.
Bowing to public pressure, both the title and the character were changed. Tiana is now an emancipated young black woman who is saving her money to open a restaurant, while her affluent white friend Charlotte is constantly wishing that someday her prince might arrive.
A self-sufficient heroine is a timely reversal of the Disney formula, yet it leaves us with little sense that this is happening in the segregated South of eight decades ago.
This colourfully rendered New Orleans is racially harmonious, a place where jazz and voodoo fills the air and every day is Mardi Gras.
When a prince named Naveen (Bruno Campos) of indeterminate ethnicity arrives in town for the big festival, a local sorcerer named Dr. Facilier (Keith David) turns him into a frog.
It‘s not clear why, but it has something to do with an imposter Naveen who tries to swindle Charlotte‘s family out of their fortune. Meanwhile, the real Naveen, who is now a talking amphibian, meets Tiana and begs her to set him free with a kiss. Instead, the kiss turns Tiana into a frog, too.
As the two changelings journey to seek the help of a voodoo priestess (Jenifer Lewis), the spoiled Naveen and the feisty Tiana show insufficient heart or humor to sustain our interest. (It doesn‘t help that the voice actors are relative unknowns.)
To borrow an image from this slow, unimaginative movie, The Princess and the Frog is like jazz played by an alligator.
Kids
Mukta Arts and Green Gold ink MOU to animate iconic film IPs
Kalicharan, Karz, Hero, Karma, Ram Lakhan to spawn animated shows plus features.
MUMBAI: When classic hindi movie meets animation, the result is a fresh reel of nostalgia with a cartoon twist. Mukta Arts Ltd. and Green Gold Animation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on animated shows and feature films drawn from Mukta Arts’ four-decade treasure trove of iconic IPs. The partnership taps Mukta’s SGM Animation Studio launched in 2025 as its dedicated animation and games arm and Green Gold’s proven track record in building scalable, homegrown franchises. Creative teams from both sides have already kicked off discussions, with the first project currently in development.
The slate will draw inspiration from landmark Mukta films including Kalicharan, Karz, Hero, Karma, Ram Lakhan, Khalnayak, Saudagar and Iqbal, plus character-led spin-offs from those universes. The aim is to reimagine these stories for today’s young, global audiences while preserving their emotional core.
Green Gold Animation (home of Chhota Bheem) founder and CEO Rajiv Chilaka said, “This partnership with SGM Studios allows us to apply our experience in building long-lasting animation IPs to a truly iconic film catalogue. Together, we aim to create animated worlds that are rooted in these legendary stories, yet designed to connect with today’s young, global audiences.”
Mukta Arts Ltd. filmmaker and founder Subhash Ghai added, “Mukta Arts has always believed in creating stories with lasting emotional value. Through animation, we are extending our IP into a new medium for the next generation.”
In an industry where timeless tales never go out of fashion, this collaboration promises to bring beloved characters back to life with a modern, animated glow proving that some stories are too good to stay in live-action. Stay tuned for the first animated frame to drop.
