Disney Princess Review: Princess and the Frog

Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog was a film a long time in its coming in this age where a lot of animated films were done on computer. There is something to be said about hand drawn animation and Disney films, it often seems a bit better at times and a bit more grounded. A lot of older fans have been missing hand drawn films and  Princess and the Frog is the film that makes a good comeback as well as a fresh change. This film does a lot of things right but is often labeled as okay overall. If you needed a reason to watch this film you really just have to look at the team that worked on it, the geniuses behind Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin were involved in this and that says enough really. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, highly praised the film admiring Disney's step back to traditional animation saying:

"This is what classic animation once was like!" and, in his print review wrote, "No 3-D! No glasses! No extra ticket charge! No frantic frenzies of meaningless action! And...good gravy! A story! Characters! A plot!"

It’s hard for me not to get excited about this film as like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, this is one of my top favorite films for Disney. The music was good, the villain was great, the prince was new and charming while believable with his own story. Ultimately, this movie combines the old with some of the new to give us something we can all enjoy. The success of the film itself ultimately convinced Disney to turn out at least one hand drawn film every two years. I personally view the film itself as a clear return to form to films that were made during the Disney Renaissance.

On a technical note he animation is beautiful especially with the use of magic magic, flashy enough to get and hold your attention but not distracting. It reminds me more of the animation in Lilo and Stitch. The music may be the weakest part but I found myself liking every song there especially “My Belle Evangelline” and “Friends on the Other Side”. The supporting cast is rather unique in that they. Louis the Alligator is just fun, Ray the Firefly I personally think stole the show for providing the most interesting character romance and death (crushed, yet still solid, and apparently became a star). Lottie is just adorable and a new twist for her character. Older Disney fans may remember characters like her in the form of Cinderella’s step sisters but while Lottie is spoiled but a nice person and a good friend and is sooo much fun, especially when she says “New Orleans” with that southern accent. Dr. Facilier is a nice call back to villains like Ursula and Captain Hook with a dash of Cruella and is one my favorite villains but he falls kind of short. While he is fun and conniving there is something off about a bad guy who is doing all he does because he is in debt. It makes him feel less effective and his character is designed to be more of a foil to our protagonist. There is a lot to be said about this cast, even the normally unimportant henchmen like Lawrence comes off as being rather interesting with a potential story of his own.

One thing I like about this film is that the two love interests (Tiana and Naveen) ultimately learn something from each other. There really has not been anything like that since Aladdin and its predecessor Beauty and the Beast. The movie asks us all to look deeper than what we want and focus more on what we need. Naveen for example wants to basically enjoy the high life and have fun but to do that he needs money and to get money from his parents he has to get married. Naveen learns throughout his own adventure and Mama Odee that not only does he not know how to do anything for himself but he was never really happy with all the money and parties and fell in love with Tiana, possibly admiring her independent nature and drive, characteristics he himself lacked.  At the same time Tiana wants to open her own restaurant and to make her father proud of her, but she spends so much time focusing on her dream that she isn’t really seeing the bigger picture.

If it had one issue then it would be in how rushed it feels. Like Beauty and the Beast, there is no instant attraction between the two of them but they fall in love in a little over a day. A lot of issues in this movie comes from that fact, a lot of things happen in such a short amount of time that it makes it a bit hard to believe long run but doesn’t hurt the film as much as one would think. There are also some issues about the movie originally not having a black princess and what not but I say let it go. If it’s not one thing it tends to be another and in my opinion if the movie is good and then enjoy it. Disney has had a long history about being racially offensive going as far back as Song of the South (which is a good movie) and Dumbo (which I do not think is really as offensive as people like to argue).

Now normally I am not a fan of the independent woman movies most of the time which I’ll admit is weird because I’m reviewing Disney Princess movies. It always seems they try too hard to make her independent and an emotional train wreck or just boring. Luckily Tiana and the movie was nothing like this. Tiana to me is like a second coming of Belle and Mulan in terms of Disney Princess. In a way she is where characters like Cinderella, Mulan, Ariel, and Belle meet. She is a hardworking, mature girl who has a dream she is passionate about, and is very close to her father. Like Ariel and Cinderella she has a dream and it keeps her going but does have a level of maturity similar to Belle in that she really does not pay much attention to others who talk about her. I find that she works as hard and even similar to Cinderella and like Belle and Mulan she is very close to her father and that relationship is the source of most of her decisions. In Tiana we see something we rarely see in a Disney Film which is a relationship with her mother AND her father which has not been seen to such a level. She is, as it seems to be a natural leader though when your two friends are basically the proverbial grasshoppers and you are the ant and it goes without saying that she reacts well in a crisis.

Tiana’s personal issue is something that out of most Disney characters is the most easy to relate to or at very least most believable. Tiana is so obsessed with making her dream come true that she makes time for nothing else, pushing herself to exhaustion and making no time for anything else like fun or friends. This goes back to her father who also wanted a restaurant but was killed in WWI before he could make it happen. Tiana remembers her father saying to never forget what is important and to her that is the restaurant but what he actually meant was love. Tiana wants her father to be proud of her so she works hard to achieve the dream they shared. One could make an argument that she is unable to look deeper and see the big picture which would make sense for the film (since Naveene also shares the problem along with others) as Mama Odie’s song and message seem to have eluded her as she interprets it as she needs to work harder than she did before. I think the word “obsessed” may be a bit much in describing her, I think she just has tunnel vision, seeing the forest but not the trees. When she wants something she puts everything aside to get it. That’s great for short term goals and even long term ones but she seems unable to turn it off. Looking back at the film, that whole adventure may have been the only time she was not working her but off to get that restaurant in her life. At the end she learns her lesson and gets married and is able to get the restaurant with the help of Naveen and Lewis, a nice touch to her not being able to get it by herself but then again if I had royalty and an Alligator on my side I doubt there is much I could not do.

Like a lot of females in Disney, Tiana needs someone to help her out, though in a way similar to Mulan and Belle, not the romance but someone who can help her and in Disney that is usually the future spouse. Naveene does what she can’t which is enjoy the moment and relax, and in a way it makes them possibly the best couple in Disney. I really could not see her in any specific job but I think anything keeping her at a desk would be the end of her. She likes to move and get out there, maybe something in the restaurant business, I think that would suit her just fine. Overall I’m going to give Tiana an honest A, she would have probably gotten the A+ if the movie had been longer but other then that, her character speaks for itself not just in how unique she is but how real she feels.