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Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" was number one at the box office last weekend, taking in $24.2 million. It's Disney's first animated fairy tale starring a black princess and after you ask yourself, what the heck took them so long, the big question, black princess aside is, how's the movie?
Well, the movie's quite good.
Time Magazine in fact calls it the Best Film of 2009.
While I'm not quite ready to say that, I will say all the Disney magic and beautiful, hand drawn animation are enchanting in this story set in New Orleans during the Jazz Age. Tiana (Anika Noni Rose, pictured above), the aforementioned princess, is a lovely character full of hopes and dreams. As a child, she shares her Dad's (Terrence Howard) love of cooking and as an adult, she dreams of opening the restaurant he never could.
Her prince, Naveen (Bruno Campos) loves jazz music and wants to live the high life even though he's been cut off without a cent by his parents. That lust for money is what gets him in trouble with Dr. Facilier (Keith David), an evil voodoo priest who tempts people with their heart's desire but demands a terrible price.
Also in the cast is Tiana's friend Charlotte (Jennifer Cody). Charlotte's kind of a parody of other Disney princesses. She's blond, her daddy's rich and she's quite spoiled, but--and here's where those racial images are important--because she's white, I was thrilled to see that she never became Tiana's savior or her enemy.
Anika Noni Rose of "Dreamgirls" and "The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency" shows her marvelous versatility as Tiana. Bruno Campos, aka The Carver from "Nip/Tuck"--from one extreme to the other!--does Prince Naveen proud. The rest of the cast including Jenifer Lewis, John Goodman, Michael-Leon Wooley, Oprah Winfrey and Jim Cummings give solid and entertaining support.
As far as the plot, every fairy tale needs its life lessons. By the end of the movie, Tiana learns she has to dig deep to live a happy life, and Prince Naveen learns that money and living the high life aren't everything.
I agree with Kimberly at LadyGypsy.net who felt the messages were important yet subtlely delivered:
I never felt beaten over the head with any of these themes. For example, when Tiana and her mother left Big Daddy’s house via streetcar, you see a change from the mansions to the smaller working-class housing. You immediately know Tiana’s family doesn’t have as much as Big Daddy and Lottie. But Tiana’s family doesn’t whine about being poorer or having to work harder. They just are and do.
"The Princess and the Frog" is more closely related to "Beauty and the Beast" than say "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" or "Sleeping Beauty." Belle and Tiana both have interests they love, for Belle it was books and reading and for Tiana, cooking, that make the characters that much more relatable.
"The Princess and the Frog" is full of rich atmosphere: scenes of jazz, food and the racial melting pot that makes up New Orleans. The animated extras are drawn in a welcome range of skin tones, shapes and sizes.
As a salute to the animation, it was also great to see the lead animators for the main characters recognized individually in the credits. I don't remember seeing that before.
Surprisingly, I liked the film more than my young companions. Cara, who's six and Milos, who's nine, weren't nearly as impressed as I was. Cara got spooked by the Dr. Facilier demons and Milos thought the best part was when a main character died.
What can I say, he's only nine.
They both enjoyed the movie but I have a feeling the old fashioned animation and story telling weren't their cup of tea. They appear to be more of the Pixar, "Toy Story" generation.
However, I was very excited to see this movie and I wasn't the only one. Kat Calvin at BAP World loved it:
I am so excited, I have been waiting for this movie since I was 5 and it was everything that I have always wanted it to be. I loooove that it was set in NOLA (and it looked and sounded just like the Louisiana I used to live in, right down to the occasional Voodoo influences), love that she was absolutely beautiful and played by the inestimable Anika Noni Rose, who did a phenomenal job, love that
