The Princess and the Frog

After begrudgingly enduring the absence of Disney's traditional hand-drawn animation for five years, it is difficult to describe the electrifying thrill I experienced while watching the 2D imagery on display in The Princess and the Frog. It is considerably less difficult to complain that this return to musically driven animation is no Disney classic, but what the movie lacks in narrative ingenuity, it more than makes up for with its abundance of breathtaking beauty.

Employing an age-old Disney formula, The Princess and the Frog takes a well-known children's tale and gives it a friendly twist. This time around, it is the story of The Frog Prince that receives the heartfelt Disney treatment. Set in New Orleans, the narrative is focused on Tiana (wonderfully voiced by Anika Nona Rose), a young African American woman who spends all of her free time working in a restaurant so she can eventually raise enough cash to buy an eatery of her own.

Tiana has sacrificed her social life in favour of working hard, but she figures all of her time and effort will be worth it in the end. Inspired by the advice of her deceased father, she is convinced that hard work is the key to realizing her dreams. This is in direct contrast to a childhood friend of Tiana's, a bubbly blonde woman named Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), who happens to be the daughter of a wealthy sugar mill owner (John Goodman). A woman of extreme privilege, Charlotte believes that wishing upon a star (just as Pinocchio did to great effect nearly seventy years ago) is the proper way to make your dreams come true.

Since this is Tiana's story, a lot of attention is paid to the importance of hard work, with a little celestial magic thrown in for good measure. The encouraging potency of the message is a wonderful addition to The Princess and the Frog, especially since the message is attached to a landmark Disney character. Tiana is the first African American princess in the history of Disney animated movies, which connects her onscreen journey to her behind-the-scenes one. It took a lot of hard work to bring Tiana to the big screen, so the positive message is given an extra dose of dramatic heft.

Running parallel to Tiana's tale is the journey of Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), a financially strapped young man who needs to marry a wealthy woman in order to restore his lavish lifestyle. Naveen takes a trip to New Orleans, much to the excitement of a gushing Charlotte, but it isn't long before Naveen is tricked by a voodoo magician (Keith David) and transformed into a frog. That is the movie's initial connection to The Frog Prince story, but the twist occurs when Naveen (in frog form) convinces Tiana to give him a kiss, assuming that will transform him back into human form. The plan backfires and Tiana ends up transforming into a frog, as well.

The narrative twist is a cute way of piling on additional conflict for the two main characters, while also allowing the obvious romantic wheels of the plot to start rolling forward in an accessible fashion. But it is here, in the movie's slapdash second act, that the road to an inevitable happy ending turns a bit rocky and rough. Tiana and Naveen have to find a way to turn back into human beings, so they embark on a journey across the various areas of New Orleans in hopes of finding a solution. They routinely run into obstacles and meet a handful of friends and enemies along the way.

This particular leg of their adventure feels relatively stale, as if screenwriters Ron Clements, Rob Edwards, and John Musker are simply treading water, killing time until the big, colourful finale. Tiana and Naveen are a pair of charming characters, so it is fun to watch them interact with each other, but the movie stalls during a scene in which a trio of dopey hunters pursue the two frogs in a treacherous portion of the bayou. The action sequence feels tossed into the fray with little purpose beyond ensuring that the kiddies in the audience stay awake.

Another staple of traditionally animated Disney movies is a collection of talking animal sidekicks, of which there are two in The Princess and the Frog. A trumpet-playing alligator with a big heart proves to be a sweetly enjoyable addition to the cast, while a Cajun firefly named Ray is slightly offensive, lamely unfunny, and somewhat creepy. Ray's presence is certainly not enough to put a sour spin on the movie's warmly inviting flavour, but he does represent a minor misstep in an otherwise acceptable cast.

In attempting to summarize the plot and weed through the movie's mistakes, I have focused quite a bit of my critical attention on the narrative shortcomings that prevented me from falling head over heels in love with this movie. But with that in mind, I do not wish to bury my praise for the movie's arresting visuals under a mountain of complaints. While The Princess and the Frog stumbles on its journey, it always picks itself back up again, dusts itself off, and returns to entertaining the audience with its astonishing imagery.

The wait for Disney to bring back traditional animation has been a long one (too long), but even if the movie isn't a modern classic that I want to watch over and over again, The Princess and the Frog is still worth the wait. Writers Clements and Musker double as directors and they do a very good job of evoking that intangible sense of Disney magic. Having previously directed such Disney classics as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, Clements and Musker are no stranger to the world of traditional animation and their experience shows in every glittering frame. The animation that powers The Princess and the Frog (from the exquisite backgrounds to the individual character designs) is unforgettably gorgeous. The movie has its flaws, but it's still a grandly exquisite fairytale worth seeing. This return to traditional animation may not be a masterpiece, but it sure looks like one.