Powerful

Just perfect...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Movie Review: "The Princess And The Frog" (2009)After being behind expectations with distribution of "Treasure Planet" in holiday season 2002/2003 with a visually overly-done twist on the classic tale by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) "Treasure Island", while Pixar features as "Monsters Inc." (2001), "Finding Nemo" (2003) and "The Incredibles" (2004) take over the animated feature world of pleasure-seeking audiences domestically as internationally; Disney Animation Studios under CEO Bob A. Iger decided to solve the problem by incorporating the whole company of Pixar Animation in 2006 into Disney Enterprises.Nevertheless the bold business move in order to secure Disney's frontrunning position in any field of motion picture animation brings a classical branch to an end with this last fulfilling handly-drawn, traditional-looking, highly atmospheric animated adventurous tragic-comic movie, including the obligatory dancing and singing acts set in early 20th century New Orleans, Louisiana, with another daring twist on a classic fairy tale; this time an high-concept interpretation of "The Frog Prince" from the Brother Grimm's collection of tales conceived in the Mid-of-1850s somewhere in Germany; then bodly translated in a painstaking process over five years with a full-developing production period, spreading from 2004 to 2009 by the never-giving-in writing, directing duo of Ron Clements & John Musker, who are also responsible for the action-adventure-comedies "Aladdin" (1992) and more recently with the highly accomplished digital animation feature "Moana" (2016)."The Princess And The Frog" streams passion from every frame, loving its artform matter of traditional analog animation, which even in the best sense under a tightly-calculated budget of just 105 Million U.S. Dollars over 140 Million U.S. Dollars for "Treasure Planet" (2002) seven years earlier, while digital competitors, usually with a shorter production time-frame completing their schedule from shooting draft to the final release in less then three years, here receive actually close-to a doubled-budget as Pixar's "Up" released in summer time of the same year of 2009, before a year later Disney's "Tangled" (2010) pushed the budget-ladder to never-reached again heights of a 260 Million U.S. Dollars production expenses for a single animated feature.In case of "The Princess And The Frog", the meticulous dedication as to say passion for all-time Walt Disney classics as "Pinocchio" (1940) or "Bambi" (1942) emotionally out-going from the entire production team gets evidence in a classic-Hollywood-paced editorial by Jeff Draheim between a singing, dancing and acting the way through life main character, here with another daydreaming, yet hardworking afro-american waitress Tiana, longing for a restaurant of her own. She meets the Frog eventually on a Southern-fashionable stylish ball in tinted into earthy-colors of symmetry and great add-on digital shading effects before embarking of the adventure of a life-time into the swamps of Louisiana, meeting scary as lovable creatures of the night as show-stealing trumpet-playing Crocodile Louis, animated in the most accomplished manner since crocodiles chasing hippos in Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (1940), here portrayed with a convincing voice by vocal artist Michael-Leon Wooley.Together they confront the grey-area-indulging character of Dr. Facilier, in looks and mimical gestures too close to the character of Jafar from "Aladdin" (1992) to be fully orginally, but nevertheless actor Keith David presents himself in joyful vocal-performing moods to live up to the task in constant-transforming production design interiors of the picture-defining musical act "Friends from the Other Side" with music created by long-time Disney-as-Pixar-movies-enchanting composer Randy Newman, who righteously earned two Oscar Nominations for Original Song, especially for accompanying the visually most-striking scene by re-utilizing special layering effects in golden 1920s art-déco styles, homaging early motion picture history of silent era, while the character of Tiana sings the utmost of charms and happiness-spreading main title of "Almost There".© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

After a prologue where we a mother reading 'The Frog Prince' to her young daughter Tiana and her friend Charlotte we jump forward fourteen years. Tiana is now working hard to open her own restaurant in her home city of New Orleans. Around this time Prince Naveen arrives in New Orleans hoping to find a wealthy woman to marry; Charlotte is the perfect candidate and her father is hosting a ball in the Prince's honour. The Prince, and his valet Lawrence, meet the sinister voodoo witch doctor 'Dr Facilier' who offers to do a tarot reading for them… he has plans of his own though and transforms Naveen into a frog and Lawrence to look like the prince. Naveen the Frog later meets Tiana, and because of her costume mistakes her for a princess. Thinking he can be saved like the Frog Prince he asks her for a kiss… it doesn't work; she becomes a frog! They flee into the bayou and meet various dangers as well as some interesting new friends; notably an alligator who wants to be a jazz trumpeter and a firefly who believes the evening star is his beloved. Here they search out Mama Odie, a hoodoo priestess they believe can cure them.Shortly before this film was made it looks as though Disney was giving up on traditional animation; CGI was the future… this shows they hadn't completely given up; it also shows they can still make great films. The story is a delightful twist on the classic story and is populated with great characters. Much was made at the time of release about how Tiana was Disney's first African American princess; watching the film one wouldn't really think about it; she is just a great character who happens to be black… which is how it should be. She is a likable role model for all young viewers; she works hard to make her dream come true rather than waiting for a wealthy man to sweep her off to a life of luxury. Prince Naveen is likable despite his flaws, perhaps because of them. Dr Facilier is a suitably creepy villain who provides plenty of child friendly scares. The other characters met along the way are classic Disney and provide plenty of laughs… and perhaps a few tears in one particularly poignant moment. As one would expect the animation is top notch with good character designs and stunning backgrounds. Overall this was a really impressive animation from Disney; it is definitely worth watching and I imaging it will be loved for years to come.

I am very disappointed in Disney for this film. Here we have Disney's first Black/African American princess and she's poor, almost like a servant to a white blonde haired woman and she spends 96% of the movie as a frog! On top of that the movie is scary and dark, the songs aren't memorable (the music is an important part of Disney, I was just so upset that I couldn't remember one song after leaving the theater) and the characters and their drawls is just unsettling. If I recall correctly some were missing teeth and had the most obnoxious offensive accents that you could give a character in a movie about a black princess. The animation was not breathtaking as many of Disney's movies usually are. The animation was flat and dry.Why couldn't the princess marry a black man? Most of all the Disney princesses have married/fell in love with someone of their race with the exception of Pocahontas which is historically based so it does not count. They could have made a beautiful princess and give her an interesting and intriguing background and setting. I can't stand that they went to New Orleans for this one, just why? Disney should just erase Tiana, pretend like she never existed and start from scratch completely. This princess deserves better than that.

Disney returns to hand-drawn princess fairy tale animation after a stint of Pixar-esque computer animated films. This time the inspiration being the classic tale of The Frog Prince by Brothers Grimm. But, being Disney, they throw their own spin on it. The story takes place in 1920s New Orleans and features Disney's first African-American princess in Tiana.I really like the setting a lot. New Orleans is a fantastic setup for this particular story, with its African-American culture, voodoo, bayou environment and all the music it inspires. Tiana and Dr. Facilier, the villain, are both fantastic characters and fully fleshed-out by the film. Dr. Facilier especially is very memorable and has one of the better villain songs in the entire canon. Charlotte, Tiana's childhood rich kid friend, is also absolutely hilarious.Unfortunately, the story isn't quite that good. It feels more like Disney going through motions than it feels a proper fairy tale. We have the setup, the twist, the journey, the final battle, but you can practically see the story boards being switched behind the scenes. You don't buy the illusion. Plus, the songs are not that hot. The villain song is very good, and Almost There is not half bad either, but the rest are garbage. Especially Dig a Little Deeper, which is so painfully Oscar-crappy that you can't help but cringe.All in all The Princess and the Frog is a mixed package. Its heart is in the right place and I love that we had this one final traditionally animated princess film, but it could have been a lot better, if we're being completely honest. Objectively a fine film, but not up to Disney's usual standards.