Although Disney Animation's The Princess and the Frog didn't quite make the box office splash the Mouse House was hoping for, most observers considered it a worthy entry into the Disney canon and was glad to see the celebrated studio return to cel animated films.
Does the movie – helmed by Ron Clements and John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin) – hold its charms on home video? Absolutely. It's a gorgeous film with some great character work from Eric Goldberg, Andreas Deja and other top Disney artists.
Anika Noni Rose, Keith David and Bruno Campos Star in Disney's The Princess and the Frog
After repeated viewings, one thing becomes clear: this film looks incredible. Disney's artists really pushed themselves to create backgrounds and characters that push the art of animation forward while still paying homage to classics like Snow White, Cinderella or Little Mermaid. The background work is especially lush, conjuring the vibe of the Bayou. Combining the gorgeous visuals with Randy Newman's evocative score was a crowning touch.
Disney films live and die by their villains and Dr. Facilier is their most memorable villain since Cruella De Vil. Voiced by Keith David (last seen pussyfooting about in Coraline), the evil hoodoo man exudes both menace and oily charm at the same time. Luckily, both Anika Noni Rose (Tiana) and Bruno Campos (Prince Naveen) are up for the challenge: Rose gives her character hard-working resourcefulness and Campos has fun making Naveen a good-hearted layabout.
However, the ending still tries to hard to give Tiana everything she wanted, even at the expense of credulity. Given that some animated films (Pixar's mostly) offer bittersweet endings for their characters, couldn't The Princess and the Frog eased up on the saccharine just a little?
The Princess and the Frog Blu-Ray Extras
Say what you like about their films, Disney still knows how to 'overdeliver' with their Blu-Rays. This is a 3-disc set which includes Blu-Ray and DVD discs (for those who haven't made the switch yet) plus a Digital Disc that allows you to watch the flick on your portable player. In addition, all the featurettes Disney released to promote the film, such as 'Conjuring the Villain' (a look at Keith David as Dr. Facilier), are included here and they're all good stuff.
Clements and Musker deliver a fun and informative audio commentary (love their discussion over whether the Fenner Bros. are caricatures of themselves) and they also introduce several deleted sequences, shown in storyboard form. On the other hand, the music video by Ne-Yo is pretty forgettable, and the 'Princess Portrait Game' (fireflies shape the faces of various Disney princesses and you have to guess which ones) gets old quickly.
The Princess and the Frog Worthy Animated Film
This movie will likely go down as one of Disney Animation's lesser efforts: below The Lion King but above Oliver and Company. It's a shame because this movie deserved to do better than it did, but hopefully audiences will check it out on home video.
Whether or not Disney Animation stays in the game really depends on how Rapunz - sorry, Tangled, does at the box office but hopefully John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and crew will rediscover the magic that made the Mouse House synonymous with cinematic animation.
The Princess and the Frog Blu-Ray gets a 4/5.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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