Disney Releases Interview with Ron Clements & John Musker on “Princess & the Frog” Fri, 19 Mar 2010 In conjunction with the release of The Princess and the Frog on DVD and Blu-ray disc, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has released the following press release interview with Ron Clements and John Musker, directors of The Princess and the Frog as well as many of Disney’s recent animated classics such as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Q: I understand from John Lasseter that you guys were let go from the Studio. JOHN MUSKER: We were banished, actually. [LAUGHTER] It was very fairy tale, yeah. RON CLEMENTS: We had reached the end of our contracts— JM: No, we were fired. RC: Well, yeah, but it was the end of our contract. But we actually ended up being gone for only about six months, although at the time that we left, we didn’t really picture coming back. JM: Disney had changed around us, somewhat, and the Disney we were leaving wasn’t the Disney we had been raised up by. It was heading in this direction we weren’t so crazy about. RC: A lot of artists left. And it was very sad, although they never mentioned that they didn’t actually get rid of all the animation desks after all. They were supposed to get rid of them, but there was actually a person in charge of that job, and he stashed enough desks to do a movie in a warehouse, because they— JM: They expected a fairy tale ending— RC: They just felt that it wasn’t right, somehow. So we actually had the desks. Full Interview Image Get smart about Disney World Tickets. View other stories on the Disney News Archive Disney News: Disney drinks for adults: Toast with a Big Apple Sunset Property values fall in Disney’s district Team Disney reflecting pools drain away Radio Disney contest to award spot on ‘Phineas and Ferb,’ $10,000 vacation