Le prince grenouille

Cannon Movie Tales version of the Frog Prince fairy tale. As with the other Cannon Movie Tales I've seen, it's full of corny songs and "nice try" sets and costumes. It also has a slight story padded out to make a feature length film. But hey there's Annie herself, Aileen Quinn, and Helen Hunt before she was a star. Quinn's the lead as Princess Zamora, who befriends a prince who was cursed and turned into a frog man. In my head I called him Dig'em Frog, after the cereal mascot. Quinn does a decent job, although it's easy to see why her career didn't go anywhere. Hunt plays her sister Henrietta, who's a total bitch. Clive Revill offers nice support as the King. John Paragon (Jambi from Pee Wee's Playhouse) plays the Frog Prince (Dig'em). The frog makeup is pretty good for the limited budget, but perhaps it's a bit creepy for a kids film where the frog is a good guy. I could see this makeup being used in a horror movie. Anyway, this is one of the more enjoyable Cannon fairy tale movies I've seen. It's not great by any means but it is entertaining. For an adult, at least. Not sure how this would fly with kids. The frog might give them nightmares.

One problem faced by movie makers when adapting fairy tales to the screen is often the lack of material necessary to make a feature length film. "The Frog Prince" is an excellent example. The original Grimm story really doesn't contain enough plot to sustain a feature, so, here it has been rewritten as a modern morality play. A King is unsure which of his nieces is really a "true" princess. Finally the time arrives to choose one; the sweet, but immature Zora (Aileen Quinn) or the older, selfish Henrietta (Helen Hunt). Yes, Zora loses her golden ball, which is retrieved by a friendly frog (John Paragon) but the rest of the story deals with the efforts of Henrietta to win the title of princess for herself. Luckily the cast, including Clive Revill as the king, is very engaging, and the songs pleasant. But, except for the title, this is an attempt to make much out of very little. And only half the time it succeeds.

I have so much love for this film, even now in my mid-30s. There is such a sweet and innocence to the film and I still laugh at all the same scenes. This could be the nostalgia that is blinding me, but I'm okay with that. Great film for children and young-at-heart. The music is another reason to love this film, it's so easy to get the songs stuck in your head. Aileen is perfect as Zora and Helen Hunt plays an amazing mean sister. It's a great movie to put on and just tune everything else out. Beautiful!

If you happen to do a review of this film, Hi Jaime French! Your videos are amazing! Love you.

This movie is one of quite a few that were made into what are referred to as the Canon Movie Tales. They are all low budget and filmed primarily in Isreal, so I understand. If you want an idea of what to expect, it appears that someone took some of the little children's musicals that community theaters do and got some actors that people would want to see and then, with a very small budget, produced the best film they could. They are cute, sweet, and great for kids to watch. They are the precious little things that have a moral in the end. If you are an Aileen Quinn fan, this is the only movie other than Annie that she did, and it is adorable. She sings much better in this movie and her coloring (ie hair and makeup) are much more natural. This movie is very hard to find, but it is worth the effort of searching for if this is the kind of movie that you like. Also stars a very young (not to mention completely evil) Helen Hunt.

In the Kingdom of Tartonia, Zora (Aileen Quinn) lives a carefree life except for her older mean-spirited sister Henrietta (Helen Hunt). The King (Clive Revill) receives a letter from Baron Von Whobble that he's coming to declare one of his two nieces Zora and Henrietta is going to be a true princess. After being ridiculed, Zora wishes for someone to talk to. The Frog Prince answers her wish.

Aileen Quinn has a great big voice for a little girl as she already shown in Annie. Her singing is the best thing about this musical. There isn't much else in this movie. The production value is pretty low. The sets are fairly fake. The dialog is pretty stiff. It feels more like a stage play. The direction, the staging, and the editing could definitely use a lot of help. The singing from the rest of the cast is reasonable but nothing great. The story is pretty thin. There is nothing here other than to see a slightly older Aileen Quinn singing her heart out and Helen Hunt playing the mean girl.