jedifreac Goes to the Free Movies: The Princess and the Frog
Ken and I were walking down the Farmer's Market on Third Street Promenade this past Saturday when we bumped into a guy with a clipboard. In Los Angeles, a random dude with a clipboard + colored paper standing in the middle of a busy pedestrian roadway usually equals Free Movie. (Or free fliers to a Bible Study. etc.)
This guy had fliers for Disney's new princess movie, "The Princess and the Frog," which doesn't come out until Christmas 2009. Ken and I asked the guy to give us his last tickets. It turned out to be a Nielson screening. Flier guy even said that Ken had to call it in (call to RSVP) because they really wanted to get more men in the test audience. So we called in and on Tuesday evening we went to The Bridge Cinema in the Howard Hughes Center, sat in line for two hours, and got in. They even gave us free popcorn and soda.
This movie was probably my second favorite free movie experience in LA (my first will always be the Sin City red carpet premiere.) For starters, since the movie isn't completed yet we got to see a working reel composite of completed animated scenes, black and white animation, and even sketches and storyboards. We also got to see the entire scripted movie (it was over two hours long, so I'm guessing a ton of scenes could be cut before the movie actually comes out.)
This movie was definitely a classic Disney movie...you know, with a singing princess, chatty animals, etc. But it was also something very new--first African American princess and set in New Orleans with a soundtrack by Randy Newman. They probably had to test aggressively because when this movie was first announced, there was this whole controversy about whether or not the movie is offensive...
So there are things I thought the movie did really well. The "princess" of the movie is actually a waitress named Tiana, and she's very sensible and pragmatic. In a touching scene, her father teaches her that wishing can only get her "halfway there" and that she must carry herself the rest of the way. Tiana knows her goals in life and is determined to work her ass off to get there. There are repeated scenes in the film where she flat out rejects the "wish on a star and all your dreams will come true" philosophy. The voice actress, Anika Noni Rose, has a great voice and does an amazing job.
Unlike other Disney princesses, Tiana doesn't dream about being whisked away by a handsome prince--someone like that is probably liable to get in the way. Disney popped in a foil, Tiana's spoiled childhood friend Lotte, a blonde New Orleans debutante, to fill that role. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the Lotte character. She is unabashedly bubbly and shallow, and a source of comedy. But she is also depicted as a loyal friend. You can tell the two girls respect one another. Race isn't a huge issue, although the film doesn't try to pretend there wasn't racial and socioeconomic segregation. The restaurant Tiana works at serves a primarily black clientèle, Lotte's masquerade balls have white attendees and black attendants. I think the only line in the movie that goes into racial politics is when someone tells Tiana that "a woman of her background" shouldn't have ambitions and is "better off where she is." It encapsulates the racism--and sexism--Tiana faces rather pointedly.
Again, Tiana really tries to forge her own destiny, she doesn't give a rats ass about marrying a prince. I think that message is empowering to young girls but at the same time she has to become that toy-marketable princess. Obviously as the movie goes on--since it is a romance--Tiana does begin to rethink whether or not she needs a prince in her life. And although this is probably unintentional, in the context of the Disney princess pantheon it's kind of awkward. White princesses like Cinderella and Snow White and Sleeping Beauty can wait around for woodland creature friends, fairy godmothers, and princes to make their dreams come true. But Tiana is told repeatedly and learns that she must make her dreams herself. Not that this is a bad thing, but it still kind of sets this inadvertent double-standard that white girls can have princessdom handed to them, but girls of color must work for princesshood. I don't think it's a racial commentary, though--I think it's a sign of the times. It's a good thing that Tiana is proactive in forging her future. Ironically, even though princesshood was never her goal, in the end it's still a fix-all, frog-curse curing thing...but hey that's how fairy tales work. At least it's backwards this time. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty need a prince to kiss them to save them from their curse. But in this story, the frog prince needs a princess to save him.
The last Disney movie set in the Bayou was 1977's The Rescuers and I think a lot of people were worried this film would contain negative stereotypes. There were a few--the cajun firefly, a trio of hick-ish brute alligator hunters, a voodoo witch, etc. I don't think anything was too awful. Other characters in the film... Well, there's the titular frog--formerly a freewheeling, music loving, Lothario-slacker prince. He is kind of naive and selfish, but charming. If you liked Kuzco in The Emperor's New Groove, you will probably like Prince Naveen. He has a similar character arc to Kuzco with the whole spoiled-boy-turned-animal thing. The two animal sidekicks don't detract from the story either. Louis the alligator dreams of being a trumpet player and Ray the firefly is unexpectedly cute.
Hmm...what else can I say. The dialogue was witty. The songs felt very Randy Newman-ish instead of Alan Menken-style. So they weren't really all that memorable or catchy, but they fit the setting. Some of the forest animal scenes during the songs seemed filler. Hopefully things will be edited more tightly in the final product.
