Review of The Princess and the Frog (2009) by Michael E — 06 Aug 2013

It's been awhile since Disney has made either a 2D animated feature or a retelling of a classic fairy tale. So naturally because I'm a big Disney fan, I was really looking forward to seeing the 2009 Disney animated feature The Princess and the Frog for many reasons. Among the reasons were that I preferred 2D animation over 3D animation, it's the first Disney animated feature with an African-American princess (an accomplishment of sorts), and it was directed by the same talented directors of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin (John Musker and Ron Clements). And right off the bat, I must say that this film did not disappoint. This is the kind of film I wanted to see from Disney for a long time, and I finally got it.

The Princess and the Frog tells the story of Tiana, a young waitress in New Orleans who has dreamed of running her own restaurant ever since she was a kid and is working day and night to make her restaurant a reality. Tiana's childhood friend Charlotte and her father are excited to welcome Prince Naveen of Maldonia by making him the guest of honor at the Mardi Gras masquerade ball. Prince Naveen has been cut off from his family's fortune unless he learns the value of hard work and does less partying.

On the way to the ball, he and his assistant Lawrence meet Dr. Facilier, a voodoo witch doctor who at first convinces them that he can make their lives better, but only makes Lawrence's life better. In other words, Facilier turns Naveen into a frog and Lawrence is given a voodoo charm which transforms him into Naveen when he puts it on. With this series of events, Facilier is intending the disguised Lawrence to marry Charlotte in order to basically take over New Orleans.

When Naveen (as a frog) meets Tiana and thinks that she is a princess because of her costume, he asks her to kiss him to break the spell. Although Tiana doesn't like frogs, she agrees to help (against her will) in exchange for his help with money needed to fund her own restaurant. Unfortunately, the kiss backfires as Tiana herself is transformed into a frog and they both are sent to the bayou. In the bayou, they meet an alligator who wants to be a trumpet player and a firefly that is in love with a star in the sky. These two help out Naveen and Tiana by leading them to someone who can undo this curse.

As you could probably tell by the lengthy plot description that I just gave, there's a lot that takes place in this plot. Considering that this is a kid's flick, maybe there's a little too much going on and I'm not sure if some younger viewers will be ready for a film with a plot this busy. To be fair though, the stories and the characters are interesting and clever enough for adults (and even kids as well) that it makes up for that flaw. The songs by Randy Newman are a mixed bag. While some songs like "Almost There" and "Friends on the Other Side" are pretty good, other songs like "Gonna Take You There" and "Ma Belle Evangeline" either don't sound that great or are instantly forgettable.

The animation in The Princess and the Frog is the kind of 2D animation that I wanted to see from Disney for a couple of years now, and it did not disappoint visually. It has a similar style of the unbelievable animation seen in Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, but it has its own innovative animation techniques as well. As I stated before, I liked the characters in this film. The real standouts for me were the villain Dr. Facilier, Charlotte, Prince Naveen, Tiana, and the alligator. They all have a certain charm to them, and I was able to identify with whatever they were passionate about. Like Prince Naveen, I'm used to living the good life and like Tiana, I do enjoy cooking.

It was a great pleasure to finally see The Princess and the Frog at last and I really hope that the Disney Studios does continue to make more 2D animated films in the future. On top of the fact that I've practically grew up on 2D animation, I feel like this style of animated film is more emotionally involving for me than 90% of the 3D animated films out today. I am looking forward to the next time a 2D animated film like this is made from Disney since I know that this is a step in the right direction for them.