Anthony's Film Review - The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Disney has given us an animated film that is a lot more delightful than you might expect...

For over seven decades, Disney has endured as an animation studio for the ages. It has produced many feature-length animated films capturing the hearts and minds of children and adults alike. With such a long line of movies, one may notice a certain winning formula underlying their success. Disney animated movies often feature at least some of the following elements: a lovely princess, a handsome prince, talking animals, funny sidekicks, playful musical numbers, a majestic or historic setting, and a devious villain. Although there is a Disney formula, it's not so formulaic that it gets boring quickly. If anything, the flexibility of the Disney formula makes it possible to still tell refreshing stories.

I thought of this as I watched the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog. Like other previous Disney movies, this one has a beautiful young lady, a prince destined to be hers, anthropomorphic nonhuman characters, fun songs, a beautiful setting, and a villain. It's when you get down to the specifics that you notice how incredibly original this movie is. In fact, part of this review will essentially look at the key elements one by one. By the time you get to the end of this review, chances are that you definitely won't look at The Princess and the Frog as a standard Disney movie.

Let me start with the setting. When you think Disney movies, you'd probably be thinking of fantasy settings like Agrabah in Aladdin, or something more historical in the distant past, like The Hunchback of Notre Dame's version of old Paris and Mulan's ancient China. But how about something historic but more recent? That's what The Princess and the Frog does here, with a story taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana during the early 20th century. I have to say. The film wonderfully captures the heart and spirit of New Orleans, with its festive jazz culture, culinary delights like gumbo and beignets, historic sites, and different socioeconomic classes and racial backgrounds. Having been to New Orleans myself once, I can tell you that seeing this film reminded me of the days I spent there.

Even if you're not captivated by the setting, you will definitely love one of the title characters, Tiana. After many decades, Disney has finally created the first Disney princess of African descent. Of course, she's not a princess in the royal sense. Just in the sense of being a beautiful lady with a spirit of determination. Tiana is an African American woman who strives to open her own restaurant, something her now-late father would always dream about. I love how Tiana deviates from the fairy tale princess tradition of longing for a prince to win her heart. If anything, Tiana has put aside a lot of things in her effort to chase a dream.

What else does a Disney animated movie have? Oh yes, a villain. The bad guy here, a Voodoo practitioner named Dr. Facilier, is definitely not some boring antagonist. He's pretty cunning. He's the kind of man who would deceive people for money or other selfish reward. He has a whole array of tricks up his sleeve, including Tarot cards, charms, and Voodoo magic. Seeing him on screen definitely reminded me of Aladdin's Jafar and The Lion King's Scar. In a list of the best Disney villains, Dr. Facilier ought to be ranked along with Jafar and Scar.

Before I forget, let me talk about the prince. Like usual, there's a handsome prince in a Disney animated movie. This time, it's the dashing Prince Naveen from Maldonia. He comes to New Orleans on a leisure trip. He is such a desirable man that he captures the attention of so many ladies, including Charlotte, Tiana's friend since childhood. Yes, this is the prince who will possibly be Tiana's mate eventually. And here is where the movie really gets interesting.

Because of a spell by Dr. Facilier, Prince Naveen is not a human being, but a frog by the time he meets Tiana. Naturally, she's frightened to see a frog, let alone a talking one. But to help Naveen change back to a handsome prince, all Tiana has to do supposedly is kiss this frog, as the old story goes. Unfortunately, it backfires. Tiana herself becomes a frog, and before you know it, both she and Naveen are thrust away from New Orleans and end up in the wild Louisiana bayou. Now the two frogs have to journey back to New Orleans and find a way to break this spell.

Plenty of interesting adventures occur on the way, like an encounter with a trio of dimwitted hunters. There's also an opportunity for a relationship to blossom between Naveen and Tiana. And then there are wonderful friendly characters along the way. There's a firefly named Ray, along with a trumpet-playing alligator named Louis (a reference to the jazz great Louis Armstrong, who was a New Orleans native). There's also a very old Voodoo priestess named Mama Odie, a character so sweet that you just can't help but love her. It's always nice to have supporting characters who are just as likable as the main ones.

The Princess and the Frog is definitely well above average in terms of quality. The plot is nicely written and takes the audience on a fun ride. The humor is nicely done. The music is also great, and while I admittedly didn't remember the songs after the movie ended, I do recall how fun they were to listen to when they played. Through it all, you will fall in love with both Tiana and Naveen, even in their frog forms. Oh, and before I forget, New Orleans and the surrounding Louisiana bayou come to stunning life. The artists did a great job depicting that setting in beautiful animation.

So how does this Disney animated film rank in comparison with other Disney animated movies? Well, I'm not going to rank this out of every single Disney animated feature ever made. Rather, I'll use the ones I'm most familiar with as a comparison. For me, Disney animation peaked in the early 1990s with Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Disney animated films of the 2000s do not quite reach that same level. However, The Princess of the Frog comes pretty close, enough for it to undoubtedly be the best Disney animated film of the 2000s. I came in expecting a good movie, and what I got instead was a very good movie. Whether or not Disney would want to continue doing traditional 2D-animation, at least I could say that this film marks a new high point in that.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about The Princess and the Frog, visit the Internet Movie Database.