The Princess and the Frog

I glanced at the many comments of this Walt Disney 2-D, mostly hand drawn, animated feature to see if any one of them came from where this movie is set-New Orleans, Louisiana. Since many of them were identified as from the United States, I have no idea. Look at my username being used under the movie title and know that the capital city I live in is just a two hour drive to and from the Crescent City. As a result, when watching this feature with my movie theatre working friend, we were wonderfully surprised to see and hear many items unique to the Pelican State: the city newspaper "The Times-Picayune", familiar sights like the French Quarter, and mentions of delicacies like gumbo, beignets, and jambalaya! Add to that a Cajun firefly, a Creole voodoo villain, and an alligator named Louis who plays the trumpet (no doubt a tribute to N.O. native Louis Armstrong-the great Satchmo) and you've got such a stirring melting pot of entertaining supporting characters. But the real treat is the leading characters of Prince Naveen as voiced by Bruno Campos and, especially, that of working girl (in the best sense of the word) Tiana as voiced and sung by Anika Noni Rose who I remembered liking in her last role in Dreamgirls. They're both a little stubborn but when it all comes down to it, they have their own set of charms as well. Two more characters I liked were the rich, white, spoiled girlfriend of Tiana named Charlotte, who really cares for her friend's happiness in spite of her occasional self-centeredness and her father, "Big Daddy" La Bouff, who I immediately recognized as the voice of New Orleans resident John Goodman. Great verbal and visual humor abounds and the songs of Randy Newman seem entertainingly authentic to both the period and setting. So on that note, I highly recommend The Princess and the Frog.

Michael Eisner will forever be known as the man that attempted to totally kill Disney animation. After the disastrous efforts of Home on the Range, what was once a staple of the Walt Disney Company was becoming a thing of the past. Traditional animation was dead in Disney, and this was definitely one of the major contributors towards the shift in upper-upper management and his departure. Now with Pixar and John Lasseter on board, Disney pulls absolutely no punches in their return to tradition. There's a new princess, she happens to be black, and they happen to twist a classic story so much that you have literally no clue in which direction the writers were going. The major question is: can Disney revive its Renaissance quality that it experienced in the 90s? Can they ever duplicate such magic again? The answer is a resounding yes.

Princess and the Frog is the best traditionally animated flick (from ANY company) since The Emperor's New Groove. Princess Tiana is the most sophisticated and most mature Disney princess since Belle. The villain here is the best since Hades from Hercules. Prince Naveen is the best prince since Prince Eric (and even then, Naveen is one of the better princes out there). The music here is actually some of the best music from any Disney movie past and present. The animation here is the best since The Lion King. Basically, to sum things up, Princess and the Frog is an excellent effort from Disney and a superb return to Renaissance quality that the company sorely missed and needed.

The movie focuses on a hard-working waitress (Anika Nosi Rose) that is saving money to open up her own restaurant, which was a dream her father had always been chasing. Her father also taught her that it's not enough to just wish for something, you have to also work to accomplish what you want in life. Tiana lives her life on this lesson, much to the disdain of others. After a few twists and turns (I don't want to spoil the plot too much), she becomes a frog thanks to Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), whom is a prince that is very different from the norm in terms of personality and even royalty status. Along the way they will meet a wide assortment of characters, ranging from a charismatic magician (Keith David, in an amazing role), a friendly firefly (Jim Cummings), a music-loving alligator (Michael-Leon Wooley), and many others. The movie clocks in at less than 100 minutes, but moves at such a fast pace, you'll get a lot more material than your average hour-and-a-half movie.

Let's just put this out there: Disney treated Tiana and her surroundings perfectly and without overdoing any boundaries whatsoever. New Orleans has an incredibly energetic look, and just enhances the themes and plot of the movie. Accompanying the Louisiana flavor is the incredible score of Randy Newman, which uses a wide variety of sounds and genres from the Deep South (and also is mixed in with a little Newman touch).

Can we praise the animation one more time? Sure, why not. The movie looks absolutely beautiful, and doesn't rely on just a simple palette of colors. Thanks to technology and an obvious overload of effort, this is one of the most (if not the most) colorful and vibrant-looking Disney animated movies of all-time. Some of the added computer effects only enhance the sophistication of the animation (I rhymed). One final note, the visual humor in Princess and the Frog is very fast-paced, to the style of the severely underrated Emperor's New Groove. You need a watchful eye on certain scenes to catch all the jokes.

If there was anyone that was going to save Disney's traditional animation, it would be Ron Clements and John Musker. These two were the most responsible for the Disney Renaissance, directing Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules. They once again provide a beautiful story, and direct the movie with plenty of flair and energy. The musical sequences fit the pacing of the flick, and while there wasn't an outstanding track like "Be Our Guest," "Friend Like Me," or "Under the Sea," the repertoire of musical numbers overall was quite impressive. A key part to a great animated movie is having a villain just as complex and/or engaging as the heroes; and the "Shadow Man" not only has the best musical number, but also has the most flair of any of the supporting characters. Now we can forgive them for directing Treasure Planet.

