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Capone declares THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG a triumphant return to the classic Disney animation experience!!!
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
As happy as I was to see Disney return to the realm of quality, hand-drawn animation again, I had an unexpected emotional reaction to seeing THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. If you had told me that the beautifully rendered art in this film had been made in the 1940s, '50s, or '60s, I would have had no problem believing that. The movement is fluid and graceful, the expressions are captivating, and the backdrops of period New Orleans and the backwater swamps of Louisiana are breathtaking. But if you'd asked me before seeing the film if I'd truly missed hand-drawn animation, I probably would have said yes with something resembling conviction. But after seeing the glory of THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, a wave of nostalgia swept over me that didn't know was inside. The combination of the great music, fine voice acting (no big names in any of the lead roles; John Goodman, Oprah Winfrey and Terrance Howard are featured in supporting roles), and gorgeous animation are braided together in a strange, elegant work of art that I cannot wait to see again.
Even as a young girl, Tiana had aspirations of being a great Cajun chef and owning her own restaurant, something her hard-working father (Howard) was never quite able to make happen, even with the support of his loving wife (Winfrey), who worked for one of New Orleans' most powerful politicians, "Big Daddy" La Bouff (Goodman). La Bouff's daughter Charlotte and Tiana grew up best friends, and while Tiana always wanted to grow up and be a princess, Tiana wanted to save enough money to fulfill her father's restaurant dream. Years go by after this preamble, and we learn that Tiana's father died fairly young, and she has been a waitress saving every nickel and dime for her dream. Tiana is voiced by Anika Noni Rose; she's the Dreamgirl who wasn't Jennifer Hudson or Beyonce; she was also great as the busybody receptionist on HBO's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency." Tiana has grown into a marvelous cook herself, and is nearly ready to buy a run-down building as the site of her restaurant, when fate and voodoo intercede.
Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) comes to New Orleans to party, and when his arrival is made known to Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), she sets her sites on him. The evil Dr. Facilier (Keith David), who frequently uses his "friends from the other side" to help him with his schemes, concocts a way to get the largely broke Naveen to marry Charlotte (and become a part of her very wealthy family) while Facilier would get all the family money. And his scheme involves turning the arrogant prince into a frog and replacing his human self with that of his schlubish manservant, who is tired of waiting on party boy Naveen hand and foot. Naveen the frog meets Tiana as she is dressing as a princess for a costume party; he assumes she is a real princess and knowing his classic "Frog Prince" literature, he asks her for a kiss, which turns her into a frog as well. Whoops.
The Princess and the Frog follows this unlikely pair through the bayou to find the voodoo princess Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), and along the way they pick up new friends like Ray (Jim Cummings), the aging firefly who knows which direction to go, and Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), a trumpet-playing gator who wants nothing more to become human and join a jazz band. THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG offers up one bizarre character after another, each one with a thicker Cajun accent than the last, and I was loving it.
I was fortunate enough to see this movie at a screening for which a large number of children were in attendance, and nearly every kid was enraptured, attentive and completely entertained. I'm not sure they got what every song by Randy Newman was about, but during those sequences they simply lost themselves in the visuals, an easy thing to do with this movie. Co-directors John Musker and Ron Clements (who also did THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, THE LITTLE MERMAID, the game-changing ALADDIN, TREASURE PLANET and HERCULES) have made what is arguably their best-looking work, even if the story is a bit predictable. There are a couple of slow segments, including one where the two frogs are nearly captured by redneck hunters for food. But those less-than-stellar moments are few and far between. Most of what is featured here is perfection.
Honestly, you can't help but lose yourself in the artistry of THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. The scary scenes with Dr. Facilier are actually kind of scary; Tiana's feminist stance about putting career before men is ground-breaking for a Disney "princess" movie; and this slightly idealized version of New Orleans is just sleazy enough to keep adults interested while making kids a little curious about this strange and wonderfully musical city full of exotic food. Hell, I'm ready to watch it again. I really did adore this return to form, and I hope Disney continues the upkeep on its hand-drawn animation right along its Pixar work.
