2009 was a banner year for the animated film. We’ve seen CG (Up) and stop-motion (Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox) so it’s only fitting that 2009 closes with The Princess and the Frog. The film marks Disney’s return to the traditional hand-drawn animated format they revolutionized in 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The story structure of Princess and the Frog is evocative of the formula from Disney’s renaissance period of the late-80’s/early-90’s when they produced The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Over the past decade, the quality of Disney’s hand-drawn slate gradually declined as they pumped out more misses (Brother Bear) than hits (Lilo & Stitch). The House of Mouse abandoned the format following Home on the Range, but it was Pixar guru John Lasseter who planned to revive the traditional process once he was handed the keys to the Magic Kingdom.
Ron Musker and John Clements, who co-directed The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, were put in charge of the movie while Randy Newman was tasked with composing the soundtrack.
The Princess and the Frog is set in 1920’s New Orleans and stars Tiana, the daughter of a seamstress (Oprah Winfrey) and an aspiring restaurateur (Terrence Howard). Though she comes from a working class background, Tiana is best friends with the affluent Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), a southern Belle and daughter of Big Daddy La Bouff (John Goodman). Tiana’s mother sews dresses for Charlotte and eagle-eyed viewers should be able to pick out the references in her collection. Like many of the Disney heroines of the past, Charlotte’s simplistic goals extend no further than meeting and marrying her Prince Charming. Tiana grows up and now works almost non-stop as a waitress to earn the money to open that restaurant her dad (who is alluded to have died during WWI) always dreamed of.
Meanwhile, the carefree Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) arrives in the Big Easy searching for a wealthy girl to marry. Seems the Prince’s parents have disowned him for being irresponsible and lazy. A local voodoo practitioner, Dr. Facilier (Keith David), schemes with Naveen’s valet, Lawrence (Peter Bartlett), to turn the Prince into a frog and steal his fortune. When Prince Naveen mistakenly believes Tiana is a princess, he convinces her to give him a kiss, only to see her turn into a frog as well. This pair of newly found amphibians treks through the bayou with a trumpet playing alligator and a Cajun firefly.
The animation is beautiful and enhanced by the film’s unique setting though I believe the filmmakers could have gone further with the period. Much has been made about Tiana as Disney’s first African-American princess, but nary is there a mention of segregation or any type of racial tension. Maybe that was just a little too intense for a kids’ flick? Princess and the Frog may be a welcome return to the classic Disney formula, but it is held back by a slavish devotion to that formula. You’ve got the protagonist, a romantic opposite, a journey, wacky animal sidekicks, and life lessons to be learned. It becomes more and more predictable as the story progresses. Dr. Facilier has some cool visuals backing him up; however, he isn’t nearly as strong a villain as Gaston or Scar. Some of the musical numbers are decent enough with “Almost There” and “When We’re Human” being the best.
The Princess and the Frog is certainly a better offering than the majority of Disney’s recent selections. If you’re planning a family outing this holiday season to the multiplex, you could certainly do much worse than this film. It’s a good picture, but just misses reaching the heights of Beauty and the Beast and its peers.
Rating: ** 1/2
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