During the 2000s era, Disney, for the most part, was struggling to keep on churning out animated classics, especially with competition from other animation studios like Dreamworks and even Pixar. 2D animation was starting to become old fashioned and the Walt Disney Animation Studios would eventually make a jump to becoming a studio that makes CGI animated features from now on starting with Chicken Little. Still, the company did try its hand at making a few traditionally animated features before committing fully to the modern CGI style we all know today. While they weren't major successes financially, they would go on to get cult status from fans old and new alike. One of the films that seem to have this fate is The Princess and the Frog which is the second to last traditionally animated fairytale from the directors who brought us Disney Renesscaince classics such as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
In New Orleans, an overworked waitress named Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) shares her father’s dream of owning a restaurant in the heart of the city. Eventually, she gets the money but is outbid by another buyer, suddenly she comes across a talking frog who is the charming yet lazy Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) of Maldonia as he was unknowingly transformed into a frog by a Voodoo Witch named Dr. Faciliar (Keith David), Naveen puts together that for the spell to be undone, Tiana must kiss him as Naveen mistakes him for a princess, she kissed him but gets transformed into a frog herself, the duo finds themselves in the swamps of Bayou where they try to survive each other’s personalities, but they come across some friendly animal faces including Ray the Firefly (Jim Cummings) and Louis the Alligator (Michael-Leon Wooley) who all try to find Mama Odie to reverse the spell and make Tiana and Naveen Human again before Dr. Faciliar gets ahold of them.
The story isn’t perfect but it is undeniably passionate as the film harkens back to the Disney studio's fairytale roots to create something old but also new and relevant. Firstly, I appreciate how balanced the message is in that yes work hard to achieve your dreams but also don’t forget to make time to relax and have fun. It's a great message for kids and even hard-working adults that may relate to Tiana’s upbringing. I’ll also say that the movie has a very strong opening as it jumps right into giving the audience that New Orleans slice of life with very likable characters and New Orleans customs. The New Orleans setting is also a very unique setting that does not get spotlighted in animation or even live-action for the matter. The movie takes a new approach to the classic Princess and the Frog story and adds its own twists and turns to make it as different and interesting as possible compared to the inspired source material. It's a shame because things seem to take a bit of a turn when Tiana gets turned into a frog herself and her journey to loosen up and fall in love with Navine while not badly done seems to slow the pace of the movie down. The chemistry between Tiana and Naveen has its moments but they aren’t quite as lovable as a pair when compared to Disney’s most well-known animated couples. A misunderstanding involving Tiana and Naveen's scene during the third act seems to also take place, it's short, but it felt unneeded. Then there is also the plot with Dr. Faciliar trying to take over the New Orleans town which felt a little complicated to take in but the character’s passionate energy did at least attempt to keep me invested in what was going on. There are a few hiccups in the road, but the overall result was still so entertaining that I was willing to overlook the minor issues.
The characters have that classic charm to them and each of them has identifiable traits that make them timeless and fun to watch. For being the first African American Princess, Tiana played by Ankina Noni Rose is quite different from many other Disney Princesses as she is always hardworking and determined to reach her goal, but its done so in an entertaining and relatable fashion. Prince Naveen played by Bruno Campos is also fun as he plays the laid-back and lazy fast talker who could have been so easily annoying but the script and execution of Campos's performance makes him feel human when he needs to be and show signs of empathy. Keith David as Dr. Faciliar is off the charts as he reminds me of the classic Disney villains from the Disney Renaissance era and David’s Performance just screams evil as he loves what he is doing and shows little regret for doing the things he does. The animal side characters can be fun too such as the great voice actor Jim Cummings voicing the Firefly Ray who has a lot of likable and funny moments and an Aligator Louis played by Micheal-Leon Wooley who also gets a few laughs every now and again. Some other likable characters may even include Jennifer Cody as Tiana’s childhood friend Charlotte and Charlotte’s Father played by John Goodman. It’s quite an impressive cast of characters and they all in turn bring to life the New Orleans spirit that is prevalent throughout the movie.
It’s sad to see the Walt Disney Animation Studios leaving their traditional animated roots behind because this movie proves that the company can still make impressive 2D animation while updating their usual formula ever so slightly to make it hold up to a modern moviegoer. The animation was done using a software called ToonBoom Harmony, which is different compared to the classic way Disney traditionally did their animation starting from Snow White, but even the change of software didn’t stop the animators to make a visually gorgeous film. The character designs are drawn in the traditional Disney way that was made popular with other Disney Fairytales both old and new and their wide range of expressions is great for conveying all sorts of emotions. The way New Orleans is portrayed in this movie is just bursting with life and personality. There are so many bright and vivid colors that come from showing the run down but also lively city streets and the swamp in the bayou. The song sequences in particular are also very well done and the color schemes and styles of animation they used for those sequences are outstanding in their own unique ways. The Friends on the Other Side sequence comes alive with bright neon colors and is full of voodoo-like imagery while the Almost Their sequence uses the art style of the Harlem Renaissance painter Aaron Douglas which creates some unique stand out animation that not only represents New Orleans but how great Disney is in combining different styles of artistry to make one grand piece of work. I hope Disney reconsiders doing another 2D animated feature again because this movie’s visual splendor is just what the audience needs to witness in a Hollywood system run purely by CGI animated features.
Originally the music was gonna be composed by long-time Disney composer Alan Meken who is known for providing tunes for many well-known films during the Disney Renaissance. When Pixar CEO John Lasseter was hired to be executive producer, he recommended doing a different composer instead. Randy Newman was chosen seeing as he scored and wrote songs for many of the early Pixar movies and honestly it seemed like the right call as his style of making music matched perfectly with the aesthetic the film goes for. Most of the songs are done with the New Orleans style of music in mind and they are great toe-tappers that are sure to please. Songs like “Almost There” and “Friends on the Other Side” can rival any of the songs from the Disney Renaissance era but admittedly there are some songs that while are great may not quite reach the same level of memorability as “Dig a Little Deeper” and “When I’m Human” but they are still well sung and well-composed. The rest of the orchestration brings that classic Randy Newman type score that will bring back memories of Toy Story or even Monsters. Inc. The music feels true to the spirit of what Disney was before and adds new flair with Randy Newman in tow to make for a unique musical soundtrack.
Directors John Musker and Rob Clements brought all their passion and energy to create a fairytale that while may not quite reach the same standard of excellence as Aladdin or The Little Mermaid, still did just enough to make an experience that is still worth seeing in your lifetime. Its flawed but wonderful storytelling, lovable characters, outstanding 2D animation and great songs and music from composer Randy Newman make this movie an example as to why Disney should really look into maybe making another movie of its kind just like this one did. Although it was a success financially, The Princess and The Frog sadly didn’t quite make the money it was hoping to make when compared to the CGI Animated movies that came out the same year. Sure, I do love the Disney’s Revival Era movies with all of its glorified CGI Animation and lovable characters, but I understand that 2D animation is what the Walt Disney Animation Studio was originally built upon and Its a form of art that should not be ignored by the company even though the CGI films have proven to gain more of an audience than the 2D animated counterparts. This movie proves that it doesn’t matter what form of animation you use, as long as you have a good story with good characters the style of animation is only secondary compared to everything else and The Princess and the Frog is an example of that argument.
(Final Grade: B+)