The Princess and the Frog

[UssGlenn]

Anybody seen this yet? I haven't, but I've been interested because of it's role in the rebirth of Disney 2D animation. How is it and how are the kids in the audience reacting? Was Lassiter right in thinking that people don't care if it's traditional or computer animated as long as the story is good?

 

[Joy]

Best Disney movie EVER....

Well... Okay, maybe tied with Lion King and Little Mermaid, but it's a close call.

I LOVED it, and I can't wait to go see it again, this time with my sister and my 2-year-old niece, for whom this will be her first theatrical viewing of a Disney princess movie. And actually, PatF was MY first theatrical viewing of a Disney princess movie!

BEAUTIFUL story. BEAUTIFUL art. BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL.

It's a true masterpiece.

Joy

PS: Funnily enough, there wasn't a single person under the age of 20 or over the age of 30 in my audience. Of course, granted, there were only about 8 people total, and it was 11:55 in the morning on a Friday. Wish I could've gone to an evening show to see how it did then.

 

[auntiehill]

Good! I love a good Disney flick. This one looks like fun.

 

[melancholymecha]

watching it tomorrow!

 

[Trekker4747]

It's one I kind-of want to see as it looks like a return to good, classic, Disney animation. Maybe I'll take my niece to see it this weekend.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I saw it a couple of days ago in the Downtown Disney theater while on a trip to Disneyland! It was very good, it looked beautiful and had a great story and message. The New Orleans setting was a great idea and the songs are SO DAMN CATCHY. I have had them stuck in my head for days.

The kids in the audience seemed to enjoy it just as much as the adults did! Of course I'm sure a Downtown Disney crowd is a bit biased, but there was clapping at the end and all that, and appropriate laughing and awwing.

Goin down the bayou, goin down the bayouuu......

 

[StardustSteph]

Ok, I'm a probably the worst person to review Disney stuff because I am such a fan of it all. I'm very critical..these are just my opinions though. Most people overall will probably love this film.

I loved movies like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and etc. I do not think Princess and the Frog lives up to these films at all. The film was good, but it I don't feel personally it was near as captivating as the older Disney 2D animation films were. I don't feel it will have that timeless effect as those others did either. I think it would rank more along the lines with films like Hercules or Hunchback of Notre Dame good films, but not near as memorable and classic as Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc.

Perhaps, I am just stuck on loving the traditional fairy tale aspect, which this didn't have. Sure, it was taken from a fairy tale story but it didn't have the same feel as the classic Disney films had. I'm sure most people will enjoy it, but to me it didn't revive Disney 2D animation for me at all. It had comedy, action, love, and all the aspects of a Disney film, but it was lacking in the Disney magic I remember as a kid. This is just my opinion though. It is a definite must see though for Disney fans, and I said before I'm sure most will enjoy it. I'm just very picky .

 

[Trekker4747]

I got back about an hour or so ago from taking my niece to see this.

This movie is the best animated movie (traditional) Disney has made in a long-assed time. It's beautfuly drawn, has a wonderful story, interesting characters and a pretty good story that progresses naturaly. It has all of the "magic" that a good Disney toon should be.

If I could kiss John Lasseter I would. This movie may not be one of Disney's best (for me that would go to either The Lion King or Alladin) but it's certainly the best one they've made in probably a decade. Well done.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Ok, I'm a probably the worst person to review Disney stuff because I am such a fan of it all. I'm very critical..these are just my opinions though. Most people overall will probably love this film.

I loved movies like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and etc. I do not think Princess and the Frog lives up to these films at all. The film was good, but it I don't feel personally it was near as captivating as the older Disney 2D animation films were. I don't feel it will have that timeless effect as those others did either. I think it would rank more along the lines with films like Hercules or Hunchback of Notre Dame good films, but not near as memorable and classic as Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc.

Perhaps, I am just stuck on loving the traditional fairy tale aspect, which this didn't have. Sure, it was taken from a fairy tale story but it didn't have the same feel as the classic Disney films had. I'm sure most people will enjoy it, but to me it didn't revive Disney 2D animation for me at all. It had comedy, action, love, and all the aspects of a Disney film, but it was lacking in the Disney magic I remember as a kid. This is just my opinion though. It is a definite must see though for Disney fans, and I said before I'm sure most will enjoy it. I'm just very picky .

I agree that it's not as good as those others, but honestly I don't think anything ever will be. Those movies hold a lot of magic not only because they are great movies but because I first saw them as a kid. I don't think that anything I see as an adult would ever live up to them. Although this movie will probably not be timeless to me personally, I try to think of it from the perspective of an 8 year old. And to them, I think that they will remember it as fondly as I do the Little Mermaid, which they probably see as being almost ancient by now.

 

[melancholymecha]

I loved it. Loved the bayou scenes, gorgeous naturalistic background art. I did think Facilier was a bit underdeveloped, but his shadow minions were awesome and effectively creepy, especially when they scampered around the city at night.

I actually wasnt very impressed when the first official promo art of this film started showing up on the nets. So many of the characters had this generic dtv look to them, especially Ray & Louis(Louis looked almost exactly like the gator from All Dogs Go to Heaven). So I was surprised to see how much fun their animation was to watch.

