#49: The Princess and the Frog (2009) 🐸 #DisneyVaultChallenge

“My daddy never did get what he wanted. But he had what he needed. He had love! He never lost sight of what was really important. And neither will I!” — Tiana, the most pragmatic Disney princess of all

Initial thoughts before viewing: I saw this in theaters and remember thinking that it was a fun watch. I didn't love it, but didn't hate it either.

If you'd like a more comprehensive summary of The Princess and the Frog, here is a link to the movie's Disney Wiki page where you can read the entire plot summary.

Highlights:

-Tiana is a Pragmatic Dreamer. It's been a while since we've had a new Disney princess to talk about, and Tiana's introduction to the Disney canon is a welcome one. As a character, Tiana has a lot of fantastic qualities: she's a notably hard worker with values she holds dear. She's a dreamer, but a pragmatic one: she knows she has to get out there herself to make things happen. And most wonderfully, her dreams have nothing to do with finding a man to marry or take her away -- hey, she's an entrepreneur! Plus, never forget that Tiana was Disney's first Black princess (representation matters!).

-The animation style in the "Almost There" musical sequence. While the rest of the movie is drawn in a more traditional animation style, during this song sequence the animation shifts to the same art deco style used in Tiana's picture of her dream restaurant. The song itself is very catchy, with music and lyrics by Randy Newman. "Almost There" was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song and the voice of Tiana, Anika Noni Rose, sang this song at the 2010 Academy Awards.

-Dr. Facilier is the best part of this movie. Dr. Facilier makes for an incredibly memorable Disney villain in The Princess and the Frog. Dr. Facilier doesn't care who he has to take down or hurt to get his way, and he genuinely enjoys scamming people. Immediately, audiences see Facilier enjoying someone else's misery when he strikes a deal with a bald man, and the deal backfires big time for the poor guy as he grows more hair than he'd wanted, which Facilier finds humorous. The witch doctor cares for no one but himself, and he certainly isn't using his magic to help others.

Dr. Facilier's villain song, "Friends on the Other Side," is easily my favorite song off this soundtrack. It's an addictive, powerful musical sequence filled w/ exposition that propels the plot forward. It's an homage to the glorious villain songs of the past, and the colorful animation in this sequence is dazzling. If you've never seen this movie, I highly recommend watching for this musical sequence alone!

Disliked:

-The movie loses steam when everyone is a frog. A well known criticism of this movie is that well, the main characters are frogs for a good portion of the film. Tiana herself has 40 total minutes of screen time, and she's in frog form for about 23 of those minutes. Not only do I find Tiana and Naveen's frog forms less appealing visually, but the whole movie seems to slow down while they slog through the bayou. Pick up the pace, froggos.

-Prince Naveen is not my favorite. He's not the most likeable of the Disney princes, but hey, at least he has a name and a personality. I never really liked the voice actor they chose for him, a Brazilian-American actor named Bruno Campos who plays Naveen a little over-the-top. Plus, he looks and acts too much like Jean-Bob, a frog character from one of my favorite non-Disney animated films, The Swan Princess.

-Charlotte La Bouff is the poster child for White Privilege. Did anyone else think it was seriously f-ed up that Charlotte, who is supposed to be Tiana's best friend, seems incredibly oblivious to Tiana's financial situation and work-a-holic lifestyle? Charlotte could have SO EASILY loaned Tiana the money she needed to buy her restaurant years ago (I say loan because our girl Tiana would never accept a hand out). Charlotte is in her own little world, benefitting from her father's social standing and piles of money.

-Dr. Facilier is Naveen's antagonist, not Tiana's. He doesn't even know who she is. Tiana gets involved in Dr. Facilier's plot by compete accident when she kisses frog-form Naveen. She has no previous beef with the Shadow Man, so when the two finally meet in the climax of the film, it feels a little hollow.

Closing Thoughts:

Despite a satisfying story and some genuinely lovely animated bits, The Princess and the Frog brought in only $207 million at the box office—respectable, well over the film’s budget of $105 million, and better than most of the other animated Disney films of that decade, but still well under the glory days of the Disney Renaissance.

Disney analysts pointed to several factors: the film had the extreme misfortune of opening just five days before Avatar; audiences may have objected to the use of voodoo in the film (mentioned by some critics); and, most annoyingly, the use of the word “Princess” in the title may have scared off boys from wanting to see the movie.

Consequently, Disney executives decided that future Disney Princess movies would not have the word “Princess” in their titles. And once again, Disney decided to back away from hand drawn animation. Audiences, they decided, only wanted computer animated films. Sigh.

The bottom line: The Princess and the Frog is a welcome return to warm, traditional Disney animation and storytelling. It's a good (not great) film with memorable characters and a lovely soundtrack. Its finale feels particularly joyful and well earned.

My Rating: 6.5/10