i'm almost there
So, I watched The Frog Princess, and I adored it. There were some parts that I was iffy on, but the characters in general were endearing and the movie's message didn't make me want to exfoliate my face with a cheese grater. So, here's the review for the movie behind the clearly and artistically formed lj-cut:
Characters
Tiana
Okay, so breaking it down: we'll start with Tiana. I loved Tiana. I loved Tiana like I have never loved a Disney princess before Belle. She's the movie's straight man. I love it when the ladies play the straight man, let me tell you. She's a sensible voice in a sea of madness and singing alligators and swamp ladies. She's hardworking, ambitious, focused, and career-oriented. This girl knows just what she wants out of life, and she's worked hard so that she can accomplish her dream. I like that she was completely uninterested in pursuing the prince, and put aside romance for more important things, like working to build up an awesome restaurant.
I'm glad that they rounded out her character, too. She had flaws, she had angry moments where she lashed out, she was tempted by the offer of her dreams, even if it came from a highly suspicious character...she didn't always have an answer to everything. She was very human, and I adored that about her. I like how grounded she was. I've heard people complaining about her being a 'one-note' character and how her songs were all about working hard to get where you want to be in life, but how is that different from early princesses who just sang about love, love, love? (God, look at Enchanted.) Tiana was proud of who she was and was not willing to take crap from those jerkfaces who tried to sell off her restaurant. Well done, Tiana. And good show on not taking crap from the love interest, no matter how ridiculously funny he was. I'm glad she didn't have to give up her dream to get her man, which was a bit of a fear of mine during the swamp woman song. I'll get to that later.
Naveen
Naveen was hilarious. He was just adorkably ridiculous. My favorite Disney prince. Not only did he have a personality, but he was also immensely flawed and a tremendous awkward dork in love. I adore it when they show guys as awkward, clumsy dorks in love. I double adore it when the guy is crushing on the lady, and she's oblivious/unattainable. I think my heart broke a little when he wanted to give her the pearl ring when she was talking about 'their' restaurant, and I loved how they added all those little moments of him looking at her and getting those soft-effect 'I am so in love' eyes. He ditched his irresponsible ways and got a job for her. And, of course, he compared her to the freaking evening star. Yeah, I shipped it, and I very rarely ship Disney couples.
Side Characters: Charlotte, Louis, Ray, and Madame Odie
I thought Charlotte was adorable and hilarious in much the same way I thought Naveen was. We see that she's an incorrigible spoiled brat, but her brattiness is portrayed as more endearingly hilarious than abrasively annoying. Underneath it all, she has a good heart. She's not particularly good at paying attention to others, and misses out on body language cues- she mistook Tiana's heartache at losing the restaurant she worked so hard for as simple distress at having fallen over a table, and didn't seem to notice Naveen's lack of interest in marrying her until it was pretty much shoved in her face. But, to her credit, she was touched rather that upset, and tried her best to help her friend, giving up the prince she'd wanted with no qualms at all. I was so happy to see the female friendship element in this film, too- no sniping or pettiness, just two girlfriends who cared about each other. Charlotte was an adorable frilly puffball, despite her upbringing.
Louis didn't leave much of an impression on me aside from loving, hilarious bulk of an alligator friend. I died laughing at: "I tried playing on a riverboat once!" *HORRIFIC FLASHBACK* "...It didn't end well." He's pretty much the talking animal sidekick with childish characteristics. Classic, and played well here.
Ray. Awww, Ray. Yes, you were an awful redneck Cajun stereotype, but you were so damn sweet. Epic romance with the evening star. Oh, you adorkable thing, you. I like that when he died, he got a sad, solemn funeral and turned into a star.
Swamp Lady. Alright, great concept. I do adore kooky old ladies with phenomenal powers and deep wisdom, and especially like it when they can belt out a song. But. I hated, hated, hated what the message of that damn song was. I do like that they decided to put in a 'love overcomes all obstacles' in there, but Disney's 'romance is more important than anything else' message for the girls never sat well with me, and it came through pretty strong at this point in the film. It was just odd, too, because she seemed to think that they'd be happier being frogs in love rather than people with human lives, living with their human families. YES, Madame Odie, they really do need to be human. And yes, Tiana's quest to have her own restaurant is more important than whatever this is with Naveen- although I hope she was telling Tiana merely not to lose sight of love and give Naveen a chance, rather than telling her that romance is THA MOST IMPORTANT THING.