-- Capone
therealcapone@aintitcoolmail.com
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man, I had high hopes that I Would be able to complain about this one...
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'nuff said.
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Dec 11, 2009 1:58:54 AM CST
I'M STILL WAITING FOR DISNEY'S MEIN KAMPF! PIXAR MAYBE?
by tehcreepythinman
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Dec 11, 2009 2:01:03 AM CST
Disney under pressure from minorites? Ebonic cartoon by Disney =
by brian_da_man
This Disney movie is a joke. Should call is Ebony Princess and the Ghetto Frog
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Wasn't Knowles the one who was bitching that all the negativity about Avatar was getting him down? We'll the early reviews have been great and even the cocksuckers at CHUD are turning around. So why haven't you useless cunts posted anything about this movie? Is Harry in a food coma?
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Does every Disney story have to about whites? What kind of racist bullshit is that? It's not affirmative action to tell a story from another perspective. It's actually smart. You add a generation of black fans and you diversify your collection of story and characters. I imagine that's the reason why Disney princesses have been Native American, Chinese, and Arabian. It's about time blacks were included.
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In films like Mulan, Disney focused more on creating a 'Disney princess who could kick ass!' than creating a timeless fairytale. Disney kept trying to make their films edgy whilst making them as sanitised as possible and they lost all their magic. They focused more on the comedy sidekicks and 'witty' one liners than they did in creating timeless scenes that will still stick in people's minds 30 years from now.
Everything I've seen from the trailers makes this seem like it'll be like all the post-Aladdin films which were all lacking. -
Just because the main character happens to be black this film is a product of affirmative action?
Spare us your ignorant, simple minded rhetoric. -
You're scum too. Racist trash like you belongs in the garbage bin of history.
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Dec 11, 2009 5:13:58 AM CST
When I clicked on this, I assumed the headline was sarcastic
by wickedjacob
Like "classic" either referring to antiquated cinematic portrayals of race or else "classic" as in the 1980s rubbish.
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Disney made a movie, and a good movie at that. the colour of the main characters is totally irrelevant to either of those facts. Its insulting that the first topic to be talked about in this talkback is about race. You need to watch Pocahontas again, I dont think its clear message got through to you stupid bastards.
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and also be against the market actively courting Black Americans. It doesn't make sense. The whole argument against AA is that society is naturally righting itself without government interference. Your words only strengthen the argument that things are still unequal.
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Song of the South this week too?
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Try dozens and dozens of old Warner Brothers shorts. But noooo... everyone just accepts those as a product of their time and still lifts of Looney Tunes as infallible. Why is Disney held to a different standard when nothing, and I mean NOTHING they ever did was half as insensitive as even some of the milder WB race digs?
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I really would love to read about The Princess and the Frog, but this is Capone writing this, so he'd probably spoil it without warning. Just like he did with Public Enemies...
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Metaphorical for her being first an not Disneyprincess like.
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Was the first time a Disney Princess actually took control of the plot of a Disney Story instead of riding in the background and being rescued by the men in her life. This is the next step in that evolution. Great job Disney.
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Up there with Ariel, or even Pocahontas?
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I mean, pretty much everyone knows that Dillinger died, It's a historical fact. That's like complaining that someone spoiled that the Titanic was going to sink.
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But it's a safe assumption that most people who went to see Public Enemies weren't familiar with Dillinger's story. They just went to see the new Johnny Depp movie, so to state the Depp character dies at the end would be spoiling it to the majority of your readers.
The "historical fact" explanation is just a bad justification to be an asshole. -
Try thinking first next time you write
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O_o Am I the only person out there that tinks this movie looks gay.........
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What race was represented in the lion king?
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Sorry, but this reviewer is way too generous about this film. I was able to see a pre-screening of this movie 3 weeks ago before it opened on the Studio Lot. It received a lackluster
response from the audience. True, the animation is great, but the story and characters are kind of boring and uninteresting to hold one's attention. I kept looking at my watch several times during the film. Don't expect to be wow'd by this latest Disney adventure. It is a fair movie that could have been better if the charaters and story were more interesting -
JTT and Ferris are both white
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Was killed in the first 30 minutes.
