Review of The Princess and the Frog (2009) by Dusty L — 06 Apr 2015

Let's get the obvious out of the way. The Princess and the Frog is a little bit racist. The peripheral characters are basically caricatures of black stereotypes that are a bit hard to swallow. It should also be noted that while Tiana was heavily publicized as being the first black Disney princess, she is also the only one who spends the majority of the film as a frog, which kind of negates the first point.

That aside, it is great to have a Disney film that runs on jazz. The music isn't quite as memorable as some early Disney, but it's lively and fun. The traditional animation is the perfect companion to the music. It's absolutely beautiful, colourful, fluid and free, just like jazz. The feel of New Orleans is captured wonderfully and while the visual representation of the black characters leaves something to be desired, the film is oozing with black and jazz culture which is something that is sorelt lacking in mainstream film. It's not where it needs to be, but it is a massive step forward from Dumbo.