I'm as big a fan of Pixar movies as anyone, but I honestly miss the old-fashioned 2-D style animation from Walt Disney. I think there's definitely room for both hand-drawn and computer animated films, because as brilliant as movies like Toy Story, Ratatouille and Wall-E may be, they're a completely separate kind of filmmaking from the traditional Disney films. They shouldn't be compared to nor should they replace the kind of beloved fairy tale classics we've enjoyed from the Mouse House for 70 years. So, before commenting on the new teaser trailer for The Princess and the Frog (available here if the YouTube version is removed), let me just say, welcome back, 2-D!

OK, so what do I think? Well, upon seeing the New Orleans setting, my first response was unfortunately one of fear: what if Disney one-ups its Hunchback of Notre Dame pole-dance debacle with a scene involving Mardi Gras beads? Well, obviously Disney knows better than to be so blatantly naughty, though I wouldn't doubt that animators will find some way to slip in a hint of Big Easy-style debauchery.

One of my favorite films at Sundance this year was Trouble the Water. The film, directed by Michael Moore producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, was a collaboration with Kimberly Rivers Roberts and Scott Roberts, two residents of New Orleans who were trapped by floodwaters during Hurricane Katrina when the levees broke a few blocks from their home. Kim Roberts, who like many of New Orleans' poorer residents, didn't have the resources to evacuate when the hurricane hit, had just purchased a camcorder off the streets for $20 the week before the storm blew in, and she was able to capture some remarkable footage of the hurricane, the flood waters rising, and the aftermath as New Orleans residents tried to rebuild their lives.

I was disappointed that the film, which won the Grand Jury prize for documentary at Sundance, didn't get picked up during the fest. Word just came out this morning that Trouble the Water has been acquired by Maximum Films International for international rights. It's great news that the filmmakers have a deal for rights outside North America, but I really want to see the film get picked up for North American distrib as well, and it's surprising that none of the independent distributors have picked it up yet. With the right marketing campaign backing it up, Trouble the Water has "Oscar contender" written all over it. Where are THINKfilm or Magnolia? Come on guys, get on the ball here -- someone needs to pick this film up and get behind it, and get it out in North America as well.

I grew up in the New Orleans area, so I can't resist movies set in that location, especially documentaries. The only problem is that I worry about seeing anything involving the term "post-Katrina" in a theater, because I'm always worried I'll end up in tears or enraged in public. Fortunately, Don't Eat the Baby: Adventures at Post-Katrina Mardi Gras kept me more amused than sad, but at the same time managed to accurately represent the problems that South Louisianians faced in the six months after the hurricane and ensuing floods.

Don't Eat the Baby focuses on the ways in which New Orleanians dealt with Mardi Gras in 2006. The city was devastated, with much of its population forced to live elsewhere, and for many people it seemed inappropriate to spend money and other resources on a big celebration. Still, the large parade organizations (called krewes) wanted to roll, the mayor and other politicians hoped that the festivities would draw tourism and thus bring needed revenue to local businesses, and many New Orleanians simply wanted to take a little time to forget about the bad things in their lives, and celebrate as they have done every year.

The big ceremony for the Emmys isn't until Sunday night, but the Creative Arts awards, which include nonfiction programming, have already been announced, as Variety has reported. Several documentaries that originally played film festivals took home Emmys, including Spike Lee's look at post-Katrina New Orleans, When the Levees Broke. The HBO-produced film won three awards for directing, exceptional merit in nonfiction filmmaking and picture editing. I own the DVD myself and highly recommend it, although you'll want to have a box of tissue close at hand.

Other Emmy-winning documentaries included A Lion in the House, which shared the exceptional merit award with Levees, and Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, which won for best nonfiction special. As usual, filmmaker/blogger A.J. Schnack, who keeps a close watch on all documentary-related news, has the best roundup of Emmys given to documentary films, so you don't have to pick through a longer list of all the Creative Arts awards for guest appearances on TV dramas and so forth. He's also posted a photo from the awards ceremony of the producing teams from Lion and Levees together. I love seeing Spike Lee with his Emmy statuette and hope it's a sight we'll enjoy again with future projects.

The Emmys may be for television programming, but often the nonfiction categories include some great documentary films that would be just as much at home in a theater; some have even had theatrical exposure at festivals before selling distribution rights to TV. When the Primetime Emmy nominations were announced this week, I noticed a couple of familiar documentary titles, most notably Spike Lee's amazing documentary about New Orleans, When the Levees Broke -- one of my top ten film picks from 2006. The four-hour HBO film has been nominated not only for best nonfiction filmmaking, but five other awards in the nonfiction categories: direction, cinematography, picture editing, sound editing and sound mixing. I'm sorry not to see the Terence Blanchard score nominated -- the documentary had a rich, haunting soundtrack -- but pleased the movie is being honored overall.

AJ Schnack, whose blog All these wonderful things is a go-to place for news and analysis about documentaries, has posted a list of nominations for just the nonfiction Emmy categories, if you don't want to wade through the long lists on the Emmy website. He also pointed out several other documentaries that played film fests and are nominated for Emmys: Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple and A Lion in the House. I noticed that Thin, which premiered at Sundance in 2006 before playing on HBO, is up for a direction award for Lauren Greenfield. Finally, since we're discussing movie-related programming here, it's only fair to note that the "AFI's 100 Years ...100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies" special is up for some of these awards, but I'm hoping the documentaries win in those categories.

Ok, imagine for a moment that you're superstar actor and recent father Brad Pitt. You've starred in some of the best and most successful films of the last ten years, you're married to one of the hottest women in the world and, let's face it, you're regarded in most circles as pretty darn handsome. You've got all this going for you and it all adds up to a pretty great life, right? So, with all that great stuff in your life, what do you do next?