The film reminded me of a mash up of The Emperor's New Groove, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, The Little Mermaid, and Anastasia (sometimes the villain really reminds me of Rasputin...) If you liked those movies, and Disney princess movies, you will likely enjoy The Princess and the Frog. So um, go watch it in December. It was fun.
This guy had fliers for Disney's new princess movie, "The Princess and the Frog," which doesn't come out until Christmas 2009. Ken and I asked the guy to give us his last tickets. It turned out to be a Nielson screening. Flier guy even said that Ken had to call it in (call to RSVP) because they really wanted to get more men in the test audience. So we called in and on Tuesday evening we went to The Bridge Cinema in the Howard Hughes Center, sat in line for two hours, and got in. They even gave us free popcorn and soda.
This movie was probably my second favorite free movie experience in LA (my first will always be the Sin City red carpet premiere.) For starters, since the movie isn't completed yet we got to see a working reel composite of completed animated scenes, black and white animation, and even sketches and storyboards. We also got to see the entire scripted movie (it was over two hours long, so I'm guessing a ton of scenes could be cut before the movie actually comes out.)
This movie was definitely a classic Disney movie...you know, with a singing princess, chatty animals, etc. But it was also something very new--first African American princess and set in New Orleans with a soundtrack by Randy Newman. They probably had to test aggressively because when this movie was first announced, there was this whole controversy about whether or not the movie is offensive...
So there are things I thought the movie did really well. The "princess" of the movie is actually a waitress named Tiana, and she's very sensible and pragmatic. In a touching scene, her father teaches her that wishing can only get her "halfway there" and that she must carry herself the rest of the way. Tiana knows her goals in life and is determined to work her ass off to get there. There are repeated scenes in the film where she flat out rejects the "wish on a star and all your dreams will come true" philosophy. The voice actress, Anika Noni Rose, has a great voice and does an amazing job.
Unlike other Disney princesses, Tiana doesn't dream about being whisked away by a handsome prince--someone like that is probably liable to get in the way. Disney popped in a foil, Tiana's spoiled childhood friend Lotte, a blonde New Orleans debutante, to fill that role. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the Lotte character. She is unabashedly bubbly and shallow, and a source of comedy. But she is also depicted as a loyal friend. You can tell the two girls respect one another. Race isn't a huge issue, although the film doesn't try to pretend there wasn't racial and socioeconomic segregation. The restaurant Tiana works at serves a primarily black clientèle, Lotte's masquerade balls have white attendees and black attendants. I think the only line in the movie that goes into racial politics is when someone tells Tiana that "a woman of her background" shouldn't have ambitions and is "better off where she is." It encapsulates the racism--and sexism--Tiana faces rather pointedly.
Again, Tiana really tries to forge her own destiny, she doesn't give a rats ass about marrying a prince. I think that message is empowering to young girls but at the same time she has to become that toy-marketable princess. Obviously as the movie goes on--since it is a romance--Tiana does begin to rethink whether or not she needs a prince in her life. And although this is probably unintentional, in the context of the Disney princess pantheon it's kind of awkward. White princesses like Cinderella and Snow White and Sleeping Beauty can wait around for woodland creature friends, fairy godmothers, and princes to make their dreams come true. But Tiana is told repeatedly and learns that she must make her dreams herself. Not that this is a bad thing, but it still kind of sets this inadvertent double-standard that white girls can have princessdom handed to them, but girls of color must work for princesshood. I don't think it's a racial commentary, though--I think it's a sign of the times. It's a good thing that Tiana is proactive in forging her future. Ironically, even though princesshood was never her goal, in the end it's still a fix-all, frog-curse curing thing...but hey that's how fairy tales work. At least it's backwards this time. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty need a prince to kiss them to save them from their curse. But in this story, the frog prince needs a princess to save him.
The last Disney movie set in the Bayou was 1977's The Rescuers and I think a lot of people were worried this film would contain negative stereotypes. There were a few--the cajun firefly, a trio of hick-ish brute alligator hunters, a voodoo witch, etc. I don't think anything was too awful. Other characters in the film... Well, there's the titular frog--formerly a freewheeling, music loving, Lothario-slacker prince. He is kind of naive and selfish, but charming. If you liked Kuzco in The Emperor's New Groove, you will probably like Prince Naveen. He has a similar character arc to Kuzco with the whole spoiled-boy-turned-animal thing. The two animal sidekicks don't detract from the story either. Louis the alligator dreams of being a trumpet player and Ray the firefly is unexpectedly cute.
Hmm...what else can I say. The dialogue was witty. The songs felt very Randy Newman-ish instead of Alan Menken-style. So they weren't really all that memorable or catchy, but they fit the setting. Some of the forest animal scenes during the songs seemed filler. Hopefully things will be edited more tightly in the final product.
The film reminded me of a mash up of The Emperor's New Groove, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, The Little Mermaid, and Anastasia (sometimes the villain really reminds me of Rasputin...) If you liked those movies, and Disney princess movies, you will likely enjoy The Princess and the Frog. So um, go watch it in December. It was fun.