Review 671: The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog harkens back to a style of animation that seems to have been long forgotten

Based on the novel The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker and the German folk tale The Frog Prince by the Brother Grimm. In New Orleans during the Roaring Twenties, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a hardworking waitress who dreams of opening her own restaurant. But things don’t go according to plan when after kissing Naveen (Bruno Campos), prince of Maldonia, who’s been turned into a frog by the evil witch doctor, Dr. Facilier/Shadow Man (Keith David), Tiana is turned into a frog herself and must find a way to turn both of them back into humans before it’s too late.

Directors Ron Clements & John Musker (who also directed the classics The Little Mermaid and Aladdin) animation direction is The score and songs by Randy Newman (who also did the same for Pixar’s Toy Story movies) are catchy, singable and  the animation is fabulous,  the production design (recreating 1920's New Orleans) is fantastic, the character design is

Anika Noni Rose  Tiana is intelligent, passionate, hardworking, independent and driven. But it gets to the point where she’s a workaholic and a Go-Getter girl who rarely stops and smells the roses. 

Bruno Campos is a  playing Prince Naveen, initially a spoiled and arogant prince from the distant land of Maldonia, a fateful encounter with Dr. Facilier (what else) turns him into a frog 

Keith David makes for highly entertaining villain as Dr. Facilier. Someone who scams people into giving them what they want and then His very existence is dependent on his binding magical contract with his “friends on the other side”. He is practically the antithesis of Tiana because he tries to take the easy trip to get what he wants. Coming from a poor background, he hates the wealthy

John “Sully” Goodman is a hoot playing Eli “Big Daddy” La Bouff

Jennifer Cody also impressed playing Charlotte “Lottie” La Bouff, a wealthy southern debutante who’s also Tiana’s best friend since childhood and dreams of marrying a prince (of course). Despite initially appearing spoiled and self-centred, deep down, she has a heart of gold and she and Tiana care deeply for each other and have supported each other through thick and through thin, never look down on the other for their different beliefs. Theirs is a true example of friendship.

Terrence Howard and Oprah Winfrey are also noteworthy playing James and Eudor, Tiana’s parents. Tiana is where she is because of her parents influence, but particularly because of her fathers hardworking nature. Even though he never got where he wanted, he was a happy man regardless.