The Princess and the Frog

Solid. <em>'The Princess and the Frog'</em> makes for a good time. It's nothing incredibly different from the studio's other animated princess films, but still produces what you'd want from a film of this type. Anika Noni Rose works well in the lead role as Tiana, while it's pleasant to hear John Goodman as Big Daddy; albeit not as a major character. Keith David (Shadow Man) and Oprah Winfrey (Eudora), meanwhile, are welcomed cast members. The music is rather forgettable, though the (traditional) animation is nice. There's a few moments where it drags its heels slightly, but the pacing is mostly fine. It all comes down to whether you enjoy princess stories, given how predictable and formulaic they are. I'm nonplussed about them, to be honest. Mid-range Disney, for me.

When the eligible bachelor "Prince Naveen" arrives in New Orleans, he suffers quite a character change! It seems that the evil "Facilier" - straight out of "Live and Let Die" (1973) - has offered his butler the chance to swap places with his master, and his master is now a little green frog. As everyone knows, only true love's kiss can reverse the impact of a curse like this and so it falls to aspiring waitress "Tiana" to firstly be convinced that this talking amphibian is actually worth kissing, then when that tried and tested solution merely converts her into another green frog, they must both enlist the help of a trumpeter alligator and an enthusiastic and brave firefly to head into the deepest part of the bayou where an old blind witch might have the solution to defeat this blackest of voodoo magic. Thing is, though - the clock is ticking and the evil "Faciler" has enlisted his allies from the underworld to ensure that their predicament becomes permanent! This is a really jolly and characterful family adventure with some splendid and detailed animation and a fun score from Randy Newman that frequently gets the toes tapping. I could have been doing with a bit more of the nasty "Facilier" but I suppose Disney don't like too much of the baddie featuring in their movies - which is a shame as they are almost always the best! I saw this recently again on a big screen and it has much more of the traditional cartoon elements to it than many of the others made by this studio in the noughties. Short, sweet and entertaining.