Well, if you are Brad Pitt and you're concerned about the environment, the Katrina disaster in New Orleans and you want to do something really good for people who need it, you do what Yahoo reports the actor and philanthropist is doing right now. According to the article, construction began today on homes in New Orleans devastated 9th ward that will eventually provide residences for about a half-dozen single-families, 18 apartments, a community center, play area and a park for the neighborhood to enjoy.

Also according to the article, this project will be made using recycled components and other "green" technologies including energy-saving materials such as metal roofing and recycled textiles. Pitt, who's contributed $200,000 to the project so far, including money to underwrite the contest to pick the design for the structures as well as a cash award for the winners. Said Pitt about the project's importance: "I'm crying out for one of our leaders to really make this a priority," he said. Good for you Mr. Pitt I say.

The Disney princess fairy-tale movie genre is back, and with traditional hand-drawn animation, too. John Lasseter has announced the next Disney animated movie, slated for 2009: The Frog Princess. It's unclear whether this is a riff on the fairy tale "The Frog Prince," in which a young girl rescues a frog that turns out to be a handsome prince, or original material. The movie will bring something new for Disney -- the studio's first African-American princess/heroine. This could open whole new vistas for Disney marketing with their popular "princess" line of merchandise. Lasseter also announced that Toy Story 3 is scheduled to release in 2010, and that the script is being written by Michael Arndt, who just won an Oscar for his Little Miss Sunshine screenplay.

The Frog Princess will be set in New Orleans, which I find intriguing. I assume this will be some fantasy New Orleans of the past, with harmless voodoo queens and street vendors dressed as pirates and bayous adjacent to the French Quarter, which is the only part of New Orleans that Hollywood knows about. Disney has already announced there will be a "soulful singing alligator." I can hear the opening number now: "New Orleans! Home of pirates, drunks and whores --" No, wait, that's from The Simpsons. The music will actually be written by Randy Newman, who's been composing regularly for Pixar films, including Toy Story 3. After the announcement, Newman previewed a song from The Frog Princess with help from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Many critics consider When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts to be the best documentary of 2006, but it wasn't eligible for the Academy Award because it was released on HBO rather than in theaters. Fortunately the film and its director, Spike Lee, are getting recognition from other places, such as the George Polk Awards, which honors the best in journalism from the previous year. Lee and producer Sam Pollard were named as winners of a television documentary prize, which they'll receive at the annual awards luncheon April 12.

As far as I can tell, a Polk Award for film or television documentary is rarely given -- the previous one was handed out in 1994 (though Fred Wiseman did win a career award in 2005 for his contributions to film journalism) -- so this is a very special honor. It is also probably a great convenience to Lee since Long Island University, which gives out the awards, is literally around the corner from the filmmaker's 40 Acres and a Mule production offices in Brooklyn (too bad the luncheon will be in Manhattan instead of on campus). Read Ryan's review of When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, and check out the doc, still airing on HBO and available on DVD.

Although New Orleans is still recuperating from massive wind and flood damage wreaked during and after Katrina, Mardi Gras celebrations continue, as festive as ever. As usual, the celebrities chosen to ride on floats during the larger and more elaborate parades include some familiar Hollywood names. On Sunday night, actor James Gandolfini will be riding in the Bacchus parade. On Monday night at Orpheus, a newer parade that was founded by Harry Connick, Jr., you can see Connick and actress Patricia Clarkson (Good Night and Good Luck, All the King's Men). Connick's dad was the district attorney of New Orleans, and Clarkson's mom has been a New Orleans city council member.

Not only are stars riding on floats, but you never know who else might pop into the Big Easy, especially with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt having moved there recently. Our sister site Blogging New Orleans has composed a helpful (and very funny) guide of Mardi Gras essentials for visiting celebrities. Even if you're not a Hollywood star, if you're traveling to Fat Tuesday from California or New York, you might want to check out the list of what to bring. Personally, I give everyone the same advice for attending Mardi Gras in New Orleans: Wear comfy closed-toe shoes that you won't cry over if they get covered in trash, mud, stale beer, and unspeakable bodily fluids.

It was only a few months ago that speculation arose about whether When the Levees Broke would ever get a DVD release. Spike Lee's four-hour made-for-HBO documentary about the New Orleans-area floods resulting from Hurricane Katrina and a faulty levee system premiered a year after New Orleans flooded. Speculation arose that rights issues, either for the footage or the score, might prevent HBO Home Video from releasing the movie on DVD. I was worried it might end up like the civil-rights documentary Eyes on the Prize, which was not available for public viewing for years, although in the past couple of years, an unscrupulous person might be able to find and watch an illegal copy through the internet.

Thankfully, I found out that When the Levees Broke has been given a DVD release: in fact, it went on sale yesterday. I haven't seen much news about the release -- it was under the radar enough that Scott missed it in this week's new DVD roundup, and I can't find many reviews of the DVD. A review at DVD Talk informs us that the three-disc set includes a full-length commentary track by Spike Lee as well as a 90-minute "epilogue" with updated footage about New Orleans. Honestly, Lee could go back every six months for the next five years and probably find 90 more minutes to tack on ... the difficulties there are far from over. DVD Talk also mentions the excerpts from Inside Man's soundtrack remaining on the DVD, so that must not have been an unavoidable rights-issues problem. I'd love to find out whether the documentary had to be edited in any way to avoid rights issues for the DVD. But that's just me being curious, because I don't mind a few minor edits or music changes if it means I can see the movie again. (As long as they keep "St. James Infirmary" on the soundtrack, even though it does make me cry.)

[Special thanks to John DeFore of Hollywood Reporter and the Austin American-Statesman for the tip, otherwise I would never have known about the DVD release.]