Kissing Frogs
incyr and I went to see The Princess & The Frog this evening. I'd been looking forward to watching it ever since I heard Disney was coming out with a new, hand-drawn animated feature in the vein of their older classics. I'd also read a lot of reviews that it was a really good movie, a return to form for Disney, and several of these reviews made glowing reference to a "new kind" of Disney princess introduced in the movie. Even more than Belle, Tiana was touted as being a character in her own right who has her own dreams and only incidentally falls in love with the other main character, the womanizing Prince Naveen. "Sign me up!" I said and so we went.
I absolutely agree with incyr 's review, the animation in the movie is gorgeous. The rounded, supremely big-eyed character designs recalls the second golden age of Disney ushered in by The Little Mermaid in the late 80's, which was a nice touch. The music too was nice with its 20's Jazz era soundtrack, though I too am hard-pressed to remember much about the songs themselves. I definitely didn't come out of the showing humming them.
The movie starts off well enough with Tiana and her friend Charlotte being told the tale of The Frog Prince by Tiana's mother Eudora (A living mother!! How ingenuous!). Charlotte is a pink-coiffed uber girlie rich girl, the daughter of the richest guy in New Orleans. How she and Tiana became best friends is never explained. Surely other than a penchant for dressing like princesses they have little in common as children and even less as they grow up and Tiana becomes a waitress scrimping and saving to fulfill her and her father's dream of opening a restaurant, while Charlotte's dreams of netting herself a rich prince to marry. (Was this supposed to be a subtle jab at the whole Disney Princess line itself? If it was, it's a mixed message seeing as how the end of the movie reinforces the principles ingrained in the Disney Princess line.)
It is refreshing to see a heroine who doesn't wish upon a star or look to a fairy godmother to fulfill her dreams. Tiana knows it's hard work that will get her what she wants, at least until she's outbid on the place she finally had enough money to buy. That's when Naveen, in frog shape, shows up and tells her if she kisses him he'll give her the money she needs. He thinks she's a princess of course, but since she isn't, when she kisses him, she turns into a frog too.
Prince Naveen is of the fictional kingdom of Moldonia and has come to New Orleans looking to wed into money. His parents have cut him off and he's broke. Of course, Charlotte also has her eyes on marrying a rich prince. They're pretty evenly matched in shallowness. A match made in heaven, at least until the requisite villain turns up and turns Naveen into a frog.
Dr. Facilier, "the Shadow Man" is a conundrum in itself. His motivation for going after Naveen is more than a little murky. He wants money of course, which he can get if Naveen's servant, posing as Naveen, marries Charlotte, but what is he going to use the money for? And isn't there an easier way to get money? It just seemed a flimsy way to get the action started.
The whole middle section of the movie is Tiana and Naveen (along with a couple animal sidekicks, a trumpet-playing alligator named Louis and a lovelorn Cajun firefly named Ray) making their way through the bayou to find the voodoo queen Mama Odie so they can be returned to their human forms. This of course is also the section of the movie where Tiana and Naveen butt heads, being the typical odd couple. He's lazy and spoiled and she's serious and hard-working, so of course they're destined to fall in love. Fair enough, most Disney movies are romances and hey, I liked Moonlighting. It takes so long for Tiana to realize she's in love with Naveen though that it doesn't quite ring true. Why does she love him exactly? Like him, sure, he's pretty charming and he did save her life, but love?
As determined in the beginning, only the kiss of a princess will turn Naveen and, by extension Tiana, back into humans. Since Charlotte's father has been crowned Mardi Gras king, Charlotte is deemed a princess for a day and it's her kiss Naveen must get. This doesn't work out of course, but hey, that's okay! Tiana has decided her mother and Mama Odie are right, love does mean more than anything else, including her dream of opening a restaurant. Instead of working to find another way to change back into themselves, they'll just stay frogs. She won't be able to have her restaurant, but oh well, at least she'll be with the man she loves. So they get married and they kiss and...hey, they're humans again!
