Bolstering Charlotte�s ego, and more than likely feeding her tantrums, is �Big Daddy� LaBouff. Who better to fill him with pomposity and comic manners than the gentle Canadian giant of character animation, DUNCAN MARJORIBANKS. Marjoribanks talent has served the directing team of Musker and Clements exceedingly well over the years. He brought to life Sebastian in �The Little Mermaid� and a devilishly delightful turn of pantomime as Abu in �Aladdin�. The soft spoken artist has proven himself equally skilled with heavies, having delivered memorable performances supervising Governor Ratcliff in �Pocahontas� and the poaching cut-throat McLeech in �Rescuers Down Under.� His brief stint at DreamWorks Animation in the 1990�s saw some very strong work on both �Prince of Egypt� and �Road to El Dorado�, but outside of Disney his strongest turn was as the vicious Thrax in the animated segments of Warners� �Osmosis Jones.� The animator was last seen on Disney soil rendering a silly, sweet, spot-on performance in �Home on the Range�, a film that in spite of its detractors still has a great deal of charm and humor, much of which comes from Marjoribanks� work as Mrs. Calloway. The artist has a gift for giving his characters a very specific and palpable weight and mass. From the fragile, wiry, crustaceous crawling that is distinctly Sebastian, to the top-heavy boulder-bodied trespassings of Ratcliff, Marjoribanks manages a distinct feeling of gravity�s effects on his characters. It�s a fine skill that few of his peers have mastered as well. Similarly, his flair for finding the deeper psychological workings of the arrogant and stuffy inhabitants of the animated universe makes him something of a specialist. Nevertheless, it is a specialty that is always welcome in any cast, and as a result his Big Daddy should prove great fun to hate.

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Arguably the most exciting return to the big screen is the tremendously gifted BRUCE SMITH, who is tackling the majesty and mayhem of Dr. Facilier, the Voodoo ne�er do well casting black magic at the title characters of the story. Smith left feature work to establish his own animation house. He first pitched the idea for The Proud Family to Nickelodeon, who turned it down. In an ironic turn, the series was picked up by Disney. Jumbylaya Studios also produced the short-lived but equally creative Da Boom Crew, which got better reception overseas than here in the U.S.. But it is the design, color styling, clever writing, and far better than average animation of The Proud Family that earned Smith well-deserved accolades, including both an NAACP Image Award nomination and an Annie Nomination for best animated television production for children. Resembling the animated patriarch Oscar Proud, Smith is one of a handful of animators who has success outside of Disney navigating both television and feature film animation. This is not an easy thing to accomplish in Hollywood, and Smith has had an impressive run on his own. Before his departure he was the chief character designer for �A Goofy Movie�, supervised Pacha in �The Emperor�s New Groove�, and lead the team animating the powerful silverback Kerchak in �Tarzan�. The latter is a powerful performance, and it more than likely gives us some hint of the kind of visceral work the artist will manage with Dr. Facilier. His return to Disney as a supervising animator is quite a coup for the production, and anyone who cares about the art and craft of personality animation, as well as the business, will be paying very close attention to Smith�s work on this feature.

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Nobody has longed for, championed, and so patiently awaited the return of hand drawn personality animation as ANDREAS DEJA. In a fitting return to the great tradition of Disney, Deja is creating the Voodoo fairy godmother, Mama Odie. So much has been written about Deja�s gifts that one only need mention his name and the heart races with excitement in anticipation of the on-screen outcome. What is most interesting about the challenge before Deja is that Mama Odie will not be the first ancient sorceress the artist has tackled, but his second, as he was the original animator of Yzma before the long-troubled �Empire in the Sun a.k.a. Kingdom of the Sun� underwent a drastic overhaul and became �The Emperor�s New Groove�. (The amazing Dale Baer, who is animating elsewhere on �The Princess and the Frog�, won a well-deserved Annie for his supervision of Yzma in her final incarnation.) Deja left the then stalled Kingdom/Groove in a state of animated stasis in favor of a chance to helm what would become his personal masterpiece, Lilo. Deja could see a sizeable personal reward for his patience, waiting out the bleeding of bad blood from Disney, and the return of true dedication to quality over quantity that John Lasseter has brought to Riverside Drive. Artist after artist has repeatedly stated that Lasseter�s administration is the most positive creative environment in which they have ever worked, and this from veteran directors and animators who started their careers more than three decades ago. While it will be difficult to imagine how Deja can top his work on Lilo, there�s no arguing that under the direction of Musker and Clements, the animator has produced some powerful and impressive performances, most notably Jafar in �Aladdin� and the title character in �Hercules.� It�s a great relief to not have Deja overseeing yet another villain, and a thrill to see him pushing into new territory. Unlike his idol, Milt Kahl, Deja is unwilling to rely on old tricks late in his career, and he has consistently sought out greater and greater challenges as a performer. It�s thrilling to imagine the complications and nuances that someone of Deja�s caliber can bring to character like Mama Odie. Supported by the mix of honey and saxophone that is the voice of the extraordinary Jenifer Lewis, Deja could end up rendering a character that re-defines maternal Disney magic for generations to come.

 
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