Toon Thursday: Dissecting Disney’s newest villain

Jim Hill

15 years ago

You know what they say in Hollywood. That your movie is only as good as your villain.

Well, one of the main reasons that Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” was so highly praised (Richard Corliss of “Time” Magazine flat-out called Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation “… the best film of the year”) and is such an entertaining motion picture is Bruce W. Smith’s
ground-breaking work with that animated feature’s villain, Dr. Facilier.

Of course, it’s easy to understand why Ron Clements & John Musker were anxious to have Bruce come work on this production. Given that he’d been a supervising animator on “Tarzan,” “The Emperor’s New Groove” and “Home on the Range,” Smith was already familiar with the ways things worked at the Mouse House. He’d also proven in the past that he could handle the pressures of working on a full-length animated feature.

More to the point, given that Bruce was the creator of Disney’s “The Proud Family,” Ron & John knew that he could bring something truly special to “The Princess and the Frog.”

“They brought me in and showed me their concept sketches for all of the characters,” Bruce remembered. “But as soon as I saw Facilier, I told them:‘We can stop right here. I’m loving this guy already.’ “

Mind you, given his history as a character designer, Smith didn’t entirely embrace Clements & Musker’s vision for Dr. Facilier. He quickly came up with his own spin on this character.

“Ron & John initially wanted Dr. Facilier to be modeled after Geoffrey Holder. Be this tall, bald, deep-voiced smooth operator,” Bruce explained. “But I argued that – since Dr. Facilier was just scraping by, living on the edges of New Orleans society – he should only look like a smooth operator. But that – if you looked close – his story then quickly began to unravel.”

And indeed – if you do look close at Dr. Facilier in the finished film – you’ll see that, while this new Disney Villain does give a good first impression, his pants are too tight, his coat is too tight and his vest doesn’t quite cover his belly. Though the real giveaway that Facilier isn’t quite what he seems is when the good Doctor doffs his cap to Prince Naveen.

“You have to understand that – back in the 1920s – black men put a lot of effort into their coif. That it was the height of fashion then to present a smooth, slick look,” Smith continued. “So to have Facilier suddenly lift his hat and reveal this tangled mess of hair (which I modeled after James Brown’s mug shot) tells you a lot about what’s actually going on inside of this
character’s head.”

And to their credit, Ron & John let Bruce take his ideas and run with them. The directors of “The Princess and the Frog” even let Smith select who the voice of Dr. Facilier should be (Of the six actors who auditioned for this role, Bruce went with Keith David. Not just because these
two had worked together previously on “The Proud Family Movie.” But because Smith knew that David could bring something truly special to this role).

But where all of Bruce’s extra effort and research on this project really paid off was with this film’s showcase sequence, “Friends on the Other Side.” Which – oddly enough – was the first chunk of this picture that Smith animated.

“That song was the very first thing that was handed to me. And I really wanted to Facilier to shine in this scene. So I watched Michael Jackson. I watched Usher. And I watched hours and hours of ‘Soul Train,’ “ Bruce said.

More to the point, Smith studied the performers who inspired Jackson and Usher. Entertainment legends like Cab Calloway, John Bubbles and the Nicholas Brothers. The end result is that “Friends on the Other Side” is an animation tour de force. Made all the more amazing because Smith isn’t just drawing Dr. Facilier in this sequence. He’s also animating the Doctor’s shadow, which often dances independently and comments on the action within that scene.

Which is why – when Clements & Musker were looking for a piece of “Princess and the Frog” that they could then show conventioneers at Comic-Con International last July, something that would really showcase their film – it wasn’t really a contest. Ron & John knew that they had to bring “Friends on the Other Side” down to San Diego. That the work that Bruce did with his
team on Dr. Facilier would electrify all 6000 people seated in Hall H.

Speaking of Smith’s team … When we spoke last month, Bruce made sure to mention all of the other animators who’d also worked with him on Dr. Facilier. Talented WDAS vets like James Lopez, Frans Vischer and Dean Wellins who’d really delivered the goods. He was also quick to praise Ron & John for giving him this opportunity as well as going out of his way to talk about how John Lasseter has changed the corporate culture at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

“Lasseter completely changed the mentality of this place,” Smith stated. “John’s a winner. So he brought that attitude into this Studio. He’s also an artist and a storyteller. Which is why you get very different notes now from Dailies. We’re no longer servicing some executive’s ego. It’s now always about how can we make this picture better.”

And clearly Bruce’s contemporaries think highly of his work. Given that Smith — along with his fellow “Princess and the Frog” supervising animators Andreas Deja & Eric Goldberg — was nominated for a Best “Character Animation in a Feature Production” Annie last month.

So after these accolades, what’s next for Bruce? After working on a stylized, scene-stealer like Dr. Facilier, how does a veteran animator & character designer like Smith challenge himself? By heading off to the Hundred Acre Woods.

“We’re just about to begin work on the ‘Winnie the Pooh’ movie,” Bruce admitted. “And those characters – though they may look simple to draw – are honestly just as challenging as any of the characters that we worked on with ‘The Princess and the Frog.’ In order to do Pooh right, you have to use lots of restraint while you animate. You have to draw with plenty of appeal, stay
true to these characters as they’ve appeared in the previous Disney featurettes while – at the same time – service your story. Which is a pretty tough balancing act.”

Even so, to quote Dr. Facilier: “Were I a betting man — and I’m not. I stay away from games of chance – I’d wager …” that Bruce W. Smith is up for this challenge. That he’ll bring the same level of craft that he showed with “The Princess and the Frog” ‘s calculating conjurer to A.A. Milne’s silly old bear.

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