Only after Tiana gets married can she have her restaurant. Landing the guy isn't a bonus on top of fulfilling her dream, fulfilling her dream is contingent upon landing the guy. How is that different from Snow White or Sleeping Beauty? It still requires a kiss to get to happily ever after. I actually thought this movie had a worse message than those older movies because the idea of hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps without the aid of a man is brought up and then squashed rather than not being an option at all. So, while it was a fun movie, I'd hardly say that it has ushered in a "new" kind of Disney heroine.
I absolutely agree with incyr 's review, the animation in the movie is gorgeous. The rounded, supremely big-eyed character designs recalls the second golden age of Disney ushered in by The Little Mermaid in the late 80's, which was a nice touch. The music too was nice with its 20's Jazz era soundtrack, though I too am hard-pressed to remember much about the songs themselves. I definitely didn't come out of the showing humming them.
The movie starts off well enough with Tiana and her friend Charlotte being told the tale of The Frog Prince by Tiana's mother Eudora (A living mother!! How ingenuous!). Charlotte is a pink-coiffed uber girlie rich girl, the daughter of the richest guy in New Orleans. How she and Tiana became best friends is never explained. Surely other than a penchant for dressing like princesses they have little in common as children and even less as they grow up and Tiana becomes a waitress scrimping and saving to fulfill her and her father's dream of opening a restaurant, while Charlotte's dreams of netting herself a rich prince to marry. (Was this supposed to be a subtle jab at the whole Disney Princess line itself? If it was, it's a mixed message seeing as how the end of the movie reinforces the principles ingrained in the Disney Princess line.)
It is refreshing to see a heroine who doesn't wish upon a star or look to a fairy godmother to fulfill her dreams. Tiana knows it's hard work that will get her what she wants, at least until she's outbid on the place she finally had enough money to buy. That's when Naveen, in frog shape, shows up and tells her if she kisses him he'll give her the money she needs. He thinks she's a princess of course, but since she isn't, when she kisses him, she turns into a frog too.
Prince Naveen is of the fictional kingdom of Moldonia and has come to New Orleans looking to wed into money. His parents have cut him off and he's broke. Of course, Charlotte also has her eyes on marrying a rich prince. They're pretty evenly matched in shallowness. A match made in heaven, at least until the requisite villain turns up and turns Naveen into a frog.
Dr. Facilier, "the Shadow Man" is a conundrum in itself. His motivation for going after Naveen is more than a little murky. He wants money of course, which he can get if Naveen's servant, posing as Naveen, marries Charlotte, but what is he going to use the money for? And isn't there an easier way to get money? It just seemed a flimsy way to get the action started.
The whole middle section of the movie is Tiana and Naveen (along with a couple animal sidekicks, a trumpet-playing alligator named Louis and a lovelorn Cajun firefly named Ray) making their way through the bayou to find the voodoo queen Mama Odie so they can be returned to their human forms. This of course is also the section of the movie where Tiana and Naveen butt heads, being the typical odd couple. He's lazy and spoiled and she's serious and hard-working, so of course they're destined to fall in love. Fair enough, most Disney movies are romances and hey, I liked Moonlighting. It takes so long for Tiana to realize she's in love with Naveen though that it doesn't quite ring true. Why does she love him exactly? Like him, sure, he's pretty charming and he did save her life, but love?
As determined in the beginning, only the kiss of a princess will turn Naveen and, by extension Tiana, back into humans. Since Charlotte's father has been crowned Mardi Gras king, Charlotte is deemed a princess for a day and it's her kiss Naveen must get. This doesn't work out of course, but hey, that's okay! Tiana has decided her mother and Mama Odie are right, love does mean more than anything else, including her dream of opening a restaurant. Instead of working to find another way to change back into themselves, they'll just stay frogs. She won't be able to have her restaurant, but oh well, at least she'll be with the man she loves. So they get married and they kiss and...hey, they're humans again!
Only after Tiana gets married can she have her restaurant. Landing the guy isn't a bonus on top of fulfilling her dream, fulfilling her dream is contingent upon landing the guy. How is that different from Snow White or Sleeping Beauty? It still requires a kiss to get to happily ever after. I actually thought this movie had a worse message than those older movies because the idea of hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps without the aid of a man is brought up and then squashed rather than not being an option at all. So, while it was a fun movie, I'd hardly say that it has ushered in a "new" kind of Disney heroine.