The Princess and the Frog (Blu Ray) – Review
Movies, Reviews | Damon Cap | March 19, 2010 at 2:59 pmThe Princess and the Frog transports audiences to glorious, glamorous New Orleans as Tiana, the first African American Disney princess meets her frog prince and gives him the fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical, magical bayous of Louisiana. The Princess and the Frog’s colorful cast of one-of-a-kind new characters joyfully raises the roof, with voice performances from stars including Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose (Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, 2004,“Caroline, or Change”), Keith David (Crash), Jenifer Lewis (“Strong Medicine”), Jim Cummings (“Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”), Michael- Leon Wooley (Ghost Town), Bruno Campos (“Nip/Tuck”), Peter Bartlett (The Producers), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Jennifer Cody (Broadway’s “Shrek: The Musical”), Oprah Winfrey and John Goodman (Monsters, Inc.).
I sat down this past weekend with my boys to watch The Princess and the Frog while my wife attended her baby shower. I really did not know what I was in store for, as I had not followed any of the hype surrounding this movie. I recently read the review of the movie from our New Orleans-based editor over at BSCreview, but I want to take a bit more kid-friendly approach with my review here.
The fantasy setting normally associated with this tale is traded for the the legendary Big Easy, where we get to meet Tiana, a hardworking young lady determined to fulfil the dream her late father had of owning an elegant supper club. Tiana gets mixed up with a handsome prince who becomes the latest person the evil Dr. Facilier is looking to scheme. After Tiana and Prince Naveen are turned into frogs, they travel into the heart of the Louisiana bayou to find a priestess who can cure them both. Along the way they meet a trumpet-playing alligator and Cajun firefly, Ray, who help them in their quest to become human again.
I thought that the characters were all wonderfully crafted and felt alive and real. Even the animal characters were given enough personality so that they did not fade into the background of the story. I can tell you this much about Dr. Facilier, who is also known as The Shadow Man: he may be a bit much in the movie for the younger kids. I know the movie has a G rating, but my younger boy did have a scary nightmare after watching it. Not to say that this might not happen with other Disney villains, but even I found him a bit too scary for the kids. That being said, he is a great villain, and Keith David does a heck of a job with his voice and style.
The musical numbers were fun and fit well with the style of the movie. “Friends on the Other Side,” which was a solo for the Doctor Facilier, was top-notch stuff. We also have an end credit song from Ne-Yo called “Never Knew I Needed.” All the songs were fun and did not take away from the pace of the story; rather they added some extra depth to the story.
While this is touted heavily as a great return to hand-drawn animation, I personally do not see the draw to hand-drawn art. I have fallen in love with the Pixar look, so this was not any sort of trip down memory lane in animation for me. The quality and color of this hand-drawn movie was top notch, just not something that I saw as a necessity.
I loved the twist on a a classic story, adored the character of Tiana, felt that Charlotte and her father played perfect secondary characters. Prince Naveen played the perfect knuckle-headed self-entitled prince to start with, who becomes more relateable as he grows with the story. Mama Odie is the twist on a fairy godmother, and Ray and Louis are the distinct traveling companions. Doctor Facilier is a great villian, just one that may be a bit scary for the younger children. A great story for the adults with enough to keep the children interested. I have two boys, so I wonder if from a young girl’s perspective this becomes a stronger story? Also for those that think Naveen and Tiana fell in love too quickly, my answer to that is look at what they went through. That sort of experience can bring people together very quickly.
I want to point out the bonus features for the Blu Ray, as Disney always packs them in for the viewer. As an adult what I found wonderful about the bonus features are how much Disney history and legacy that they bring to the viewer. Some of my highlights include the deleted scenes. I am usually always happy to see any deleted scenes for a movie, but we have the co-writer and directors giving us their commentary on the scenes, as well. The deleted scenes are in rough storyboard form (before any animation), and the voice-overs are not from the actors in the movies. You can really tell how certain scenes would have slowed the movie down too much. Another favorite was “Bringing Life to Animation with an introduction by John Musker and Ron Clements.” This showed you the live action reference footage that was taken side by side with the animation. It was really neat to see how they used the live action to help the animators with the tall task of making hand-drawn animation feel alive.
The game “What Do You See: Princess Portraits” features the firefly family creating portraits of a princess whom you have to identify with your remote. Was interesting for the kids to play for a few minutes. “The Magic in the Bayou” has all the history of Disney that went into this movie, and commentary on how they wanted to bring back the fairy tale and hand-drawn animation. I like how they talk about the parallels the characters of New Orleans have to the classic fairy tale and how that keeps a classic story fresh.
Bonus Features
The single disc DVD comes with these exciting bonus features:
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary by John Musker and Ron Clements (co-writers and directors) and Peter Del Vecho (producer)
• “Never Knew I Needed” – Music video by Ne-Yo
Games and Activities
• What Do You See: Princess Portraits — A bayou-style quiz tests viewers’ knowledge of all of Disney’s beautiful princesses. Ray’s firefly family creates twinkling portraits of each princess, and if the player correctly identifies her, they can enjoy a tongue-cheek mini re-telling of that character’s story.
The Blu-ray Combo Pack edition comes with additional bonus features, including:
Backstage Disney
• Magic In The Bayou: The Making of A Princess — Co-writers and directors John Musker and Ron Clements take a freewheeling, behind-the-scenes look at the making of Disney’s newest animated film as it grows from an initial concept to a lavish animated film set in the enchanting world of New Orleans and the surrounding bayous.
• The Return To Hand Drawn Animation
• The Disney Legacy
• Disney’s Newest Princess
• The Princess and the Animator
• Conjuring The Villain
• A Return To The Animated Musical
• Bringing Life to Animation with an introduction by John Musker and Ron Clements.
• Deleted Scenes introduced by the filmmakers
• Art Galleries — A collection of storyboard art traces the visual development of The Princess and the Frog’s rich gallery of characters and settings.
About Disney’s Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + DisneyFile in a single package):
To provide consumers with unprecedented quality, value and portability of their favorite Disney movies, in 2008 Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE) pioneered the Combo Pack – a Blu-ray Disc™ plus a DVD and a DisneyFile digital copy of the film in a single package. Current WDSHE branded titles available as Combo Packs include, Bolt, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Up.
STREET DATE: March 16, 2010
Review copy provided by Disney
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Tags: Disney, The Princess and the Frog
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