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  • Movie: The Princess and the Frog
  • Rating: G
  • Running Time: 1 hrs. 35 min.
  • Starring (Voices): Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Jim Cummings, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jennifer Cody, John Goodman, Oprah Winfrey, and Terrence Howard
  • Written By: Ron Clements, Rob Edwards, Greg Erb, Don Hall, John Musker and Jason Oremland
  • Directed By: Ron Clements and John Musker
  • Distributor: Buena Vista
  • Series:

Princess and the Frog Movie Review

Hippity Hoppity, and All That Jazz

By Rob Vaux     November 25, 2009


Princess Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) in Disney's PRINCESS AND THE FROG(2009).
© Walt Disney Pictures

 

Not since Snow White has Disney risked so much on a single movie. The Princess and the Frog is a bold, ambitious effort to reignite their 2-D animation heyday… long since run dry and now supplanted by the CGI superiority of Pixar. It endeavors to retain the classic Disney formula while simultaneously shaking it up: blending the old and the new in such a way as to claim the best of both. That's a lot of pressure for a little movie about a gal from New Orleans. Luckily, Disney put Pixar guru John Lasseter in charge, and the results--while not quite up to the very highest standards--are more than enough to bring its moribund animation division back from the dead.
 
For starters, its princess is cut from a very different cloth than those of previous films. Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) comes from the poor side of the tracks, with a mother who works as a seamstress for the white folks and a father with a world-class gumbo recipe and nowhere to go with it. He dies in the Great War, leaving Tiana to work two jobs in order to save up for that restaurant he always wanted. Hardly the makings of fairy tale nobility. And yet she possesses the same beauty and strength as her predecessors, and while she's a lot less willing to wish upon a star, the same sort of magic eventually finds its way to her. Specifically, a talking frog (voiced by Bruno Campos) hops into her window, claiming to be the enchanted Prince Naveen and requiring a kiss from a princess to be human again. 
 
Their efforts to return him to normal constitute the bulk of the proceedings, sending them into the deep bayou in search of the proper white magic to counteract the spell. Such elaboration is necessary, since simply kissing him would leave us with no movie. (She does kiss him, of course but… well, it's complicated.) Naturally, they bicker incessantly. Naveen is a lay-about wastrel--broke and looking for a wealthy debutante to keep him in the style to which he is accustomed--while Tiana's uncompromising work ethic grates against his "let's do it tomorrow" philosophy.
 
Directors Ron Clements and John Musker pepper their journey with both the expected Disney tropes and a few genuine surprises. The best entails the villain--voodoo king Dr. Facilier (voiced by Keith David) who put the whammy on Prince Naveen as part of a complicated scheme to seize control of New Orleans. His slick looks and silver tongue make even the blackest deal sound appetizing, augmented by beautiful character design and brilliant demonic shadows which do his bidding. Disney hasn't had a villain this awesome in quite some time, and when coupled with an equally strong heroine, they provide a solid foundation for the remainder of the film.
 
Other elements stick more closely to the family animation playbook, often to the movie's distress. The gaggle of cute sidekicks--including a jazz-loving alligator (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley) and a Cajun firefly (voiced by Jim Cummings)--appear to be pushing the toy line a little too hard, and while the musical numbers by Randy Newman are serviceable, they fail to escape the expected tropes of past Disney numbers. All of them suffice in the short term, but had The Princess and the Frog leaned too heavily on them, the entire affair may have collapsed.
 
Clements and Musker do much better with the visual palate, mixing design styles to further distinguish the film from business as usual. They establish a primary look for most of the running time--beautiful, but otherwise standard issue--then depart from it periodically during several of the musical scenes. Dr. Facilier's "Friends on the Other Side," for instance, comes with psychedelic blacklighting a la Nightmare's Oogie Boogie Man, while Tiana's "Almost There" borrows an art deco look evocative of the film's 1920s setting. Together, they provide an elegance lacking from recent Disney pictures: contrasting, yet never competing with each other for space.
 