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Yes, musicals are kinda gay, but musicals are not stupid. But since you cannot understand that different words in the english language may have different meanings, your opinion is as worthless as your understanding of thes descriptor words.
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But the first third of this talkback proves why sometimes it should be played.
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Could be called if a character was represented out of proportion to statistical presence in the population. Otherwise, it isn't some Left-wing plot--it's simple marketing and humanity. As opposed to the entire 20th Century output of Disney Animation, which clearly kowtowed to the Right in its avoidance of anything that wasn't lily-white in their Animation division.
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Dec 11, 2009 9:26:24 AM CST
the first few posts in this tb just reaffirms my dread...
by jackknifed_juggernaut
... of AICN reporting/reviewing ANYTHING with a dominant African American presence. nothing brings out the white hoods quite like a mention of a minority lead in a goddamned animated feature, or anything Will Smith related... you ignorant, slack-jawed, mouth breathing cunts.
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...from what I've heard, she spends most of her time in the film disguised as a blandly-designed generic frog. WTF??? I saw a clip of that wonderful sequence "I'm Almost There" and it ROCKS, and I thought DAMN she's a really appealing character...as a human...and then I see clips of her as a frog and it's like SHIT, that sucks. The alligator looks like the stand-in for the croc in Peter Pan, and the firefly fails to amuse in every clip I've seen him in. I dunno if I'll see this or not...and just a half year ago I was alllll excited about it...too bad...
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We took my 3 year old daughter and 13 year old son to see this film about a week ago at the Ziegfeld and they both enjoyed it immensely. Beautiful animation, great music from Randy Newman and just a nice movie overall. The kids in the theater really got into it and a show stopping number actually earned applause from the audience. I haven't seen an audience react this way to an animated film in many, many years.
The kids in the audience are the best gauge of how well this film is going to do and I suspect that it's going to do very well since they don't see color the way too many of their parents do. In their eyes it was a story about a young woman who becomes a frog, not a story about a young black woman who becomes a frog.
I agree with jackknifed_juggernaut about a certain level of dread on the talkback that would result from the "ignorant, slack-jawed, mouth breathing cunts" he was referring to. People can be as ugly as they want to be when hiding behind screen names. A damned shame. -
This movie is a insult to Americans. Libral hounds and NAACP clowns can complain all they want but it is insulting for kids to watch this ghetto ass Ebonics written pile of trash. Any time you put a full black crew into a animated movie, you make a piece of shit and insulting movie. For example: Cat Woman: Lame!: Shark Tale: Horrible! Transformers 2: the twins are losers! Hancock: waste of time! I could find hundreds of examples where a movie is ruined when the charcter being played speaks ghetto slang and makes a movie worse by the inclusion of a certain race which is only spoken by a single race who always uses "the race" card. Michael Winslow from Police Academy is funny, Ghetto Bitch and the Ebonics Frog, a waste of time.
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Dec 11, 2009 10:07:04 AM CST
jackknifed_juggernaut, I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH MINORITIES PLAYING
by tehcreepythinman
What I do have a problem with is Dsney still making the same cutesy animated shit they've been doing for decades.
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Did MGM? Did Fleischer? Did ANY major cartoon studio? Give it a fucking rest. Disney is a target for foamies because of Walt's politics - whatever the hell they were, since he said consistently that he wasn't a conservative, he considered himself a liberal, but the actions of the left in Hollywood left a bad taste in his mouth. And the foamies REALLY hate that he lived the midwestern values he espoused in his movies - he was a faithful husband and adored his children. Guess they prefer the lifestyle of kiddie-entertainment mogul Jim Henson, who cheated on his wife practically every day of his marriage and was a pothead. The disciples of Seth McFarlane amuse me no end. They'll believe anything that turdhead feeds 'em.
