Disney / Buena Vista | 2009 | 97 mins. | Rated G
In recent years, Disney has found itself playing catch up with the mighty PIXAR when it comes to animated films. While the ‘House of Mouse’ has put out some enjoyable fare including Meet the Robinsons, and Bolt, they have been surpassed by the innovative techniques and multi-layered storylines that PIXAR has introduced in nearly every film in the studios catalog, beginning with Toy Story back in 1995. While Disney’s The Princess and the Frog is guaranteed to entertain younger children, parents may yearn for the more lively animation style, as this one takes us back to a very flat 2-D world.
Personally, I loved the return to hand drawn animation; for me, The Princess and the Frog is bursting with color and life. The filmmakers capture the flavor of old New Orleans, thanks to a combination of artwork that includes such detailed work as gingerbread-trimmed houses and wisteria-draped gazebos. Also adding to the atmosphere is Randy Newman’s jazz infused score, which only serves to put viewers in the right time and place all the more.
The film is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans sometime in the 1920s. It doesn’t say this explicitly, but an opening sequence that shows Tiana as a five-year-old includes a newspaper headline, “Wilson Wins,” which places it in 1912. From there, the movie cut’s to a time where she appears to be in her early twenties. Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) is a hard working waitress, who dreams of opening her own restaurant. She’s also black, which thankfully the movie doesn’t make a big deal out of.
Tiana isn’t royalty. That comes in the form of Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) when he visits New Orleans. Though his family is fabulously rich, Naveen himself has been cut off, and he’s vaguely looking for a wealthy wife to enable his layabout lifestyle. Tiana’s blonde, rich friend Charlotte (voiced by Jennifer Cody, with wonderful character animation supervised by Nik Ranieri) would be more than happy to oblige. In a nice touch, writer-directors John Musker and Ron Clements don’t allow Charlotte’s all consuming desire to marry a prince affect her friendship with Tiana.
Before Charlotte and Prince Naveen can begin their lives together in a marriage of convenience, Tiana and Naveen find themselves transformed into frogs thanks to the sinister voodoo practitioner Dr. Facilier (Keith David provides the voice, while Bruce Smith supervises the spindly, spookish animation). The two are forced to find their way back to New Orleans, with the help of some animal friends—a coronet-playing gator named Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) and a firefly named Ray (Jim Cummings).
The Princess and the Frog is a film filled with old fashioned Disney traditions in animation. The animators constantly fill the screen with shimmering light, or Dr. Facilier’s swirling shadow—while CGI is wonderful, this return to hand drawn animation made me remember why I fell in love with the genre all those years ago. Aside from that, the movie itself is rather sweet. Aided by the fact that Rose has a lovely singing voice, and Prince Naveen is charming, and that there’s an alligator who wants desperately to play jazz trumpet. While I can’t quite put the Princess and the Frog in the same class as earlier Musker and Clement collaborations The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, it’s clear they still know how to entertain families.
The Princess and the Frog comes to Blu-ray via an AVC/MPEG-4 transfer, presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio that’s been “enhanced” for 16×9 televisions. In 1080p the film looks wonderful, though it should be noted that a number of scenes have been deliberately made to have a soft look to them, as befits a once-upon-a-time story in 1920s America. Some scenes have a yellow wash to add antiquing, while other scenes have more natural colors and more saturation. The film changes its visual style a number of times, based on the location and mood of each scene, and through everything the Blu-ray transfer manages to capture an abundance of detail. Black levels are a little light in the antiqued scenes, but elsewhere they’re as strong as the edge detail. Colors are saturated the most during big production numbers. I didn’t notice any digital artifacts.
The English DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack conveys the music beautifully. Bass is robust, high notes are piercing, and prioritization of dialogue, effects, and music is handled perfectly. Rear speakers convey ambient sound throughout the film, and don’t just come alive during “big” moments or big songs. It’s a pretty dynamic track, with sound filling the room. Other audio options are French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, which comes closer to the DVD soundtrack. There’s an English 2.0 DVS, with subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.
The 3-disc set comes with both a standard DVD and Digital Copy of the film, along with an impressive slate of special features on the Blu-ray.
• Audio Commentary: Directors/co-writers John Musker and Ron Clements, and producer Peter Del Vecho discuss the film’s casting, its voice actors’ performances, the development and evolution of its story, the creation of its characters and villains, the use of New Orleans, and Randy Newman’s music. Along the way, they actively and thoughtfully dissect its hand-drawn animation, script, dialogue, design work, and visual wonders.
• Work in Progress Track: Watch the finished film alongside the animators’ early pencil work, storyboards, key animations, and work-in-progress sequences with this excellent Picture-in-Picture Bonus View experience. The only downside? You can’t listen to the filmmakers’ audio commentary while the PiP track is engaged.
• Magic in the Bayou (HD, 22 minutes): A behind-the-scenes documentary about the production, the studio’s return to hand drawn animation, and The Princess and the Frog’s place in Disney history. Executive producer John Lasseter anchors an impressive lineup of filmmakers and animators who contributed to the project, all of whom offer their thoughts on the project, provide commentary on the characters and story, and sketch out an overview of the various challenges they faced along the way.
• Bringing Life to Animation (HD, 8 minutes): Musker and Clements showcase some of the live-action reference footage the animators used when working on two difficult sequences.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 12 minutes): Musker and Clements introduce four unfinished scenes that were left on the cutting room floor, and explain the reasons they were cut.
• The Return to Hand Drawn Animation (HD, 3 minutes): A redundant EPK that was clearly produced before the film’s release.
• The Disney Legacy (HD, 3 minutes): This short featurette discusses Disney’s past, the studio’s commitment to animation, and its devotion to rich storytelling.
• A Return to the Animated Musical (HD, 3 minutes): Song and dance, jazz and bayou melodies. Welcome to the toe-tapping music of The Princess and the Frog.
• Disney’s Newest Princess (HD, 3 minutes): Meet Tiana, voice actress Anika Noni Rose, and the animators and production heads who brought her to life.
• The Princess and the Animator (HD, 2 minutes): Learn how the animators approached the design and animation of Tiana, as well as her body language and expressive face.
• Conjuring the Villain (HD, 2 minutes): Witness the dark origins of Dr. Facilier, and trace his evolution from page to screen.
• Music & More (HD, 4 minutes): A music video for NE-YO’s “Never Knew I Needed.”
• Art Galleries (HD): Peruse hundreds of sketches, character designs, visual development photos, layouts, backgrounds, storyboards, and more in the disc’s incredibly extensive art galleries.
• What Do You See: Princess Portraits (HD): An interactive lightning-bug guessing game for the kids.
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