Show 009 – Ron and John, Part Three

Ron Clements and John Musker

In part three, directors and writers Ron Clements and John Musker describe their writing process as well as developing The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.

Get the MP3 here: Show 9: Ron and John, Part Three
Animation Podcast Show 9 MP3

(11.9MB, 25:27 minutes)

Or get the enhanced version playable only in Quicktime or iTunes
Get the AAC here: Show 9: Ron and John, Part Three
Animation Podcast Show 9 AAC

(11.6MB, 25:27 minutes)

Continue for Show Notes…

  • 0:00:00: The Intro Voice
  • 0:00:05: Welcome
  • 0:00:30: Approach to writing
  • 0:03:12: Writing The Little Mermaid/Howard Ashman
  • 0:04:26: Excitement about Mermaid
  • 0:05:45: Expectations of Mermaid
  • 0:07:38: Studio support for animation
  • 0:09:08: Animation’s potential
  • 0:11:28: The success of Mermaid
  • 0:12:33: Mermaid going to video
  • 0:13:20: Transformation of the studio
  • 0:13:45: Choosing projects
  • 0:15:58: Giving Aladdin a hook for animation
  • 0:17:47: Eric Goldberg’s influence on the animation
  • 0:20:21: Bringing in new talent, Duncan Marjoribanks
  • 0:21:40: The last film with one crew
  • 0:23:14: Conclusion
  • 0:23:25: Phone calls
  • 0:24:42: Feedback info
  • 0:25:14: Listener map

8 Comments on “Show 009 – Ron and John, Part Three

  1. Hi Clay,

    Wow, only one comment on this? I remember the months before when you’d have at least 4 comments to a podcast.
    You’ve left me hanging on this one, Clay…Though it seems by listening in that the guys are still in top form.
    Though it seems that with everyone just not hanging around Disney, there aren’t going to be any more director’s commentaries (kind of sad, considering now I’m listening to the Trousadale, Wise, Hahn & Menken commentary on ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ a commentary that never tires after over 25 times listening to it).
    Btw, I know of the test that Eric Goldberg did of the Genie that enthralled Williams, but how much of that was actually done? It’s sad to only see about 25 seconds of it on the ‘Aladdin’ DVD).

    And on ‘Chicken Little,’ nice work. Though I’m curious as to which Buck Cluck parts you worked on. Buck had some nice little moments, notably the scene where Chicken Little is explaining Plan B-there’s some great bits where you can tell from his face that he’s almost dead set against it, but then, you hear the woman’s scream, the loud crash nearby and then Buck kind of with a half-grin: ‘Yeeaah!’

  2. Hi Clay!
    Just wanted to tell you: Your podcasts are GREAT!
    I´m listening to them every day when I´m out driving my car.
    I am an animator myself, working in Norway. Your podcasts are a great inspiration for me,- I like the way you¬¥re “digging into” the work of great animators like Deja and Ranieri and the way you combine animation philosophy and Disney history.

    It would be interesting to hear more about the old masters. I¬¥ve heard that Andreas Deja is working on a book on Milt Kahl. Did he mention it? Anyway,- it would be interesting to hear a podcast called “Andreas Deja analyzing the work of Milt Kahl”…!

    Keep up the good work, Clay Рcan´t wait to hear more animation podcasts!

    Best wishes
    Hans J. Sandnes
    2D animator, Norway
    hjsandnes@gmail.com

  3. Hi there,

    I seem to be having troubles downloading this and the one after.. the previous podcasts download fine so do the recent ones.

    Hope you can look into why they dont download 🙂 These podcasts are amazing! I plugged a badge on my site 🙂

  4. Hi, Clay!

    I know I lot of people wish for more Ron & John interviews because we were interupted by the Eamonn Butler interview, but I love these guys for what they did to the studio.

    P.S.: The reason why I came back e-mailing you was that I remember the music from the “Clash of the Titans” trailer. I heard that music on the MGM Family trailer on “The Pebble and the Penguin” VHS. It’s beautiful and I think I hear lions at the end. Tell me what it is and I’ll see if it’s on iTunes.

    Thanks again!

  5. Hi, Clay! I can’t express how grateful I (and all of us here at Sheridan College) are for these podcasts. I find the most inspirational thing in this business is hearing the pros talk about their experiences, and with this, it’s like we’re in the room next to them.

    Just curious, is Ron and John part 4 ever going to come out? You mentioned it in part 3, but it never came. What a cliffhanger!