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No Ebonics, no race card, no hidden massages. It isn't a 'black movie', it's a movie with characters that just happen to be black.
See the movie and then weigh in. It isn't an insult to anybody. Your comments and insights, however, are. -
Dec 11, 2009 10:50:57 AM CST
but, Brian_Da_Klan... how does the fact that one-half of
by jackknifed_juggernaut
the twins in TF2 was voiced by a Caucasian fit into your otherwise well-reasoned, highly informative theory?
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Thank you. Granted, I couldn't care less about Henson's personal life in regards to how I view his creative output... but I do think it is unfair for some to get a pass on things (Henson, Looney Tunes etc...) and others to not. Walt Disney was not a racist or an anti-Semite. He WAS anti-communist, but was pretty politically naive, and this was a time when communism was seen as the next great (both idealogical AND physical) threat to the American way of life he adored so much.
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How am I a clan member when I have no problem with GOOD Black actors doing a GOOD job acting. Why is it that in news a "black" news anchor speaks like a regular white person. WHY? They sound like an intelligent person. My PROBLEM with Bitch Princess and the Ghetto Frogger is Disney and other companies playing off the whiney high pitched ghetto ebonic voices from annoying ethnic minorites and having to listen to Disney's polically BS when we ALL know real a real princess was a White power hunger bitch who kicked poor peasants in the face and took their posessions so they could live on their land as serfs.
Transformers 2- The Twins were presented as clumsy stupid ass black robots who spoke ebonics to interest the "black folk."
Making a shitty movie like this is an insult, just like when blacks tried to get ebonics passed through the senate as a official language to be taught in schools to make blacks sound like a bunch of dumb asses when they could be so much more. -
Hope that disney check was a big one.
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That's pretty damned funny. The "regular white persons" I know are far more eloquent than "Brain_Da_Man". I suppose the irony of his screen name as it relates to ebonics is completely lost on him.
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I think when Brian_Da_Man says "regular white person" he only means to imply that if you're not white, you're irregular. Which, I'm sure we can ALL agree, is perfectly sane and not at all lacking in common sense, empirical data or critical thinking.*racist*
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Thanks for setting me straight. I don't know WHAT I was thinking.
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Unfortunately, I don't know any 6-year-olds, so I won't be seeing this....
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Racist Disney motherfuckers
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...funniest, smartest, best voices.
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JEEZUS. Full of spoilers. WARN SOMEONE. Can't wait to see this. Had to stop reading review over spoilers. Thanks a lot, you wanker!
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The Sword in the Stone was boycotted by the KKK because the beloved Anglo hero Arthur spent most of the movie running around as animals of colors other than white. Also he was represented as a scrawny weak young boy and not the powerful warrior king of common interpretation. Walt made a secret deal with a conglomerate of American KKK and Neo Nazi group that he would not humanize African Americans completely until the thrid African American disney feature. The first would feature animals but be voiced by different races (Lion King), the second would be 1/4 human cast but that would be represented as animals for most of the film (Princess and the Frog). It would not be until a third film would African Americans be allowed to represented as humans throughout the whole film (The Adventures of John Henry Irons 2017). Emperor's New Groove featured a Hispanic protagonist that spent much of the movie as a donkey. And Asian Mulan was contracted to be the least attractive and least "Princessy" of all Disney Princesses.
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We don't really feel a lot of racism so those kinds of comments are sort of shocking. That's because we're educated and socially aware. The south is pretty much the opposite of that. I never knew how much until Playstation Home started and all these southern, mullet-sporting, toothless retards got carte blanche with a microphone. They CONSTANTLY ran around letting loose with racial slurs to anyone within earshot. They CHASED DOWN anyone with a black avatar so they could call them "monkey" and all kinds of other vile shit. Of course I dove right in and massacred the stupid fuckers. That's when I realized how completely lost these backwater hog-fuckers truly are.
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"Enlightened north" "We don't really feel a lot of racism..."
You're white right? or in a relatively homogenous area?
