When Toy Story was released in 1995 moviegoers clamored to get a look at Disney’s first full-length computer animated film. It was new and exciting--something we hadn’t seen before and didn’t know was possible. What we didn’t realize at the time is that the film’s success signified a definitive end to the golden age of Disney animated films. As audiences fell in love with Buzz, Woody, Nemo, and Sulley, the quality of Disney’s other animated films plummeted. With forgettable titles like Atlantis and Tarzan it became apparent that the current generation of youngsters would grow old with computer animated memories. It didn’t help that nearly every other studio followed suit and jumped on the digital wave. Computers made it easy and cost-efficient to make an animated movie. Throw some money at a couple well-known actors, match their voices up with some talking animals and you’ve got a hit. (How else can you explain Open Season?)
In a time where absolutely everyone is looking for the next big thing, Disney went back to the basics and proved why they are the worldwide leader in children's entertainment. The Princess and the Frog, Disney’s first hand-drawn animated film since 2003’s Brother Bear, is an instant classic. The magic is back with impressionistic animation that looks cutting edge despite using technology that is decades old. A voodoo sequence is downright psychedelic, and the art deco-inspired restaurant segment offers an explosion of vibrant colors. I didn’t expect the animation to look all that different but it’s been so long since we’ve seen anything like this that it really stands out.
Read more after the jump!
In a time where absolutely everyone is looking for the next big thing, Disney went back to the basics and proved why they are the worldwide leader in children's entertainment. The Princess and the Frog, Disney’s first hand-drawn animated film since 2003’s Brother Bear, is an instant classic. The magic is back with impressionistic animation that looks cutting edge despite using technology that is decades old. A voodoo sequence is downright psychedelic, and the art deco-inspired restaurant segment offers an explosion of vibrant colors. I didn’t expect the animation to look all that different but it’s been so long since we’ve seen anything like this that it really stands out.
Read more after the jump!
The fairytale is set in New Orleans, where Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a hard working woman saving every penny she makes to open her own restaurant. When her dreams fall by the wayside she resorts to kissing a frog who claims to be Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos). The adventure begins when Tiana is transformed into a frog and the fellow amphibians are sent gallivanting through the bayou in an effort to stop Dr. Facilier (Keith David) from completing his evil plot to take over New Orleans. Helped along by a snaggletooth lightning bug named Ray (Jim Cummings) and a trumpet playing alligator named Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) the group sets out in search of Mama Odie (Jenifer Louis), a 197-year-old voodoo priestess that can hopefully make the hero and heroine human again.
Writer and Director Ron Clements, the same guy who brought us The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, has crafted a story completely devoid of pop culture references, relying instead on slapstick comedy and high-brow humor. With traditional themes like working hard to achieve your dreams and being true to yourself it’s the classic Disney tale.
Most of the voice actors are relative unknowns, which is nice because it allowed the animators to create original characters instead of crafting a personality around the audience’s preconceived notion of what a well-known actor’s character should be like. Dr. Facilier is the harmless, yet intimidating villain we’ve longed for since the days of Jafar, and Ray the lightning bug is the Jiminy Cricket of the bayou.
The only disappointment in the movie is the soundtrack, which didn’t resonate as strongly as I hoped it would. Other than the trumpet-playing alligator there wasn’t anything that stood out. With such a strong musical setting in New Orleans there was certainly ample opportunity for some Creole creativity, but Randy Newman stuck to his laurels and it came out flat.
Disney is receiving a lot of negative press for this being its first African-American princess, when in reality critics should be applauding the mouse house for their clean-cut film that was unapologetically made with children in mind. Despite being the very definition of a G-rated movie, adults will take great pleasure in The Princess and the Frog, if only for nostalgia’s sake.
--Mark Collins
Writer and Director Ron Clements, the same guy who brought us The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, has crafted a story completely devoid of pop culture references, relying instead on slapstick comedy and high-brow humor. With traditional themes like working hard to achieve your dreams and being true to yourself it’s the classic Disney tale.
Most of the voice actors are relative unknowns, which is nice because it allowed the animators to create original characters instead of crafting a personality around the audience’s preconceived notion of what a well-known actor’s character should be like. Dr. Facilier is the harmless, yet intimidating villain we’ve longed for since the days of Jafar, and Ray the lightning bug is the Jiminy Cricket of the bayou.
The only disappointment in the movie is the soundtrack, which didn’t resonate as strongly as I hoped it would. Other than the trumpet-playing alligator there wasn’t anything that stood out. With such a strong musical setting in New Orleans there was certainly ample opportunity for some Creole creativity, but Randy Newman stuck to his laurels and it came out flat.
Disney is receiving a lot of negative press for this being its first African-American princess, when in reality critics should be applauding the mouse house for their clean-cut film that was unapologetically made with children in mind. Despite being the very definition of a G-rated movie, adults will take great pleasure in The Princess and the Frog, if only for nostalgia’s sake.
--Mark Collins
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