"The Princess and the Frog"
(2010, Ron Clements and John Musker, USA)
Average Contributor Rating: .

It’s been a decade and a half since Pixar burst into the hearts of cinema audiences everywhere with the brilliant Toy Story, and since then, they’ve maintained an almost-unmatched record of excellence. While it’s hard to pin Pixar’s success to any one person, there is one man who could lay a none-too-considerable claim to having a large part in it, one man who has overseen the creation of every single Pixar film since Toy Story and before – John Lasseter. While Lasseter was directly responsible for the studio’s worst film, having directed the slightly bland but still watchable Cars, the man still has a glittering array of work under his belt as both a director and an executive producer. So it was no surprise that, when Pixar was bought out by Disney in 2006, Lasseter was made Chief Creative Officer of both Pixar’s and Disney’s animation studios. His work in the role up to this point has been mixed, to say the least – while two of Pixar’s best films, Wall-E and Up, have been made and released since then, Walt Disney Animation Studios released the unremarkable Meet the Robinsons and the anaemic Bolt in the same time-frame. However, Lasseter’s work with Walt Disney Animation Studios has all been building up to this year, with the release of the first hand-drawn animation from the studio since the failure of 2004’s Home on the Range – The Princess and the Frog. And my, what a return to 2D it is.

The Princess and the Frog follows Tiana, a hardworking girl who has dedicated her life to making her and her father’s dream come true by opening her own restaurant. Her culinary talents and hardworking nature run counter to the laziness and materialism of Prince Naveen of Maldonia, a spoiled young royal cut off from his parents and down to his last pennies. However, when the two are turned into frogs, they must work together to stop evil voodoo practitioner Dr. Facilier and Naveen’s jealous servant, before they become stuck as frogs forever. As is obvious, The Princess and the Frog does come packaged with a fairly standard Disney narrative, but, as with the best Disney films, it’s told in such an enchanting and endearing way as to easily overcome that problem. The animation is fantastic, containing welcome stylistic flourishes typical of 1950s Disney animation while creating an impressive and vibrant setting in 1920s New Orleans. The characters are all fun and likable, the film is directed with energy and style by Aladdin directors Ron Clements and John Musker, and the musical numbers are as memorable and catchy as any in the history of Disney animation, infused as they are with flecks of native New Orleans musical styles (the funereal dirge of the exceptional villain song Friends on the Other Side, the Cajun bluegrass sound of Gonna Take You There, the jazz-inspired When We’re Human).

However, what works best in The Princess and the Frog is that it isn’t a mindlessly cheery, shallow affair. Pixar’s innate understanding of Walt Disney’s mantra, “a tear for every laugh,” has been carried by Lasseter to Walt Disney Animation Studios. Bolt carried hints of that understanding, but it’s in The Princess and the Frog that the mantra is nailed for the first time in a 2-D Disney film since the early 1990s. The humanity of the cast of characters gives the film an unexpected emotional depth, and the film is also surprisingly dark. This is particularly evident in the silken-voiced villain Dr. Facilier (voiced by Keith David), one of the most memorable Disney villains since Scar and Jafar. While Facilier is a powerful voodoo magician, he’s also a desperate man in hock to forces beyond his control, and it’s almost time for him to pay up. He’s not evil per se, just betrayed by his ambition and looking for a way out, and the darkness that follows him is far more terrifying than the man himself. He’s a surprisingly potent villain because of what trails him, and his presence adds a sinister edge to the film that makes it far more palatable than if it were just candy-coated sweetness.

The Princess and the Frog may not be up there with the best of Disney’s Golden Ages of animation – it’s no Pinocchi nor Bambi, nor is it a Lion King nor Aladdin – but it is an excellent return to form for hand-drawn Disney animation. If anything, it’s on a par with the likes of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and with its great animation, music, comedy and heart, it should act as an excellent herald of a third Golden Age of Disney Animation, if one does indeed arise from it. . AG.

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This review contains spoilers, but come on, you know how this one's going to end anyway.

It’s difficult not to like Disney films. Growing up, everybody sees those acknowledged classics which will, no doubt, remain a mainstay of children’s film viewing for many, many generations to come. That is, unless the computer trickery of beloved Pixar kicks them off the quota. But still, for all intents and purposes, Disney hold pre-teens in some sort of 2D-inflicted trance, unwilling to withdraw their stranglehold over the word of children’s film entertainment. Recently, though, standards have been notoriously slipping. “Bolt” was a return to mediocrity, which was at least something, but pretty much everything they’ve produced in the past decade has been poor. When I was little, seeing that Disney logo show up was almost an insurance of quality. Nowadays, it simply acts as a reminder of past disappointments. Couple this with a few trailers that ruined my perceptions on reality (The Rock in a tutu and fairy wings… Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ralph Fiennes, Bill Bailey, and Emma Thompson starring in tripe like “Nanny McPhee”…), the fact that I was about to spend more money than I anticipated on Valentine’s evening, and my usual pretentious nit-picky taste, and I really didn’t expect to like “The Princess and the Frog”. Turns out, I did.

The story is pretty simple, and somewhat overdone. A girl kisses a frog, thinking that it will turn into a handsome prince that will whisk her off her feet. However, some unfortunate luck turns Disney’s first black princess green, and for the rest of the runtime she, he, a croc and a firefly go on a quest to turn them back into human form. Despite its startling unoriginality in the story, there are actually more than a few things to like about “The Princess and the Frog”. As Adam has already gone to great lengths to point out, it really does have a brilliant villain, who is certainly one of the best as far as children’s animation goes for the past decade or so. Dr Facilier, awesomely voiced by Keith “I didn’t take it out for air, baby” David, is vividly imagined and expertly brought to life. He’s one part creepy, one part full-on psychedelic crazy, but with a hint of insecurity about his debts to higher powers (indeed, his son “Friends on the Other Side” is the best of a bad bunch). When he is on the screen, the whole film lifts in quality, and it’s actually a disappointment when the villain finally gets offed. Past him, the 2D animation is quite refreshing to see, especially in a world where glossy, soulless (chalk it up) animation is placed as paramount importance. Story telling, charm, warmth, and humour are of highest priority in this film, and although the first of those four does come up a little short, the other three are here in bucket loads. There’s also one genuinely hilarious gag, involving our sidekick crocodile and his preposterous musical aspirations.

All of this said, there are a few flaws that drag the film down to a ‘just good’ level. The songs are quite tame, quite safe, and actually quite pointless. Not one of them has context that doesn’t come equipped with a complementary shoe horn, and it’s odd to say that the most unfunny, unimportant, and coldest moments of the film are when the cast is singing and dancing. Remember how you felt when the Dwarfs sang their way home, or when Baloo taught us about the bear necessities? Nothing – absolutely nothing – comes even close to that level of instant likeability, and even the presence of music in “Princess and the Frog” is actually quite unpleasant. I’d also say that the team skate on thin ice a little towards the beginning of the film with some pretty obvious, unsubtle racial stereotypes accompanying Disney’s first black princess to the screen. Worst of all, though, is the ending, which rivals “Beauty in the Beast” in its unnecessary blinkered view of the world. It kind of destroys everything that the film has said over the past two hours, and it really sent me away with quite a sour taste in my mouth. And that’s a shame, because it has one of the best movie villains and one of the best gags in recent animation history, and it’s certainly a step in the right direction for the much maligned guys over at Pixar-less Disney. . JB. .