I've done a bit of traveling and no matter how educated and socially aware a particular demographic may seem to be, given a mixed crowd there will always be a bit of racism.
Although I agree with you it's way worse in the South. Not to say it's good anywhere but given the South as a frame of reference, much of the Northeast Megalopolis seems like MLK's Dream speech by comparison. -
Do us all a favor, Brian, and hang yourself on your burning cross, then have the sister you have no doubt been having sex with for six years now, stuff your white hood in your mouth. But make sure she wipes her rectum with it before she stuffs it in your mouth.
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I think, racist or no, black or white (or in my case, yellow), we can ALL agree that the French are frickin smelly bastids right?Just kidding. When they first started advertising Mulan, I have to be honest, I was afraid they were going to merely exploit my parent culture, exoticize it and Orientalize it all under the guise of multi-culty "under the rainbow" marketing. I think ultimately though, they focused on a story that really stayed true to its themes and the themes of its subject matter. I think it's the nature of big business to want to cash in and appeal to varying demographics as well as it's the nature of a person, ("of color" or not) to immediately be suspicious of it. While I wholeheartedly appreciate Vincent Gecko's skepticism and, (barring any genuine evidence), conjecture of the Disney Conspiracy Theory... I'd have to posit that it's inaccurate if for no other reason but that the Crows in Dumbo predate Lion King, and Song of the South which technically was animated, featured Uncle Remus who, to my memory, did not turn into a creature or anything like that. I guess my question is why spend this time perpetuating theories when there are concrete examples of Disney's cultural insensitivity in the past from which we can actually teach and learn lessons?
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Being a University town we have all races present throughout the city. We have a pretty substancial black community.I have rarely heard any racial slurs. As I say it's shocking when it does happen and incurs the wrath of everyone around. We simply do not stand for that shit here.I have yet to meet a race of people which I don't want to fuck their women. Until that happens I'm never going to be able to understand racism.
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Good for you, higher education tends to bring out the best in people at least openly. It's not like that everywhere. Unless you are a minority, you're not likely to notice racism at all, it's much more subtle everywhere than yelling slurs and lynching.
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i am a white person in canada. with all the damn immigrants coming here you better believe white isn't the dominate race anymore. lol
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While I'm excited for Avatar I am overly excited about this film. I trust Lasseter to bring that undeniable old school Disney feeling back to the Mouse House's 2-D endeavors more than I trust Cameron's reclusive approach to bringing us "the next big thing".
I want to watch movies, not fuckin' live in 'em. -
Just finished watching the film... all I can say is how generic and underwhelming it was. It was not bad but it was not good either, just kind of there. Did not care for a single character, the music was bland (and this takes place in New Orleans during the blues/jazz revolution) and the mish-mash of generic judeo-christian messages leaves me wondering what they were getting at (importance of love and family over personal goals and achievements being the most prominent, i think, but then that is erased when everyone gets exactly what they want without compromising anything along the way). Basically it doesn't matter, as it was obvious the filmakers didn't actually expect a working brain to be in the audience. If 'Home on the Range' is what you consider 'Classic Disney Animation' then this movie is a return to form but Lion King this is not. Beauty and the Beast? Not even close. i would honestly rate this somewhere between Rescuers: Down Under and Aristocats.
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A return to crap jokes, too many songs, shitty animation (the side characters are grotesque) and no story buried under the weight of heart-covered underwear. What a piece of shit. Saw it today. Save your money. It's dull as dirt.
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Lots of thick lips, wide noses in the background characters, plenty of ghetto speech throughout, bad role models, jivey dacing, scummy ghetto locales, plenty of STUPIDass slang. It's a fucking racist nightmare. Disney really let me down. Oh, and I'm black you fucking bitches so don't get on my ass for these remarks. I can get pissed off if I want to about racist Disney shitass movies.
