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
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