The biggest reason for the successful quality in Princess and the Frog comes from the Pixar touch. Pixar obviously lent a hand here, as this movie contains some of the most sentimental and touching animated footage since the epic heartbreak moment in Lion King when Simba sees Mufasa motionless. While the movie never nails the emotional torture that Up succeeded (then again…few films ever will), Princess and the Frog will make you cry just as easily as it can make you laugh. Don't let that bring you down though, because this movie carries an upbeat tempo throughout the entire run.

Bottom Line: If you enjoyed the Disney Renaissance (From Little Mermaid to Tarzan, before the downfall spiral started), then it is up to you to watch this movie. This movie has all the energy, quality, sentimentality, and superb animation of the 90s Disney flicks, and is inches away from Pixar status. Pixar has saved Disney altogether, and Princess and the Frog is hopefully going to save Disney traditional animation, granted it gets the praise and success it truly deserves. Unlike what we have been seeing in the past, Disney did not half-arse this time. Blending the old-school qualities with a new-school outlook on where the status of animation and storytelling is headed, Princess and the Frog is a fun, entertaining, and fulfilling ride from start to finish.

Disney was at its best in the 90s. They came out with such great movies as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And then, they made bad movies like Home on the Range. Disney can make good movies, and they usually do. The Princess and the Frog is one of Disney's best movies. It has a great twist on a classic story, characters that made me care, and music that had me tapping my foot and wishing I was in New Orleans. The animation is so beautiful that I literally almost cried at the beginning of the film. Dr. Faciler is probably one of Disney's best villains. Keith David's voice is so creepy and fits perfect into the character. His song "Friends on the Other Side" is great and shows just how scary he can be. In most Disney movies, there are usually two or three songs that really stick with you. Every song in this movie was great. I still find myself humming "Down in New Orleans" everywhere I go. The bottom line is that Princess and the Frog is one of Disney's best and one of the best films of the year. The only question I can't answer is if it is better than Up. But if I have to answer, I'd say it's equal to it.

When Toy Story was first unleashed on the scene back in 1995 to resounding success, it was the beginning of the end for traditionally hand drawn animated films. They were a dying breed, and as Pixar picked up steam (and inspired countless rivals), Disney began focusing more on the wave of the future and not of the past. But nostalgia is a funny thing, and can help lead to some of the best ideas. And that is where The Princess and the Frog fits in.

Instead of using the now traditional method of computer animation, The Princess and the Frog is like a trip right back into the early 1990s. Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a hardworking woman living in Jazz-era New Orleans with dreams of owning her own restaurant. She is an inspiring individual, but she lacks the wealth needed to buy and restore any buildings. But a chance encounter with a frog, who claims he is actually visiting Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), leads to a kiss that makes Tiana a whole lot more amphibian.

Although it pales in comparison to the simply magnificent Up, The Princess and the Frog is like a dream come true for anyone who has ever enjoyed Disney films. All the adventure, music and wonder that made classics out of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King is back and in full form. The trailers predicted the return of a Disney dynasty long thought extinct, and thankfully they were right on the money.

While I had some hesitation towards how gimmicky it sounded for the film to finally make a princess out of an African-American, it actually works in the film's favour. Right from the start, we know we have seen predictable animated and live action films that play out exactly the same as this film does. But throwing in this new invention of a different breed of spunky and independent princess, one so closely timed to the election of President Obama, makes the film more original than any of its contemporaries. While Tiana's attitude is a little bothersome at first, it blossoms into something beautifully inspiring for young girls primarily, but for just about anyone who has ever had a dream before. She is every bit as developed as Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Belle or any of the other countless "princesses" Disney has thrown into the mix since 1937.

But while there is a lot of predictability in the script, (even with the clever additions of the likes of a trumpet-playing crocodile aptly named Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) and a backwoods-speaking firefly named Ray (Jim Cummings)), the film's success rests solely on the visuals on display. Right from the start, we are thrust into this classical looking New Orleans, where even the darkest depths of the bayou seem all the more brightly lit when drawn by Disney animators. There is just such reverence and bravura shown throughout the film that one wonders why hand drawn animation was ditched in the first place. This film only proves how vibrant and imaginative the format can be, and how much easier it lends itself to varying styles. The "Almost There" musical sequence near the beginning of the film is done in a style totally unlike anything else in the film, and is so incredibly well done that you may not even notice. But something like this could never be manipulated or maintained anywhere near as wonderfully in a fully computer generated movie. This speaks volumes for how affective this film is, and that is only in one sequence.