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The standard is so low any more, people will take anything. Stupid stupid stupid. This movie is so bland, it has its heart torn out, and you knew it would be bland when the NAACP et al were screaming to change everything because it was racist, like not to call her Maddy or to have her work as a scullery maid because that was racist to them. Fuck them, that's what black people DID for the most part as the only work available in the South during that time, it's bullshit. And the villain was weak, had no power of his own, wasn't dangerous, couldn't do shit, had to ask for help all the time. So stupid. This movie was just like HOME ON THE RANGE and will be forgotten by this time next year. Ntohing in it has any staying power. I bet it will bomb.
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NOT.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyW-3YC2IVQ
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Yes, the film is full of stereotypes. Big lips, ebonics for sure, all of it. THAT is not RACIST, uneducated ones. Those are stereotypes, which are perceived normal traits for one group observed by other groups.
Having said that, this film is just plain bad. It's the same crappy "humor" of the twins in T2. All it needed was some fart jokes, burping, and bad manners and it would have been almost as sophisticated as SpongeBob. -
Dreams Come True showcases original artwork from legendary Disney animated films, including Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and will feature a children's section celebrating Disney's connections with jazz music and the Crescent City. The artworks, on loan from the Walt Disney Studio Animation Research Library, will be accompanied by film clips to demonstrate how individual sketches and paintings lead to a finished celluloid masterpiece. Organized by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library and the New Orleans Museum of Art, this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, which cannot be seen anywhere else in North America is set to coincide with the premier of Disney's upcoming animated feature, The Princess and the Frog, set in New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age.
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Went to the aforementioned exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art Wednesday. Not only is it a great exhibit, I got a chance to see the amazing portrayal of New Orleans in this new film. Everything from the streetcar to St. Louis Cathedral has the same character and feel as the real thing. This film should be seen by all New Orleans lovers for that alone. I hope it's also a good film!
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...with the woman who plays the Princess, and she's a beautiful, intelligent, soulful woman. It just happened to be on TV at 4am. Now I want to see this movie. And there are a lot of worthless racist pieces of shit in this talkback. Take names.
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Dec 12, 2009 3:25:19 AM CST
Man, fuck all of you hard hearted assholes.
by liesandpicturesofalsolies
Who are shitting all over this movie. This movie isn't racist, you just want to stir up the internet pot or you're racist yourself. Aladdin takes a similar broad view of Arabic culture but since those skin tones are ones you're comfortable with, hey awesome movie. I'm not being critical of those who had problems with the story, mind you, which was a bit muddled--but those that prattle on about race when we should be talking about its rich animation or great themes. This isn't a return to Disney form, though, it has shattered form and made a more nuanced 2-d Disney movie. I hope they stick with this pattern and teach kids something, our generations are fucked.
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Lol I love Librals and Blacks throwing out Racist card. Truth hurts, this movie is a Ebonics riddled garbage. Won't see this thats for damn sure. Now if it was a White chick which it should be for a French Princess, maybe that is realistic hahah! Why don't we make a Mexican Princess who pops out kids every year, that is more realistic in a cartoon hahah! We can call it, La Princessa Y Toca like Clitara.
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I guess you don't consider Alexandre Dumas, the write of the 3 Musketeers books, French either.
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how much AICN talkbackers try to take the joy out of film experiences like the Princess and the Frog. I think it goes without saying that you are not the target audience that the Walt Disney corporation had in mind when they made this movie. If you don't want to see it, fine. But don't come in here and pass judgement on it without doing so. I went and saw the Princess and the Frog last night and was very happy with the experience. The music was great. The animation, wonderful. The characters and story kept me fully entertained throughout the entire movie. I am 22 years old and saw this film by myself because I wanted to see if Disney could still create the kind of experience I had when I first saw the Lion King and Aladdin in theaters as a child. And for an hour and a half I caught a glimpse of that former glory. Try to remember what it was like the first time you saw Disney magic happen on the big screen, then give this movie a shot. The Princess and the Frog gives me great hope for the new Winnie the Pooh film in 2011 and The Snow Queen in 2013.
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racist, are fucking idiots:
http://tinyurl.com/yatbros -
succeed in the box office because of fuckheads like those who make such ridiculous claims about the racism in the movie.i really,really want the return of the classic 2D animation,i love 3D animation,but 2D has so much more to offer.please give a chance to this movie.