On The Side of Evil: Dr. Facilier and Lawrence
I admit it. I loved the design of the voodoo doctor. I loved his voice, his body language, his expressions- the character design was awesome, as I would expect from Disney. He's in my list of favorite villains, even if he doesn't top Maleficent. He definitely jockeys for position with Hades if we're talking about pure style. His shadow with a life of its own pwns the flaming hair concept. I like how slick and smooth he is, and I do adore a villain who specializes in illusions and manipulation. He wasn't nearly as car salesman amusing as Hades, but his expressions and tone were wonderful. I don't think he was meant to be a very funny villain, so much as entertaining and sinister, and he delivered on that point.
Lawrence didn't leave much of an impression on me. I liked that they gave us a bit of background as to why he was backstabbing the prince, and they showed him as being this overworked lackey from day one- no wonder he jumped for the chance to be prince Naveen. I do have to say that I was immensely squicked out by his propositioning Charlotte and intending to marry her. BLEGH. Old, skeevy guy pretending to be young attractive, rich man. Sounds like a nightmare online relationship.
Plot
No one was expecting a very good one, right? What we get is formulaic and expected: we see a young girl with big dreams, a dramatic mishap occurs, she meets her love interest, they have zany adventures, there's a Heartbreaking Misunderstanding, and then they save the day eventually and live happily ever after. Disney formula. It's worked well so far, so why change it? And since this is a movie aimed at children, I don't go in expecting something amazing. I was quite content with what I had...except for one big plot hole.
When Tiana sees fake!Naveen marrying Charlotte and immediately believes she's been betrayed somehow. Why? At her very first meeting with him, she saw the fake Naveen arrive and dance with Charlotte, and was completely aware of the existence of his doppelganger. Did the scriptwriter just forget that fact? It was such an important piece of knowledge that it just ruined the drama and impact of the scene for me. So, the dramatic low of the film hit a sour note for me. It probably wouldn't have mattered if I'd been nine, but good god, Disney! Keep your very simple story straight!
I liked that class, gender, and even race played a part in this film without it being blatant and in your face. "A little woman of your background" was all we needed for all the triggers without being obnoxiously obvious. Strangely tasteful, Disney.
This says everything about problematic elements I saw in the film- the villainizing of 'African' magic, and the Christianizing of the 'good' voodoo from Madame Odie. I might have more to say about everything once I'm finished marinating, though.
Music
Well, the music was entertaining, and I loved the styles they chose- zydeco especially. It was all very lively and energetic, and fit the setting and mood very well. I'm not sure I would call the songs very catchy, though, and the lyrics didn't amaze me. I adored Tiana's strong singing voice. That girl could belt it. Ariel, step aside plz.
All in all, this was an enjoyable, lovely movie that made me feel happy inside, and I would definitely recommend it.
Characters
Tiana
Okay, so breaking it down: we'll start with Tiana. I loved Tiana. I loved Tiana like I have never loved a Disney princess before Belle. She's the movie's straight man. I love it when the ladies play the straight man, let me tell you. She's a sensible voice in a sea of madness and singing alligators and swamp ladies. She's hardworking, ambitious, focused, and career-oriented. This girl knows just what she wants out of life, and she's worked hard so that she can accomplish her dream. I like that she was completely uninterested in pursuing the prince, and put aside romance for more important things, like working to build up an awesome restaurant.
I'm glad that they rounded out her character, too. She had flaws, she had angry moments where she lashed out, she was tempted by the offer of her dreams, even if it came from a highly suspicious character...she didn't always have an answer to everything. She was very human, and I adored that about her. I like how grounded she was. I've heard people complaining about her being a 'one-note' character and how her songs were all about working hard to get where you want to be in life, but how is that different from early princesses who just sang about love, love, love? (God, look at Enchanted.) Tiana was proud of who she was and was not willing to take crap from those jerkfaces who tried to sell off her restaurant. Well done, Tiana. And good show on not taking crap from the love interest, no matter how ridiculously funny he was. I'm glad she didn't have to give up her dream to get her man, which was a bit of a fear of mine during the swamp woman song. I'll get to that later.
Naveen
Naveen was hilarious. He was just adorkably ridiculous. My favorite Disney prince. Not only did he have a personality, but he was also immensely flawed and a tremendous awkward dork in love. I adore it when they show guys as awkward, clumsy dorks in love. I double adore it when the guy is crushing on the lady, and she's oblivious/unattainable. I think my heart broke a little when he wanted to give her the pearl ring when she was talking about 'their' restaurant, and I loved how they added all those little moments of him looking at her and getting those soft-effect 'I am so in love' eyes. He ditched his irresponsible ways and got a job for her. And, of course, he compared her to the freaking evening star. Yeah, I shipped it, and I very rarely ship Disney couples.
