Review of The Princess and the Frog (2009) by Melvin W — 04 Oct 2011

Princess Tiana: Daddy never got what he wanted... but he had what he NEEDED: love! He never gave that up, and neither will I! .

The Princess and the Frog is a magnificent and ambitious animation from Walt Disney. I find that a lot of animated family movies almost beg you to like them. This one just had me loving it from the start. There was a whole lot going on, but it wasn't a mess. It was just a well executed fairytale. Everyone knows the story of the princess and the frog, even the characters in this movie. They listened to their parents read it to them when they were little kids. Now they are living it.

The movie has a really cool setting in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The film has voodoo as a central building block for the entire plot. The villain, Shadowman, is perfect. From the way he talks, to the way he looks; that character is flawless. It also has the annoying character, every animated movie seems to need in the spoiled rich girl who dreams of being a princess. .

The main character, Tiana, is extremely easy to like. She is a hard working, young woman, who just wants to see her dead fathers dream of having his own restaurant come true. All she does is work and save in order to get her own restaurant. She learns some valuable lessons in the movie, though, that show her that her father wouldn't want her to work her whole life away. .

The Princess and the Frog is on a very short list of great animated films of the 21st century that I have seen. So far, it's Wall-E, Toy Story 3, Ponyo and this. It's a perfect family film because it's going to keep kids entertained for the duration, but it's also not torture for the adults either. Actually, it's quite a fun little movie too watch from time to time.