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I may not have liked them, but the existed. "Cole Black and De Sebben Dwarfs" was a pretty slick piece of work. My comment deals with the fact that Disney has a long, proud tradition of animated feature films, and that it is notable that during the entire 20th Century not one of the millions of frames of animated characters was black. I'm not criticizing this "because" of Walt's politics. Walt's politics and the resultant racial exclusion both came from the same tribal place. If Warners or any other studio had done the same thing, I'd comment. It certainly reflects the invisible hand of the marketplace, but to assume that Walt didn't share those negative attitudes is rather naive. He is still a good man and a genius, but a genius with racist filters. There is no way that what happened at Disney then did not reflect their beliefs and hiring practices--it was "politically correct" to the Right. If Disney ever starts making images disproportionate to the population in the OTHER direction, it might be reasonable to consider that "political correctness" to the Left. For now, it's simple honesty: we're as much a part of America as anyone, and unless Disney wants to clearly label their films as "expressive of White America" they have the obligation to represent the spectrum of what America is. What racists want is for these things to be BOTH exclusively white, AND for no one to call them on it. Can't have it both ways.
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On this forum, whose venom makes it very clear that we liberals aren't hallucinating when we say racism is alive and well. Without your vomiting forth of the bile you were served in your cradle, moderates might well think the fight was over. From the bottom of my heart, I say: "please keep it up, Dudes!"
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Walt Disney cast James Baskett, in what became one of the first starring feature film roles for a black actor in Hollywood. He also worked fervently to make sure that Baskett's work was recognized, making him the first black actor to receive an Academy Award. Walt (like MANY) may have been racially insensitive (in not realizing what might or might not be considered offensive... but went as far as consulting black scholars on the script for SotS and having it screenplay written by a far left Jew) but he held no animosity towards African Americans, considered Baskett a personal friend and the best actor of his generation.
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I'm more excited about this movie than AVATAR! Can't wait to see this.
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You are a racist.
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When I was a child trying to wrap my head around the concept of racism, my father explained it to me like this: It stems from insecurity. People who have nothing to feel personal pride about cling to race as a distinguishing characteristic. If they are not particularly intelligent, talented or wealthy (at least during their formative years), they will often pride themselves on the fact that at least they're not... (black, hispanic, Jewish, etc.). And when these people see more successful, intelligent or wealthy people of their own race condemn them for their ignorance, it threatens their worldview, so they must label these people as "others" as well, the most common epithet being "liberal." It's sad, but there's no cure for low self-esteem borne of mediocrity.
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And enjoyed it greatly. Disney brought their current "A" game, and if that isn't as high as it has been at certain periods in their past, this was one accomplished, polished work of popular entertainment. I have zero problems with it overall. Wish the songs had been better (they were just o.k.) but the art, voices, general story and the rest of the package was fine. They dealt with race as if it was class, which was probably the right way to handle the matter. Overall, a "B+", and an "A+" if I consider the company's history. Well, well done, and the audience loved it. The extended bit where they were frogs in the swamp was perfect. Whether by plan or accident, you have a long sequence where the audience will identify with typical Disney critters. If they then flinch when they turn into brown-skinned humans, only the truly soul-dead would fail to question their own reaction: why can I identify with an amphibian but not a human being? That's a great question, and I give Disney props for that little touch of awareness, whether deliberate or not.
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Just because I am not the target audience for this film does not mean I am incapable of enjoying a family/children's film. I am not cynical for thinking that a Company who has been making top notch children's films, which I still enjoy as an adult, for decades could and should do better than this. It is a lazy effort and equally lazy to just accept its sub-par quality because it is intended for a younger audience. Maybe you raise your children to be be entertained by whatever you put in front of them, But I have a higher opinion of my children than than that and my children and I expect better from Disney.
