I saw a sneak preview of Disney's the Princess and the Frog over the weekend. In short, Princess and the Frog has wonderful characters, a great message and loads of heart. The soundtrack may be the best one yet. The movie will be a classic and you should see it.
The full review after the break:
The full review after the break:
Disney premiered the first animated feature with Snow White in 1937. For several decades, the studio churned out hit after hit (from Pinocchio to the Jungle Book). Then, after Walt died, the quality began to slide a bit. The movies became formulaic, boring, and one dimensional. Disney reached the low point in 1985, when the studio released The Black Cauldron, which has been described as considered by many to be Disney's most spectacular animated flop. It appeared the Disney age of wonder was over. Then, in 1989, a Little Mermaid named Ariel appeared on the screen and returned Disney to former glory and ushered a new age of animated classics. Beauty and the Beast was nominated for an Academy Award in 1991. Lion King and Aladdin were blockbuster hits. Disney was back on top. But again, this was not meant to last and Disney would soon face competition from an unusual source: their partners, Pixar. And while Disney struck out with release like Treasure Planet (which took away the title of “Disney's most spectacular animated flop” away from The Black Cauldron) and Atlantis, Pixar was knocking it out of the park with Toy Story, the Incredibles, and Finding Nemo. As a result, the last time Disney had a hand animated feature, it was Home on the Range in 2004. And while I think that movie is actually better than most people said it was, it is hard to get an image of Rosanne Bar talking about her large udders, " Yeah, they're real, quit staring!" out of your head. Soon after the film flopped, Disney closed the doors on its hand drawn animation department potentially forever. Luckily, John Lasseter reversed that decision for portions of 2007’s Enchanted.
The Disney magic has returned. And once again, a Princess drawn in 2d hand drawn animation is leading the way. The Princess and the Frog presents a traditional 2D animated feature that rivals Beauty and the Beast.
I recently caught the film during a sneak preview at the Ziegfeld theater event. I sat in a theater full of cute little girls (and some adults) dressed as their favorite princesses. My daughter's wore a Princess Tiana dress, in honor of Disney's newest princess.
Speaking of Tiana, I should mention that she is Disney's first African American princess to be featured in a Disney film. I should note that Tiana is far from the first minority princess: Jasmine is Middle Eastern, Mulan is Chinese, and Pocahontas is native American. Still, one should not judge a princess on her looks and the character of Tiana is one of the multi-dimensional of the Disney characters. She is the best role model of the Disney Princesses (although Belle is a pretty close second). I found the message of this film to be refreshing, "wishing on a star only gets you half-way." The rest requires hard work. And Tiana does not shy away from work.
I recently caught the film during a sneak preview at the Ziegfeld theater event. I sat in a theater full of cute little girls (and some adults) dressed as their favorite princesses. My daughter's wore a Princess Tiana dress, in honor of Disney's newest princess.
Speaking of Tiana, I should mention that she is Disney's first African American princess to be featured in a Disney film. I should note that Tiana is far from the first minority princess: Jasmine is Middle Eastern, Mulan is Chinese, and Pocahontas is native American. Still, one should not judge a princess on her looks and the character of Tiana is one of the multi-dimensional of the Disney characters. She is the best role model of the Disney Princesses (although Belle is a pretty close second). I found the message of this film to be refreshing, "wishing on a star only gets you half-way." The rest requires hard work. And Tiana does not shy away from work.
The plot of the movie revolves around Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) as she tries to fulfill her (and her father's) dream of someday running and owning a restaurant. (Tiana's parents are voiced by Oprah Winfrey and Terrence Howard). She then meets the free-spirited Prince Naveen (voiced by Bruno Campos) from the land of Maldonia, who has gone from happy go lucky to hoppy go lucky after the prince is turned into a frog by Dr. Facilier, the shadow man (voiced by Keith David--I would have to hand in my geek card if I did not mention that he the voice of Arbiter on the Halo games.) As you can see from the commercial, Tiana's problems get worse after she kisses the frog prince. I will not spoil the details to the movie, but the movie takes you on a wild ride filled with thrills, laughs, tears and foot tapping musical numbers. If you are emotional, make sure you have tissues. (But, you won't use as many as you did in Pixar’s Up).
On the technical side, the animation style is beautiful. The music in the film is outstanding. Randy Newman (who usually does Pixar films) blends various Zydeco, Dixie, and Gospel to capture the soul of New Orleans.
Ron Clements and John Musker, the directors of The Princess and the Frog, have quite a Disney pedigree (They also directed Hercules, Aladdin and Little Mermaid) and it shows. The movie stands alongside these, and other Disney classics.
Finally, I should mention, like pretty much every Disney movie, there are scary villains and dark themes. Towards the end of the movie, my four year old got scared and wanted to leave the theater. Instead, she hid behind a column and occasionally mustered enough courage to peek out and watch until the end. She was glad she did.
So, go see the movie. I highly recommend this film.
While you are at it, you should buy the soundtrack I have added it to Cup of Geek Amazon store and linked it below.
Ron Clements and John Musker, the directors of The Princess and the Frog, have quite a Disney pedigree (They also directed Hercules, Aladdin and Little Mermaid) and it shows. The movie stands alongside these, and other Disney classics.
Finally, I should mention, like pretty much every Disney movie, there are scary villains and dark themes. Towards the end of the movie, my four year old got scared and wanted to leave the theater. Instead, she hid behind a column and occasionally mustered enough courage to peek out and watch until the end. She was glad she did.
So, go see the movie. I highly recommend this film.
While you are at it, you should buy the soundtrack I have added it to Cup of Geek Amazon store and linked it below.
Later this week, part two of this article will talk about the Disney Experience at Roseland.
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