Rose — the Tony-winning Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Caroline, or Change; and Maggie of Broadway's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — lends her voice as Princess Tiana, Disney's first African-American princess. Rose also starred in the film "Dreamgirls."

"The Princess and the Frog," featuring original songs by Academy Award-winning composer Randy Newman, will be released nationwide Dec. 11. The picture marks Disney's return to hand-drawn animation in almost six years. It's part of a recent tradition of such animated Disney musicals as "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin." Both Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid arrived on Broadway as full scale musicals. "The Lion King," another hand-drawn animated feature, was also expanded to become a Broadway hit. "Tarzan" was also reinvented for Broadway.

The cast also includes Jenifer Lewis (Mama Odie), Peter Bartlett (Lawrence), Oprah Winfrey (Eudora), John Goodman (Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff), Jennifer Cody (Charlotte La Bouff), Terrence Howard (James), Bruno Campos (Prince Naveen), Keith David (Dr. Facilier), Jim Cummings (Ray) and Michael-Leon Wooley (Louis).

Disney has reset the Grimm Brothers fairy tale in New Orleans during the Jazz Age. "The Princess and the Frog" is written and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who together delivered "Aladdin" and "The Little Mermaid" to Disney.

Newman's new musical, Harps and Angels, will premiere in fall 2010 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. He is known for penning the songs "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," "Sail Away," "Feels Like Home," "Real Emotional Girl" and "You've Got a Friend in Me" for the animated film "Toy Story." His music has been heard on stage in The Education of Randy Newman and Randy Newman's Faust.