Reviewed by Ben Mortimer
Stars the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campo, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jennifer Cody, Jim Cummings, Peter Bartlett, Jenifer Lewis, John Goodman, Elizabeth Dampier
Written by Ron Clements, John Musker & Ed Baker
Certification UK U | US G
Runtime 97 minutes
Directed by Ron Clements & John Musker
As The Princess & The Frog begins, there is a moment of slight confusion. For audiences accustomed to computer generated 3D, the sight of a 2D, painted background and hand-drawn characters is slightly jarring – particularly after seeing the Disney logo rendered in almost photo-real animation just seconds before. Once the confusion passes it becomes apparent that what we are seeing is utterly beautiful, and as good as anything Disney has ever created.
By the time the credits roll, we are immersed in the world of the film, a fictionalised 1920s New Orleans. This sequence quickly sets up the main characters, while the opening tune – a collaboration between Pixar stalwart Randy Newman and jazz legend Dr John – proves to any doubters that Disney-by-way-of-the-bayou really is a good idea. Despite using the fairy tale as a jumping-off point, The Princess & The Frog is very much a classic Disney story. All the stock elements are there: The Prince and Princess, the Fairy Godmother, and a herd of talking animals. While anyone over the age of three will see what’s coming a mile off, Clements and Musker manage to handle these elements so deftly, the fact that we’ve seen it hundreds of times before doesn’t matter.
While the roles the characters play are familiar, their personalities are not. In fact, the reason the story works so well is down to how different our heroes and villains are from previous incarnations of the Disney archetypes. The heroine is so driven to succeed that she ignores friends and family, spending her time working. The villain is in league with voodoo spirits, and has far more in common with Marlowe’s Dr Faustus than Snow White’s wicked stepmother. Meanwhile the prince is, at least to begin with, a bit of a self-obsessed dick. In many ways, these characters owe more to Chuck Jones than to Walt Disney. This is particularly true in the case of the supporting cast, many of whom provide moments of broad comedy unthinkable in Disney films even 10 years ago.
Despite just how much humour Clements and Musker have crammed into The Princess & The Frog, the film still packs a strong emotional punch. It’s not quite as gut wrenching as the first 10 minutes of Up, but the film has its moments, and at times it’s hard not to feel a lump in the throat. The near-perfect story is complimented by some of the best animation work Disney has done in well over a decade. In recent years hand-drawn animation has been the preserve of TV and independent filmmakers, and while the stylised animation in movies like Persepolis and Waltz With Bashir is of a great quality, it’s a world away from the beautiful, fluid work that Disney’s animators manage to achieve.
As with the characters, there are sequences that owe a great deal to the work of Chuck Jones and Tex Avery, but there are also moments that hark back to classic Disney scenes. In particular, the demise of the villain is a miniature masterpiece of pounding music and wild animation with a palate of colours that recalls the climactic fight at the end of Sleeping Beauty. It is a true stand out moment in an already stunning film.