Review: 'The Princess and the Frog'
Bottom line: A dependably charming and enjoyable Disney effort that also introduces the studio's first African-American princess.
Cast: Voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruce Campos, Keith David
Length: 1:35
Race doesn't matter in 'The Princess and the Frog'
Photo credit: AP Photo | In this film publicity image released by Disney, Princess Tiana, voiced by Anika Noni Rose, holds Prince Naveen, voiced by Bruno Campos, in a scene from the animated film, "The Princess and the Frog."
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As you might guess by the title, "The Princess and the Frog" is a fairly familiar story. And because this animated musical comes from Walt Disney Pictures, you can expect talking-animal sidekicks, a perilous journey, a budding romance and a moral to the tale.
What's new, if you haven't heard, is the debut of Disney's first African-American princess, Tiana. She adds another dash of color to a nine-member lineup of ink-and-paint Caucasians, such as Snow White and Cinderella but also the Arabian Jasmine ("Aladdin"), the Chinese Mulan and American Indian Pocahontas.
By setting "Princess" in the New Orleans of the early 1900s - a briefly seen newspaper headline reads "Wilson Elected" - Disney gets to focus on Cajun food, Southern accents and Dixieland jazz rather than on skin color. In fact, although Tiana (pleasantly voiced by the Broadway singer Anika Noni Rose) begins the film as a hardworking waitress, she spends most of her screen time as a frog.
That's the result of her chance meeting with Prince Naveen (Bruce Campos), a freewheeling playboy hoodwinked by the local voodoo man, Dr. Facilier (Keith David, delightfully wicked). The newly green Naveen manages to charm Tiana into a kiss, but after that backfires, the two amphibians travel the bayou to find their voodoo fairy godmother, Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis). Along the way, they'll befriend a trumpet-playing gator, Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), and a gap-toothed Cajun firefly named Raymond (Jim Cummings).
With songs by Randy Newman (himself raised in New Orleans) and some visually fizzy animation styles, "The Princess and the Frog" sticks to a dependably pleasing Disney template. As for issues of race - you were expecting maybe "Precious"?PLOT In jazz-era New Orleans, a young girl kisses a frog prince with unexpected results.