The voice cast is not filled to the brim with well known stars, but each actor voices their part with so much enthusiasm that you may think they all are. Rose, known likely best for her role in the amazingly well choreographed but fatally flawed Dreamgirls, is a clear standout as Tiana. She breathes life into this amazingly well rounded individual unlike anything I ever imagined. She made the audience smile, laugh and weep with her all at once, and never broke a beat when she did it. Much the same goes for Campos, who gives a fun and energetic voice to the off-the-wall prince. Wooley and Cummings are simply excellent in their roles, instantly bringing back memories of treasured Disney characters. Small roles by John Goodman, Terrence Howard and even Oprah Winfrey are all well done.

But this wondrous return to hand drawn animation is not without its problems. The film spends a bit too much time in the middle focusing on Tiana and Naveen, and almost throws away any potential built up for the evil voodoo witch doctor, Dr. Facilier (Keith David). He is a commonly used archetype, but David is just so brilliantly sinister in the role that he practically begs to be shown more than he actually is. His development is stilted, and what easily could have amounted for more pathos and motivation is simply squandered away for more of a love story. It is understandable why it is done, but it is nonetheless disappointing and acts as a bit of a black hole in the story.

Another issue of course, is the underlying stereotypical content in the film. It is not horrendously racist and offensive like I originally assumed, but the conventions are still at play here, and are not entirely glossed over in all instances. Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis) comes off as being played a bit too close to racist conventions, as do many jive-talking individuals who give the twins in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen a run for their money.

But in the end, The Princess and the Frog is a triumph of animation and imagination. It is an enjoyable ride from start to finish, and just may be the start of something beautiful for Disney. Let's just hope that they see the potential in it too.

8/10.

With such disappointments as Home on the Range and Chicken Little, Walt Disney Animation Studios – on the whole – has had a pretty rough decade. Last November, however, the Mouse House released Chris Williams and Byron Howards' Bolt, which is not only generally accepted as a return to form for the studio, but over the course of this past year, has usurped Pulp Fiction as my personal favorite movie of all time. With that said, I went into The Princess and the Frog with relatively high expectations; having walked out of the theatre just a couple of hours ago, I have to say that John Musker and Ron Clements' latest - while not overthrowing it - certainly continues the magic of the studio's previous film.

Visually, The Princess and the Frog is absolutely mesmerizing. Seriously, 2D animation has never looked better than it does in this film. As executive producer/Pixar founder John Lasseter said, it's very much like stepping into a pair of old, comfortable shoes. Familiar, yet seemingly brand new. The energetic look of New Orleans is perfectly captured on screen, enhancing the story all the more.

Speaking of which, the story of this film is just like the animation in that, while being traditional Disney fare, it's executed in such a way that it feels completely different from anything you've ever experienced. As many times as this movie will make you laugh, it'll make you cry, which – for me – has always been the sign of a classic Disney Animation film. The movie also succeeds in making you feel invested in each and every one of these characters, major and minor ones alike, which is definitely one of the most difficult tasks that any film could hope to achieve.

Unlike most Disney princesses, Tiana is strong, independent, and isn't looking for her Prince Charming. In fact, it's these differentiating traits of hers that make Tiana my favorite Disney princess to date. It also helps that Anika Noni Rose delivers a stunning performance as her voice, making Tiana all the more captivating every moment that she's on screen. Bruno Campos also does a terrific job as Naveen, whose character is also a departure from the traditional Disney prince. He's a fellow who, while being stuck-up and lazy, somehow manages to come across as extremely likable. Both of these characters make for what is easily the most convincing Disney couple to date.

The real stand-out performance, however, is that of Keith David as Dr. Facilier. Since his performance as the Arbiter from the Halo video game series, I've been a huge fan of this guy's work, and couldn't have been more excited when I heard that he'd be doing the voice of the villain in this movie. With his low, creepy voice, David captures the essence of this character perfectly, and by the end, you're genuinely scared of this guy. Because of this, Facilier is definitely one of – if not my absolute favorite – Disney villain, challenged only by Gaston and Frollo. With his performance as the Cat from Coraline, and now Facilier, Keith David continues to prove that he is the man.

As with every other aspect of the film, the musical numbers in The Princess and the Frog are extremely memorable, most notably Dr. Facilier's "Friends On the Other Side", a deliciously creepy piece that ranks right up there with "Hellfire" from Hunchback of Notre Dame as one of the best Disney villain songs. You'll definitely find yourself humming several of these tunes on your way back home from the theatre.

The Princess and the Frog is an excellent return to 2D animation. The animation is more beautiful than ever, the characters are some of the most memorable ones I've ever seen on film, and the musical numbers are infectiously catchy. The Princess and the Frog clearly reiterates the statement already made by last year's aforementioned Bolt: Walt Disney Animation is back and here to stay.