Dreams do come true in New Orleans.
Spent all day in the city with my friend, we went from Chinatown to Greenwich Village to Rockefeller Center, and the latter was a disaster. It was beyond crowded, people were everywhere. We stood around, not moving, trying to cross the street, for half an hour. Ugh. BUT! I saw The Princess and the Frog on Friday night!
I went into this movie with some big expectations, I'm a giant Disney nerd. I was beyond happy that this movie stepped up to the challenge.
Loved:
The characters. Disney did a great job with every single one of them - they all have their flaws and their strengths, which complement each other well. Tiana and Naveen were refreshingly different (if not completely unexpected) than the usual Disney prince and princess stereotypes, and all of the supporting characters were great. There's a lot of similarity between this and Beauty and the Beast, I think, but with both characters cursed. I was very surprised to find myself loving all of the characters, particularly Lottie, who could have been completely self-centered but turned out to be a total sweetheart. Disney has a track record of making fantastic villains, and Dr. Facilier is no exception - he's amazing, on par with Ursula or Jafar. I wish we had been given more of his backstory! All of the voice actors do a great job, and embody their characters well.
The animation. Oh my god, I can't even explain this part, especially after years of watching only CGI on the big screen. I'm a huge animation dork, and when it's done well, CGI is great - but The Princess and the Frog was just beautiful. The characters' movements are so fluid it's mesmerizing, and their expressions are fantastic. Dr. Facilier's animator, Bruce W. Smith, deserves some kind of award (he's up for an Annie!). I can't wait for this to come out on DVD and screencap the hell out of it. Side note: Naveen is way too cute for his own good.
The world. The entire movie really does feel like it's alive, from the city to the bayou. The lighting, the color palette, the background characters, everything was just well done.
The story. I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of the "spend half the movie as frogs WHEN THE HUMAN ANIMATION IS SO FREAKING GORGEOUS" part, but the story, if a little simple, is very sweet, and there's some great character development for both Tiana and Naveen. I also really enjoyed the voodoo elements in the story, and how they were never completely explained. Dr. Facilier and his "friends" brought a much darker tone to the movie than I was expecting - how the doctor meets his end is chilling.
Mixed feelings:
The music. Of course, this is a Disney musical, so the singing was great. Anika Noni Rose, and Keith David, in particular, were fantastic. The combination of different musical styles worked well, and managed to stay cohesive throughout.
But the only really interesting song in the entire movie was Dr. Facilier's villain song, "Friends on the Other Side," in the vein of "Poor Unfortunate Souls." It's a complete showstopper! My friend turned to me after the song finished, and whispered, "I feel like we should be clapping!" Really, it was amazing (and fantastically animated, with that traditional "evil eyes" ending), but the other songs are a little lacking. They're all catchy, but not particularly memorable. However, I really liked that Tiana sang the reprise of "Down in New Orleans," and that there wasn't an overly sentimental love song - "Ma Belle Evangeline" was surprisingly sweet. "Almost There" is the standard "I want" song, and made we wish that Naveen had got his own song, or maybe could some counter-melody to "Almost There." He only sings in "When We're Human," which really felt like a recycled "Human Again" from Beauty and the Beast.
Not so much:
Frogs. I know it's part of the whole fairy tale, but you see Tiana and Naveen as humans and they're animated absolutely gorgeously, and then they turn into frogs, and to be honest, it's not quite as captivating. I was hoping they'd spend a little more time as humans, but I knew going into the movie that they wouldn't take the Brother Bear route, which was comforting. Dr. Facilier's continuous involvement in the story also helps this problem a little, as he pops up to remind you how awesome the human animation is.
Overall? I'd definitely say go see it, especially if you're a childhood fan of Disney (at this point, who isn't?), I had some great flashbacks to when I saw other Disney movies when I was young. The next 2D animation from Disney is The Snow Queen, which won't be out until Rapunzel (2010) and The King of the Elves (2012) are finished, so I'd say go see it if you want to remember how wonderful and warm traditional animation (particularly when there's a good story and even better characters), can be.
