February 5, 2010: The Princess and the Frog
For a basic story idea that seems like it’s been done to death, The Princess and the Frog actually makes a decent little case for itself during its scant running time, set in an oft-neglected time and place in American history.
In early 20th century New Orleans, a servant’s daughter, Tiana, dreams of running a restaurant with her father. Fast forward to her grown up and living through the roaring ’20s, where she works as a maid, her father has passed away, and while she still clings to her dream of running a restaurant, making it a reality seems like a long shot. Her rich friend (a childhood friend, the daughter of her mother’s former employer) becomes interested in a foreign prince who is visiting New Orleans. Things take a twist when Tiana and the prince both end up turning into frogs (as a result of some apparently well-established science around people kissing other people when they are or are not princes and princesses). They get to know each other (in frog form) as they try to figure out how to become human again. Do they end up eventually married as Prince and Princess in human form, or are they stuck as frogs forever? Don’t worry, it turns out OK in the end.
This film has a surprisingly thin story, but it doesn’t actually need to be much more than that. Only a few characters are really developed at all, which again is fine. Keith David is a great presence as a black magic man, John Goodman as the rich girl’s father uses his booming voice to good effect as usual, and Oprah Winfrey even shows up in a small voice part as well. The whole experience is amusing enough, with good music and snappy jazz/country tunes (it got Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature as well as for two of the original songs). However, I could have just as easily skipped The Princess and the Frog. I don’t think this is the best animated film of the year, and I suspect that T-Bone Burnett has the song category wrapped up this year for his song (a single song presumably standing in for the whole of his work) from Crazy Heart, so it’s unlikely that it will win any Oscars. It’s noteworthy that this is the first hand-drawn Disney animated film in 5 years, and that this is the first time an African-American princess has appeared in a Disney film. The Princess and the Frog is standard classic-type Disney fare, so if that’s what you’re after, that’s what you’ll get. It’s perfectly competent stuff.
A return to classic Disney form.
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