For the past decade, Disney Animation has meant little without Pixar. All of the sharp storytelling and visual artistry that made Walt Disney famous came not from the studio he started, but from a company originally founded by George Lucas.
Some movies made in that time stood out, such as “Lilo and Stitch” and “Enchanted.” But they never quite achieved the magic Disney had lost. By 2004, Disney altogether stopped making hand-drawn animated movies.
“Princess and the Frog” restores the glimmer of Disney’s previous glory to a respectable glow. The movie isn’t perfect, but the studio’s finally returning to form. By taking the fairy-tale magic that was Disney’s hallmark and combining it with a more culturally-relevant setting, “The Princess and the Frog” shows the early signs of a new era for Disney.
The film tells the story of Tiana, an African-American girl living in jazz-age New Orleans. She dreams of owning her own restaurant. She encounters the dashing-but-broke Prince Naveen of Maldonia, currently in frog form due to an ill-advised visit to voodoo trickster Dr. Facilier. Tiana is soon pulled into the self-centered Naveen’s curse, and the two must overcome their initial dislike of one another and find a way to restore their human shape.
The movie’s main strength is the animation. The movie pops with vivid colors that capture the vitality of a vibrant New Orleans. What stands out the most, however, is the subtlety brought to some shots.
Scenes with a family of fireflies slowly bringing the nighttime bayou to a quiet brilliance, or the slinking, shrieking shadows haunting shadowman Facilier, leave the deepest impression.
Your kids will love this movie, and you should enjoy it. The characters are fun and inspiring, finally expanding the backgrounds of its heroes and heroines. The story even contains a few surprises, such as the dexterity with which the character Charlotte La Bouff is handled. She could have followed the wicked stepsister model, but instead she reveals caring warmth underneath her spoiled exterior.
Younger children might be afraid of certain scenes involving Dr. Facilier’s voodoo practices. But I was terrified of Ursula as a child and I still loved “The Little Mermaid,” so that might not discourage determined young Disney fans.
But this movie isn’t an instant classic, like Disney films from earlier decades. Two things keep me from loving the movie: the princesses and the music. Disney has long frustrated me with its focus on princesses-as-heroines, and it acknowledges this in “Princess and the Frog.” Tiana is the counterpoint to her princess-obsessed friend Charlotte, favoring hard work over wishes on a star to achieve her dreams. She vows to make her own happiness, not find it in a prince.
I cheered Tiana’s tenacity. Then the plot dictated Tiana marry a prince in order to achieve her happy ending. The movie tried to soften the blow with talk of the loving family you need as opposed to the dreams you want, and while I agree wholeheartedly with that, it’s still sloppy writing. Surely the movie could have found a way not to undermine its story, such as making Naveen not an actual prince but metaphoric royalty, as is another character in the film.
But my biggest beef with “Princess and the Frog” is its music. It’s fine, but not extraordinary; I saw the film mere hours ago and I can’t recall a single note from a single song. What catapulted classics like “Beauty and the Beast” to lifetime favorites are rousing numbers as fun to sing as to watch. “Princess and the Frog” doesn’t have anything like that.
Maybe I’m drowning in nostalgia, unable to see past what I enjoyed as a child to recognize what kids today might love. But I grew up on more Disney films than just the ones with great music, and it’s the ones with catchy tunes that remain my top favorites.
With “Princess and the Frog,” Disney is well on its way to entering a new creative resurgence, like it did before in the late 1980s. It just needs to do a few things to get there: rehire composer Alan Menken, and find a way to craft a strong heroine who never bears a crown.
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