P.S. The beginning of "Friends on the Other Side" can be found here!
I went into this movie with some big expectations, I'm a giant Disney nerd. I was beyond happy that this movie stepped up to the challenge.
Loved:
The characters. Disney did a great job with every single one of them - they all have their flaws and their strengths, which complement each other well. Tiana and Naveen were refreshingly different (if not completely unexpected) than the usual Disney prince and princess stereotypes, and all of the supporting characters were great. There's a lot of similarity between this and Beauty and the Beast, I think, but with both characters cursed. I was very surprised to find myself loving all of the characters, particularly Lottie, who could have been completely self-centered but turned out to be a total sweetheart. Disney has a track record of making fantastic villains, and Dr. Facilier is no exception - he's amazing, on par with Ursula or Jafar. I wish we had been given more of his backstory! All of the voice actors do a great job, and embody their characters well.
The animation. Oh my god, I can't even explain this part, especially after years of watching only CGI on the big screen. I'm a huge animation dork, and when it's done well, CGI is great - but The Princess and the Frog was just beautiful. The characters' movements are so fluid it's mesmerizing, and their expressions are fantastic. Dr. Facilier's animator, Bruce W. Smith, deserves some kind of award (he's up for an Annie!). I can't wait for this to come out on DVD and screencap the hell out of it. Side note: Naveen is way too cute for his own good.
The world. The entire movie really does feel like it's alive, from the city to the bayou. The lighting, the color palette, the background characters, everything was just well done.
The story. I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of the "spend half the movie as frogs WHEN THE HUMAN ANIMATION IS SO FREAKING GORGEOUS" part, but the story, if a little simple, is very sweet, and there's some great character development for both Tiana and Naveen. I also really enjoyed the voodoo elements in the story, and how they were never completely explained. Dr. Facilier and his "friends" brought a much darker tone to the movie than I was expecting - how the doctor meets his end is chilling.
Mixed feelings:
The music. Of course, this is a Disney musical, so the singing was great. Anika Noni Rose, and Keith David, in particular, were fantastic. The combination of different musical styles worked well, and managed to stay cohesive throughout.
But the only really interesting song in the entire movie was Dr. Facilier's villain song, "Friends on the Other Side," in the vein of "Poor Unfortunate Souls." It's a complete showstopper! My friend turned to me after the song finished, and whispered, "I feel like we should be clapping!" Really, it was amazing (and fantastically animated, with that traditional "evil eyes" ending), but the other songs are a little lacking. They're all catchy, but not particularly memorable. However, I really liked that Tiana sang the reprise of "Down in New Orleans," and that there wasn't an overly sentimental love song - "Ma Belle Evangeline" was surprisingly sweet. "Almost There" is the standard "I want" song, and made we wish that Naveen had got his own song, or maybe could some counter-melody to "Almost There." He only sings in "When We're Human," which really felt like a recycled "Human Again" from Beauty and the Beast.
Not so much:
Frogs. I know it's part of the whole fairy tale, but you see Tiana and Naveen as humans and they're animated absolutely gorgeously, and then they turn into frogs, and to be honest, it's not quite as captivating. I was hoping they'd spend a little more time as humans, but I knew going into the movie that they wouldn't take the Brother Bear route, which was comforting. Dr. Facilier's continuous involvement in the story also helps this problem a little, as he pops up to remind you how awesome the human animation is.
Overall? I'd definitely say go see it, especially if you're a childhood fan of Disney (at this point, who isn't?), I had some great flashbacks to when I saw other Disney movies when I was young. The next 2D animation from Disney is The Snow Queen, which won't be out until Rapunzel (2010) and The King of the Elves (2012) are finished, so I'd say go see it if you want to remember how wonderful and warm traditional animation (particularly when there's a good story and even better characters), can be.
P.S. The beginning of "Friends on the Other Side" can be found here!