With so many beautiful things to look at, it's a pity the film rushes along as quickly as it does. A slightly slower pacing would have done wonders, as would a sharper adherence to historical details (contrary to the film's claims, jazz wasn't born in New Orleans). On the other hand, it delivers a remarkably delicate examination of race in the era: emphasizing why things are tough for Tiana without disrupting the otherwise optimistic tone. Indeed, The Princess and the Frog handles so many of its disparate elements so well that its inability to escape some of the hoarier clichés of its predecessors becomes unimportant. It meets a sufficient number of its sky-high expectations to forgive the last little bit it can't nail on its own. Provided the audience shows up, that should be more than enough to give Disney animation a much-needed shot in the arm. Its ultimate quality comes as a huge relief for those of us who watched the lackluster trailers with apprehension and dread. The Princess and the Frog carries a lot on its shoulders, but--the odd stumble notwithstanding--thrives admirably under the weight.
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TheSleeper 11/25/2009 8:07:52 AM

Glad to hear this movie mostly works.  I've wanted to see Disney return to 2D greatness.

Ultimately I don't think it's CGI that gets kids into the theaters, it's the quality of the movies.  Lasseter has 2D animation roots, so I think he's the best thing for Disney in this regard.

After this, I think  we're getting Rapunzel or something like that in 2D too, aren't we?  

C'mon, everyone, take your bratty kids and even not so bratty kids to see this movie!

DarthDuck 11/25/2009 8:24:58 AM

I've had high hopes for this movie since I first found out about it.  And as I saw the first trailer I immediately felt like a kid again.  It sure looks like they captured that magic form the streak they had in the 90's.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing this.

pekstrand 11/25/2009 9:17:17 AM

I was able to take my kids to a special screening of Princess and The Frog and was reminded why I'm such a nut for Disney Animation. There's something about they way they make animated films that simply unsurpassed. This film certainly harkens back to the second "glory" era beginning with the Little Mermaid and in many ways harkens back to the early days of Snow White, Pinocchio and Cinderella. (Although I would argue that the Don Bluth era produced some amazing animation, even though it is looked on as the beginning of the end for that first era.) I would certianly put this film up there with the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. It has a wonderful story, wonderful music and my kids were locked into the entire film, which for me is the key to eny children's film. Quite honestly, my opinion means very little when considering a children's film. Anyway, I would recommend this film to anyone who really enjoys wonderful animation and to anyone who has a child. Disney has certainly stepped it up for this one.

animefanjared 11/25/2009 10:19:21 AM

It's such a HUGE relief for me to hear this movie is actually good.  I absolutely adore 2D animation (I even wanted to be an animator at one point), and it was hard for me to watch Disney fall from grace with the increasingly poor films they released in the late 90s/early 2000s.  I hope this movie does prove to be a big hit and shows Hollywood that not everything needs to be CG trickery, although those films have their place, too.

Wiseguy 11/25/2009 10:33:11 AM

Glad to hear it turned out good as well. Unfortunately since my niece and nephew moved to Florida I've no excuse to go see this so I guess I'll have to wait for the dvd

doublec 11/25/2009 1:00:58 PM

Tropes?

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Seriously, let's hope Pekstrand is right and this heralds a third era of Disney 2D animation. Nothing against CGI-UP was as good as anything Disney has ever done-but it frequently lacks the painting-come-to-life beauty of an old fashioned cartoon.

wheresfrank 11/25/2009 7:30:53 PM

Perhaps Disney will realize that they don't always have to rely on the wonder and magic of Pixar animation.  Don't get me wrong, I love every movie that Pixar/Disney has released but I never understood why Disney would totally abandon what made them a children's movie powerhouse.  Maybe now they'll realize that 2D animation AND CGI can coexist with harmonious results.  They should start making more 2D films since it is clear that audiences of all ages will rush out to see a moive as long as the story is worth telling.  Disney is responsible for most of our fond childhood movie memories and I have all faith that that tradition will continue for generations to come.

myklspader 11/25/2009 7:59:52 PM

 I always look forward to Disney animation, but lately it has lagged and I think it is just cause they have not chosen the right stories to tell. I also tend to lean towards classic Disney animation… can't get enough of it. I think they have not done anything that can hold up against the classic stuff since maybe “The Lion King”. This looks like it may just be up there with the classic and (what I call) modern-classic era. 

CaptAmerica04 11/28/2009 4:30:02 PM

Wiseguy, you have a wife, bro.  You don't need any excuses.  Just take her and blame your attendance on her.  Like you did with New Moon.  ;)

sportwarrior 12/1/2009 11:05:59 PM

I kind of am hoping that nastalgia from a lot of parents will expose kids to this movie...  I agree that it probably won't appeal to a huge number of them simply because it's 3d... but since it harkons back to the childhoods of even the youngest parents out there I don't see why it can't do really well... especially if it keeps getting good reviews.

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