Side Characters: Charlotte, Louis, Ray, and Madame Odie
I thought Charlotte was adorable and hilarious in much the same way I thought Naveen was. We see that she's an incorrigible spoiled brat, but her brattiness is portrayed as more endearingly hilarious than abrasively annoying. Underneath it all, she has a good heart. She's not particularly good at paying attention to others, and misses out on body language cues- she mistook Tiana's heartache at losing the restaurant she worked so hard for as simple distress at having fallen over a table, and didn't seem to notice Naveen's lack of interest in marrying her until it was pretty much shoved in her face. But, to her credit, she was touched rather that upset, and tried her best to help her friend, giving up the prince she'd wanted with no qualms at all. I was so happy to see the female friendship element in this film, too- no sniping or pettiness, just two girlfriends who cared about each other. Charlotte was an adorable frilly puffball, despite her upbringing.
Louis didn't leave much of an impression on me aside from loving, hilarious bulk of an alligator friend. I died laughing at: "I tried playing on a riverboat once!" *HORRIFIC FLASHBACK* "...It didn't end well." He's pretty much the talking animal sidekick with childish characteristics. Classic, and played well here.
Ray. Awww, Ray. Yes, you were an awful redneck Cajun stereotype, but you were so damn sweet. Epic romance with the evening star. Oh, you adorkable thing, you. I like that when he died, he got a sad, solemn funeral and turned into a star.
Swamp Lady. Alright, great concept. I do adore kooky old ladies with phenomenal powers and deep wisdom, and especially like it when they can belt out a song. But. I hated, hated, hated what the message of that damn song was. I do like that they decided to put in a 'love overcomes all obstacles' in there, but Disney's 'romance is more important than anything else' message for the girls never sat well with me, and it came through pretty strong at this point in the film. It was just odd, too, because she seemed to think that they'd be happier being frogs in love rather than people with human lives, living with their human families. YES, Madame Odie, they really do need to be human. And yes, Tiana's quest to have her own restaurant is more important than whatever this is with Naveen- although I hope she was telling Tiana merely not to lose sight of love and give Naveen a chance, rather than telling her that romance is THA MOST IMPORTANT THING.
On The Side of Evil: Dr. Facilier and Lawrence
I admit it. I loved the design of the voodoo doctor. I loved his voice, his body language, his expressions- the character design was awesome, as I would expect from Disney. He's in my list of favorite villains, even if he doesn't top Maleficent. He definitely jockeys for position with Hades if we're talking about pure style. His shadow with a life of its own pwns the flaming hair concept. I like how slick and smooth he is, and I do adore a villain who specializes in illusions and manipulation. He wasn't nearly as car salesman amusing as Hades, but his expressions and tone were wonderful. I don't think he was meant to be a very funny villain, so much as entertaining and sinister, and he delivered on that point.
Lawrence didn't leave much of an impression on me. I liked that they gave us a bit of background as to why he was backstabbing the prince, and they showed him as being this overworked lackey from day one- no wonder he jumped for the chance to be prince Naveen. I do have to say that I was immensely squicked out by his propositioning Charlotte and intending to marry her. BLEGH. Old, skeevy guy pretending to be young attractive, rich man. Sounds like a nightmare online relationship.
Plot
No one was expecting a very good one, right? What we get is formulaic and expected: we see a young girl with big dreams, a dramatic mishap occurs, she meets her love interest, they have zany adventures, there's a Heartbreaking Misunderstanding, and then they save the day eventually and live happily ever after. Disney formula. It's worked well so far, so why change it? And since this is a movie aimed at children, I don't go in expecting something amazing. I was quite content with what I had...except for one big plot hole.
When Tiana sees fake!Naveen marrying Charlotte and immediately believes she's been betrayed somehow. Why? At her very first meeting with him, she saw the fake Naveen arrive and dance with Charlotte, and was completely aware of the existence of his doppelganger. Did the scriptwriter just forget that fact? It was such an important piece of knowledge that it just ruined the drama and impact of the scene for me. So, the dramatic low of the film hit a sour note for me. It probably wouldn't have mattered if I'd been nine, but good god, Disney! Keep your very simple story straight!
I liked that class, gender, and even race played a part in this film without it being blatant and in your face. "A little woman of your background" was all we needed for all the triggers without being obnoxiously obvious. Strangely tasteful, Disney.
This says everything about problematic elements I saw in the film- the villainizing of 'African' magic, and the Christianizing of the 'good' voodoo from Madame Odie. I might have more to say about everything once I'm finished marinating, though.
Music
Well, the music was entertaining, and I loved the styles they chose- zydeco especially. It was all very lively and energetic, and fit the setting and mood very well. I'm not sure I would call the songs very catchy, though, and the lyrics didn't amaze me. I adored Tiana's strong singing voice. That girl could belt it. Ariel, step aside plz.
All in all, this was an enjoyable, lovely movie that made me feel happy inside, and I would definitely recommend it.