Spoiler

And when I realized Ray was the sidekick character that was gonna bite the dust(as I had read on another forum) i thought no way Im gonna get emotional about the demise of some goofy cajun cartoon fly. But damn! his sendoff was just so sad & touching at the same time! I couldnt believe my throat started lumping.

also I never knew frogs could look so cute and sexy.



another thing I noticed was how much Tiana's expressions reminded me of Mulan's, with a bit of Belle thrown in. I wonder if Mark Henn designed/animated her?

 

[Spot's Meow]

^Oh yeah, that's one of the very few complaints I have about the movie, that the villain wasn't quite on par with some past Disney villains. But honestly I don't see how they can outdo themselves since they have had so many awesome ones in the past. This guy was still good, but I still prefer Scar and Ursula.

 

[Trekker4747]

I was rather surprised that:

Spoiler: Movie

Lou didn't "find what he needed" and actually become Louis Armstrong at the end.

 

[Spot's Meow]

^

Spoiler: Response

Well I think "what he needed" was not to be human, but to realize how important his friends are, which he did when he disrupted the parade by growling at everyone instead of continuing to play in the band as he could have done. And in the end he got to play in the restaurant's band.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I wasn't going to bother with this one but the idea that it has spoilers worth coding has piqued my interest!

 

[Broccoli]

Overall, I liked it. The animation was fantastic. The story was okay, though I felt that it dragged a little in the middle.

Spoiler: Something I was surprised about

I was surprised that Ray was killed at the end. That was kinda dark for a Disney film like this. True, he met up with his love, the star, but I cannot think of another Disney film when one of the sidekicks are killed off at the end.

I also liked the visual cues to past Disney films.

I was rather surprised that:

Spoiler: Movie

Lou didn't "find what he needed" and actually become Louis Armstrong at the end.

He got what he needed.

Spoiler: Movie

he wanted to be a human, but what he needed was a chance to just play and he was accepted for that. Him becoming Armstrong wouldn't have made sense as that musician was referenced earlier in the movie.

 

[Trekker4747]

Spoiler: Yes, more spoilers

Yeah, I must've missed it. I thought in this movie's universe Lou was supposed to be Louis Armstrong. Anyway, I get what everyone is saying that he still "got what he needed" by the end. I also liked how the "princess sidekick" was, really, a true friend and good character. Yeah, she was a spoiled brat but she still did things that weren't selfish and tried to help her friend. I also wonder if Tiana and Naveen can still comunicate with Louis. The movie seemed to want to establish the idea that animals could speak to one another but not to humans (Tiana and Naveen being special cases since they were originaly humans.)

 

[Spot's Meow]

I agree that the secondary character, the spoiled best friend, was a true Southern Belle in every sense of the word. Sweet, spoiled, self-centered yet giving.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Overall, I thought it was very good. The main knock would be the music, which was perfectly fine, but not as memorable as any of the 90s animated musicals I can think of; people are still using music from even minor hits like Hercules to make YouTube music videos more than a decade later, but I don't think any of these have that kind of legs). Serviceable, but not spectacular. "Dig A Little Deeper" was probably the best of them.

Everything else worked great, though. In particular, big success on characterization of the leads, particularly Naveen. Because, really, most of the male leads in princess movies are just there to provide the happy ending, they don't have much in the way of personality; he's got some swagger. I also liked how they handled Charlotte; spoiled, but she wasn't a jealous bitch or anything, and was ready to help Tiana at every turn.

The animation design on the frogs was great. I also liked the stylized look of "Almost There".

 

[Trekker4747]

Everything else worked great, though. In particular, big success on characterization of the leads, particularly Naveen. Because, really, most of the male leads in princess movies are just there to provide the happy ending, they don't have much in the way of personality; he's got some swagger. I also liked how they handled Charlotte; spoiled, but she wasn't a jealous bitch or anything, and was ready to help Tiana at every turn.

That's what I really liked. I was afraid Charlotte was going to be a rich-bitch who just used Tiana (Oh! Here's some money, you're going to cater my party!) and I really though she'd lose her shit when Tiana runed the catering table.

But, no, as pleasant surprise Charlotte was a real, good, friend to Tiana, was willing to reverse Naveen's spell so he could hook-up with Tiana and then Charlotte became a pedophille.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Overall, I thought it was very good. The main knock would be the music, which was perfectly fine, but not as memorable as any of the 90s animated musicals I can think of; people are still using music from even minor hits like Hercules to make YouTube music videos more than a decade later, but I don't think any of these have that kind of legs). Serviceable, but not spectacular. "Dig A Little Deeper" was probably the best of them.

Wow I'm surprised to read this. I thought the music was extremely memorable, in fact a week later it is STILL stuck in my head. It does help that I was at Disneyland at the time, where they have a new show/parade thing going on in New Orleans Square that involves the movie characters and songs, so I heard the songs probably about 4 times each in 2 days.

Almost There and Goin Down the Bayou (I know that's not the actual name of the song, but whatever) were the ones that were especially memorable to me.