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  Cadillac ATS Vs. The Wind

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  By metaops

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Brooke Christopher talks to more of the cast from Disney's The Princess and the Frog which topped the weekend box office, earning $25 million — the highest-grossing start ever for an animated movie in December.DR. FACILIER (voice of Keith David) is a devious scoundrel, the shadowy figure of threat who causes no shortage of predicament and menace to Prince Naveen and Tiana. Hes a smooth operator who works his magical spells and uses his connection to friends on the other side to get what he wants by way of his mysterious, menacing and dangerous charm. Hes musical, hes threatening, hes tall, hes lean, hes thin. He can be very sweet. Hes handsome. Hes graceful. And I think all that stuff is, in very contemporary animation anyway, rare to see that type of villain, says Bruce Smith, supervising animator of Dr. Facilier, Its always great as an animator to get the villain, and the villain is always that character that holds up the film and keeps everything interesting and on edge. Luckily, in this case, Ive really got a very unique villain—a great villain.MAMA ODIE (voice of Jenifer Lewis) is the bright side of Facilier; a sassy, eccentric and witty 197-year-old magic Queen of the Bayou who guides Tiana and Naveen in their mission to undo Dr. Faciliers spell. According to the story, Mama Odie dwells in the deepest, darkest part of the bayou. In an old shrimp boat, improbably wedged upside down in a giant tree, Mama Odie and her snake Juju dispense spells, heyacalls and gris gris to those in need.Supervising animator Andreas Deja is behind Disney favorites like Gaston (Beauty and the Beast), Jafar (Aladdin), Hercules (Hercules), Scar (The Lion King) and Lilo (Lilo & Stitch). I remember completely gravitating toward Mama Odie, Deja says. This blind little shriveled-up old woman who was eccentric and has this seeing-eye snake, and everything about her was just so unusual.Some of the spirit of Mama Odie was guided by the filmmakers appreciation of the late New Orleans storyteller Coleen Salley, author of several picture books, esteemed University of New Orleans professor, and an ambassador for childrens literature.