Disney's latest hand-drawn animated musical, The Princess and the Frog, is a charming film that, while never reaches the dazzling heights of Disney's greats, is still a film well worth your time.
The film is a loose interpretation of the classic "Frog Prince" fairy tale, where a prince who is turned into a frog, must be kissed by a princess to be turned back into a human, only problem is, our heroine, Tiana, isn't a genuine princess, just dressed like one at a Mardi Gras masquerade ball. The film takes place in what looks to be 1920's New Orleans, and that is where the film gets all of its vibe in terms of its music and its story. The villain being an evil Voodoo Witch Doctor who transformed the prince of a far-off land, Prince Naveen into a frog. Of course, things only get more complicated when Naveen finds Tiana, thinking she is a princess when she's not, and so by kissing her she transforms into a frog too and they must travel the dangerous bayous of Louisiana to try and reverse the evil Witch Doctor's spell.
The film is very lively once it finds its rhythm, only problem is, it takes nearly the first 20 minutes to really find that rhythm. The first 20 minutes holds at least one song every five minutes, and these songs just come on sporadically and do not feel organic to the story, which ultimately makes the entire first act of the film feel extremely choppy, jumping from scene-to-scene. As well, the beginning of the film feels as if Disney was trying to pull out all of the stops and prove to you that they still had that magic touch, so they figured that they'd throw as much musical action at you within the very start of the film, and while some of the songs were good, they just ultimately didn't serve the story. Now, when Tiana is transformed into a frog by kissing Naveen, it is then that the film becomes its own.
Once frog Tiana and frog Naveen are trying to cross the bayou together, it's here that the film becomes something unlike any other animated Disney musical, while still falling into the canon. Tiana and Naveen grow closer upon their journey, whilst befriending a trumpet playing alligator, Louis, and a Cajun firefly, named Ray. What makes everything from this point on so intriguing is that it is a breath of fresh air for the rest of the film, because no other Disney film has transformed the two main characters, especially a prince into a small animal and have the actual meat and romance occur in those amphibian forms. There are a great many puns, some really fun songs, and an amazing dance between the two frogs across lilypads and through under the water of the swamps.
The music by Randy Newman was very pleasing to the ears, but none of it was really all that memorable, though it still served the story well with its jazzy-tones, evoking New Orleans in genuine splendor, and the animation, was typical Disney animation. While it is not as beautifully animated as Sleeping Beauty, it is such a joy to see Disney back in the hand-drawn realm, and I hope this is the first of many more.
Ultimately The Princess and the Frog is an enjoyable time at the movies. While the villain wasn't all that memorable (though his shadow minions were wickedly cool) and it kind of felt, especially at the beginning, that Disney was trying too hard to make you like it, the romance was well-told, there was some very entertaining music, and it results in a very charming hand-drawn movie musical from the House of Mouse that while is not their best, is far from their worst.
I give Disney's The Princess and the Frog a B!
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