“This year has been a good one for animation. I hear there’s even enough elligible films that there’ll be five nods for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars. You’ve got Pixar kicking butt as always with computer animation with Up, and also Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs in the great computer ani. Then there was fantastic stop motion with Fantastic Mr Fox and Coraline. And now, Disney’s kicking it old school with hand drawn animation for Princess and The Frog, and Im so glad for that. I do remember when computer animation was such a big deal, and I’ve seen it get better and better over time (mostly with each Pixar movie) but I’ve also seen it more half assed over time when other studios just crank out these plastic looking hardly thought thru kiddie films. Having grown up during Disney’s second golden age (Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, etc) my poor little heart has been crying and aching for some good hand drawn animation, and so psyched that Disney finally delivered.
The storyline for Princess and the Frog was a really creative twist on the original Frog Prince fairy tale. And I loved the supporting characters, in particular Ray and Louis, although I gotta admit the main characters did annoy me a bit. I found Tiana a slight bit too one-track-minded, and Naveen was too arrogant. Most of my buds who I saw it with adored Charlotte. I did too, while I could stand her. She was a bit much at times. And seriously, what’s up with the Lost actor names for characters? Naveen? Evangeline? Thats the only other time I’ve ever heard those two names.
The music was good, but nothing too spectacular. I much prefer Menken over Randy Newman, and while Newman was better than usual I didnt exactly leave wanting to run to Limewire and download the soundtrack. The New Orleans jazz setting did lend itself to great sound and overall vibe for the movie, and having voodoo available for the required fairy tale magic was a nice bonus.
I liked that this time around, the whole wish upon a star thing was balanced with the idea of working hard to get what you want. You kinda got to see both of those ends of the spectrum and how you need both to make your dreams come true. And even though, as previously mentioned, I may not have entirely cared for Tiana, having a strongwilled independant woman character is always a plus over a fragile little princess. Disney’s usually pretty good about that, but Tiana definitely ranks closer to Mulan than Aurora on that scale.
There was also some great dialogue. A few jokes there for the adults. My favorite being a reference to an AFI movie we’ve already been thru. I wont give it away, but I thought it was quite epic. I was laughing uncontrollably for a minute, but I think I was the only person who was able to fully appreciate it. And of course there was the slapstick comedy that had the little kids to my left and my buddy Carlos to my right convulsing with giggle fits.
So overall, while this may not be a definitive sign of another golden age for Disney, its certainly a step in the right direction.
The Princess and the Frog – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/