THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG

DISNEY 

RELEASED 5 February 2010

Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) wants to open her own restaurant in 30’s New Orleans, so when her childhood friend gives her the money for a deposit on a riverfront property, it seems her wishes are going to come true. Unfortunately, when a talking frog convinces her to kiss him, she never once imagines she’ll become a frog herself! Venturing deep into the New Orleans swamp with her vain frog prince, Tiana must defeat the evil voodoo master The Facilier (think Captain Hook with skull decorations and walking cane) out to destroy her dreams and her life.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed how this is the first Disney film featuring a black princess, but considering Tiana spends most of the film as a green frog, you have to wonder whether that’s such a progressive act from the famous animation ‘white’ house. What bothered me more about the film was how Tiana and the prince fall in love in the swamp, and, surrounded by a fantastic new group of friends, the decision is made to turn them back into humans. The whole story is based on the fact that it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside, it’s what’s inside that counts. Why would they be happier worrying about paying bills and running a business in New Orleans rather than hopping around the Bayou?

Idelogical theories aside, the worst thing about ‘The Princess and the Frog’ is it’s lack of laughs and emotion. I saw the film with a packed cinema of kids, and they only laughed two or three times. The story didn’t involve me emotionally, and even the death of a character at the end seemed like a gimmick. In fact, all the characters were fairly forgettable, mere identi-kit creations from older Disney movies. The hand-drawn animation is good (Disney’s first since 2004 with ‘Home on the Range’), and the songs (by ‘Toy Story’s Randy Newman) are above-average, but this new Disney film doesn’t have the human values of even the weakest Pixar movie.

TWO OUT OF FIVE