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Talk about bland. Can there be a frog character any blander than Kermit? Disney says: "Yes!" Yeah, I saw the film this evening...not a sold-out show, by the way, not a good sign on a Sat night...and there were some good things about it - accomplished animation, Tiana's southern belle buddy is a hoot (and damn near steals the movie), the backgrounds were lovely...and Tiana, as a human, is TOPS. But sadly, she doesn't stay human long, and that's when the movie becomes ordinary. Plus, the Facilier character lacks the dark sarcasm of Scar or Jafar...the movie needed to spend a little more time than it did on his motivation. The jazz-loving alligator is a very distant, very poor cousin to Baloo, and as for the firefly...well, let's cut the poor little critter some slack...considering...well, don't wanna spoil it. But I have to say it again...this movie, as did all the other animated movies this year, fell short of Astro Boy. That is the ONLY film that I kept thinking about, hell, am STILL thinking about, after having seen it. Princess and the Frog was a cute movie. But it wasn't gripping like The Lion King, or magical like Beauty and the Beast, and had no sidekicks who could even stand in the shadows of the Seven Dwarfs. The characters in this film perhaps moved with style and grace...but no soul. It was all very accomplished, but there was no real ART. Make no mistake, this is not a bad movie. It just isn't all that...great.
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Didn't bother writing a review because I thought it was decidedly 'meh' - it seems designed just to add a new Princess to the Disney list. The Stella gag is good though.
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That Keith David defintely qualifies as a "Big Name" in the heart of any decent human being? Come on Capone, lets have some standards here.
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Did anyone notice how much the trumpet playing gator looked like the croc in peter pan? Or howabout the old vodoo ladies snake, pratically a dead ringer for the jungle book. You can tell they were just useing the art handbook to cram as many classic disney faces so as to make us feel nolstalgic. The movie is good but not so origional.
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Jeez if we're gonna start pointing racist fingers we might as well say that Avatar is racist! Well why not? All the tribal blue aliens are played by black actors.
I don't understand why people have to ruin a movie by picking at every little thing about it. Don't you remember enjoying films when you were a child, just for entertainment value? Not boycotting it just because it "wasn't realistic". For Christ's sake, it's a cartoon!
I loved this movie, and I loved Avatar. Sure, it's not original, but when was the last time you saw an original movie? It really doesn't bother me if you don't enjoy the film because of generic reasons (maybe it wasn't good, didn't make you laugh...) but when idiots go around trying to call anything and everything racist, sexist, etc then it's truly sad.
I like that Disney are finally branching out a bit from their stereotypical girl-just-wants-to-marry-a-prince story line. Tiana was ambitious, and THAT is something I have never seen in a Disney movie before.
So continue taking films apart, and continue spoiling them for yourselves and other people. In the end, what have you got left other than an inflated ego and too much time on your hands? -
Jeez if we're gonna start pointing racist fingers we might as well say that Avatar is racist! Well why not? All the tribal blue aliens are played by black actors.
I don't understand why people have to ruin a movie by picking at every little thing about it. Don't you remember enjoying films when you were a child, just for entertainment value? Not boycotting it just because it "wasn't realistic". For Christ's sake, it's a cartoon!
I loved this movie, and I loved Avatar. Sure, it's not original, but when was the last time you saw an original movie? It really doesn't bother me if you don't enjoy the film because of generic reasons (maybe it wasn't good, didn't make you laugh...) but when idiots go around trying to call anything and everything racist, sexist, etc then it's truly sad.
I like that Disney are finally branching out a bit from their stereotypical girl-just-wants-to-marry-a-prince story line. Tiana was ambitious, and THAT is something I have never seen in a Disney movie before.
So continue taking films apart, and continue spoiling them for yourselves and other people. In the end, what have you got left other than an inflated ego and too much time on your hands? -
Lots of give and take on this movie. But it is a Disney Movie,
good animation, story, music.
As good as the Lion King? Probably
not. But the children in the theatre where I saw this were engaged, and delighted. I doubt any
were concerned about racism. Perhaps going in with an open mind,
ready to watch a movie for what it is, and then perhaps it is easier to enjoy.
Relax folks.
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