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Title: The Princess and the Frog
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there is nothing objectional in this film. Just mild action violence. Recommended for all ages. |
Folks, animation is officially back in business. Disney’s first 2D animated film in five years is a grand return to form. It may not reach the same heights as their renaissance period, but it’s a return to great family entertainment that can be enjoyed equally by both kids and adults. "The Princess and the Frog" has so many things working for it, that the fact that Princess Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is Disney’s first African American princess ends up being the least compelling reason to see the film. No, if I were to recommend this film it would be based on the colors, musical numbers, and likable characters. The fact that the story is sweet and predictable is almost a given. No one will be too terribly surprised by Tiana’s journey in this film. Oh sure, there are some mild surprises.
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Tiana isn’t born into royalty, she’s a low waitress and dreams of one day owning her own restaurant. Since life isn’t going to just give it to her she’s going to have to earn it herself. Financial problems do arise though, and in an effort to get the extra cash she kisses a talking frog who claims to be Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), who believes her for a princess and...well, you’re all familiar with what’s supposed to happen next. The problem is since Tiana is not a princess it has the opposite affect and turns her into a frog instead. The cause of all this comes from an evil voodoo witch doctor named Dr. Facilier (Keith David), who needs to turn the prince into a frog for his own evil purposes.
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From this point out it’s all pretty familiar stuff. The main heroes meet some side characters, sing a lot of Broadway-style songs, and live happily ever after. Of the side characters my favorite is a crocodile named Louis, who sings and dances his way through some of the movies funniest moments. Dr. Facilier makes for a great Disney villain, made all the better because he had the best musical number. Maybe not the best song, but the best musical number. Things warp, glow, and move in ways that would be very difficult to animate with a computer polygon. In fact the animation may be the main reason to see this. Not for any political reasons, but because the movie just feels so fresh.
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I’ve always held that while some great computer animated films have been made, no CGI film has had it’s own distinct look. The only two ways you can go with CGI is that the film is either realistic or it isn’t. With this though the characters are free from all limitations. All they have is the imaginations of the Disney animators, and they use their new-found freedom with obvious joy and glee. This is easily one of the best looking films of the year, and I cringe thinking about what this would look like had they tried to make it with computers. Only pencils and ink can make a movie this artistic and get away with it.
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The only real issue I have with the film is that the final fight is anticlimactic. Sure it fits into the whole temptation theme that runs throughout this film but...I don’t know, when you can play with shadows and magic voodoo dolls you deserve a better finale. I’m sure people are going to have problems with it. The fact that the movie is predictable will come up but it shouldn’t be an issue. We don’t go to Disney films to be surprised too much, and this movie still has a couple of interesting twists. Some will bring racial discussions into the film, of which I ask if race isn’t supposed to be a big deal why bring it up now? In fact, seeing that Tiana is one of the best Disney princesses in a long time I consider a good thing girls want to be like her. More family heroines should be like her, and more family movies should be like this.
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Spaceriffic Review
