Princess and the Frog is Disney's first traditionally animated film since 2004's Home on the Range, it's also their best one since the Lion King. What it lacks in originality it more than makes up for with the beautiful animation and with the soundtrack.
The film revolves around Tiana, a young woman trying to fulfill the youthful dream she shared with her late father of being a restaurant owner in New Orleans. Arriving on the scene is Prince Naveen of Maldonia, he's been financially cut off by his parents and is looking for a wealthy woman to marry while still wanting to maintain his independence. Tiana's best friend Charlotte happens to be rich and so all three of their paths are bound to cross. No classic princess story would be complete without a memorable villain and so lurking in the shadows is voodoo master, Dr. Facilier. He takes advantage of the Princes naivety and turns him into a frog. The prince needs a princess to kiss him to return him to human form and away we go.
The storyline is nothing special at all. It follows the princess story play-book almost 100%. There are talking animals, kisses at midnight, and lots of singing. The voice actors all do a fine job, with Keith David as the evil Dr. being the highlight. What makes the movie really work is setting the film in New Orleans and getting the music and feel completely right. The animation as well is beautiful, I love Pixar movies as much as the next guy but there's something great about hand drawn animation. It speaks to my youth I guess. The music features a wide range of New Orleans styles from Dixieland Jazz, Zydeco and Boogie Woogie. Any movie that starts off with a Dr. John song gets bonus points in my book. The songs are easily the highlight of the film for me and every time I found myself getting a little bored with the story a song would play and completely grab my attention. Obviously this is a children's film first and foremost and I doubt they will have any complaints about a lack of originality in the storyline so there's no reason for kids not to love this movie.
The Blu-ray is about as good as you can ask for. Animated movies always transfer really well and Princess and the Frog is no exception. Colors pop and detail is very impressive. I didn;t notice anything to take away from the visual presentation. The audio is just as good. The songs are very full sounding and the action scenes come alive with surround use and low end. Dialogue is never lost in the mix as well.
While Princess and the Frog isn't the most original animated movie ever made it's still highly enjoyable for adults and I bet children will love it even more.
Ratings:
Movie 3.5/5
Blu-ray5/5
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