Voices By: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Jennifer Cody, John Goodman, Keith David
Director: Ron Clements John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin)
Running Time: 1 hr 35 min
Release Date: Dec. 11, 2009
Budget: $105 million
Critics’ Thumbs Up: 80%
“Go on, give it a big kiss.” Richard Corliss, Time
“…one step forward and two steps back.” Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Though it lacks the depth, heart and memorable songs of Walt Disney’s previous classics like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog still makes for an entertaining and uplifting tale. Taking place in Jazz-Age era Louisiana, Dreamgirls’ Noni Rose plays Tiana, a humble, hard-working young woman who unexpectedly turns into a frog after she smooches a smooth-talking slimy green amphibian who’s actually a prince. Enter a mysterious voodoo man as the conniving villain and a plump, jolly trumpet-playing alligator for the silly sidekick and you’ve got yourself the archetypal Disney film. Its first hand-drawn animated feature since 2004’s Home on the Range, the studio returns to form with this 2-D animated film; yet, rather than feeling nostalgic, P&F’s animation and characters occasionally and surprisingly felt lazy. While Tiana, Disney’s first African American princess, is exquisitely drawn, secondary characters are not. Furthermore, the striking aesthetic similarities between P&F’s Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) and Aladdin, as well as the voodoo man (David) and Aladdin’s Jafar, come off as unimaginative imitations rather than creative homages. Still, its worthwhile message of hard-work and the importance of differentiating needs from wants make this fairy tale magical.
