#Disney #Frozen Screened for #ASIFA Membership

The winter snow made a rare appearance in Los Angeles when ASIFA-Hollywood screened Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen at the Directors Guild Theater for its membership. Not only that, but the short Get A Horse! delighted the audience, as well as the Q&A that followed the screening which included directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, producer Peter Del Vecho and was moderated by ASIFA Vice President Jerry Beck.

Get a Horse! was conceived and directed by Lauren MacMullan (Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Simpsons), who became the first woman to solo direct a Disney animated film. Being fond of the earliest Mickey Mouse shorts, mostly because of their simplicity and freshness, she decided for a style resembling the 1928 animation. Produced in 18 months, its hand-drawn animation was supervised by Eric Goldberg, and computer animation by Adam Green. To achieve the 1928 look, ageing and blur filters were added to the image. The CG created new models that were faithful to 1928 character designs.

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The panelists included (from left to right) ASIFA-Hollywood vice president Jerry Beck, producer Peter Del Vecho and directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck.

In the upcoming Walt Disney Animation Studios’ musical fantasy Frozen, fearless optimist Anna sets off on an epic journey, who is teamed up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls and a snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from an icy grave.

The original songs for Frozen were written and composed by the songwriting team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, both of whom had previously worked with Walt Disney Animation Studios on Winnie the Pooh.

Frozen is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ second Hans Christian Andersen-inspired full-length feature, the first being The Little Mermaid (not counting The Steadfast Tin Soldier from Fantasia 2000 and The Little Match Girl).

The screenplay was penned by Jennifer Lee, and the story was written by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, and Shane Morris. Frozen was inspired by The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.

The voice cast includes Kristen Bell (Anna), Idina Menzel (Elsa), Jonathan Groff (Christophe), Josh Gad (Olaf the Snowman), Santino Fontana (Hans), Alan Tudyk (The Duke of Weselton), Chris Williams (Oaken), Ciarán Hinds (Pabbie the Troll King) and Paul Briggs (Marshmallow).

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The Q&A panel: (from left to right) directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, producer Peter Del Vecho and ASIFA vice president Jerry Beck.