The Princess and the Frog (2009)
June 30, 2024 7:27 PM - Subscribe

A waitress, desperate to fulfill her dreams as a restaurant owner, is set on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human being, but she has to face the same problem after she kisses him.

It's on Wonderful World of Disney tonight and it doesn't seem to have a prior post. There's some dispute in my household, but said to be the very last hand-animated feature from Disney. Voice talent includes Oprah, Keith David, John Goodman, Jim Cummings. Terrance Howard, and more!
posted by Nekosoft (4 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
- The release date was moved to avoid competition with Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel... shared an opening weekend with James Cameron's Avatar instead.

- Disney Studios' first film not to be released on VHS.

- Composer Randy Newman, who you may remember from such films as: Cats Don't Dance (1997), Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and Cars (2006).

- Three stars of four from Ebert: "And . . . good gravy! A story! Characters! A plot!"
posted by Nekosoft at 7:40 PM on June 30


I enjoy(ed) The Princess and the Frog, but also found this video that Princess Weekes did about Black Characters in Disney movies very thought provoking:

The Failure of Black Disney (& Discourse)
posted by Faintdreams at 5:23 AM on July 1 [3 favorites]


The Princess and the Frog was the first hand animated feature film from Disney in years and was a push by new Disney animation director, John Lasseter to remind the studio and audiences of the animation studio's legacy. Now disgraced (but not quite canceled), Lasseter was brought into the fold from Pixar as part of Disney's final and full acquisition of that studio. Lasseter, himself, had worked as an animator for Disney, though coincidentally, was reportedly terminated because he was too aggressively pushing computer animation as the way of the future. It, of course, being the reason he landed on top at Disney years later.

I really wanted to enjoy this movie more than I did, in part because I was excited at the return of more traditional animation (the CGI films by Disney up to this point had been lacking...and Home on the Range the previous hand drawn film was...also not the shining star one would want to end a legacy of traditional animation on, either. The animation is wonderful, though I thought music just didn't live up to what they were hoping to achieve (more of the Disney Renaissance era big hits) That, and well, the princess spends the majority of the film as a frog.

I need to watch it again to see if time has changed my opinion, perhaps lowering expectations with the result of raising enjoyment.
posted by Atreides at 6:24 AM on July 1 [1 favorite]


I wanted to like this show, but it was so boring! There was VOODOO IN THE PLOT, WHY WAS I BORED AND FORGETTING THE PLOT RIGHT AFTER THE MOVIE WAS OVER? I swear that blonde chick was more memorable than Tiana, her prince, the voodoo guy, anything.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:09 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]


« Older Encounter Party: The Dinner Pu...   |  Movie: Spirit of Fear... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster