Disney announced Wednesday that the Pixar sequel Cars 2 will race into theaters a year earlier than planned. Originally slated for release during the summer 2012, the pic will instead bow in the summer of 2011. In other News, Oprah Winfrey has joined the voice cast of Walt Disney Feature Animation’s The Princess and the Frog, which marks a return to traditional, 2D animation.
At last reporting, Brad Lewis, producer of Ratatouille, was attached to direct Cars 2. The sequel will see the return of Lightning McQueen, Mater and other automotive stars of the 2006 hit that grossed roughly $462 million worldwide. The first film was directed by John Lasseter (Toy Story, Toy Story 2), who is busy producing such upcoming Disney and Pixar films as The Princess and the Frog, Up and Toy Story 3. Lasseter announced that Pixar will produce a series of Cars shorts dubbed ‘Cars Toons,’ which will air on Disney Channel and possibly screen in theaters.
In The Princess and the Frog, Winfrey will voice the role of Eudora, mother of title character Princess Tiana, a young African-American girl living in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The story also involves a soulful singing crocodile, voodoo spells and heaping helpings of Cajun charm. Dreamgirls actress Anika Noni Rose voices the role of Tiana, lading a cast that includes John Goodman, Angela Bassett, Keith David and Jennifer Lewis. The movie’s songs and score are written by Oscar-winning songwriter/composer and New Orleans native Randy Newman, who previously contributed to the Toy Story Films and fellow Pixar hits A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc. and Cars.
The story for Princess was conceived by John Musker and Ron Clements (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules), who are directing the pic. Disney animation vet Peter Del Vecho (Chicken Little) is producing.
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