Short Take: Impressive for many reasons, but perhaps no better reason than because it's NEW

Directors: Ron Clements (Aladdin), John Musker (Aladdin)

Writers: Ron Clements, Jason Oremland, and John Musker (story), Ron Clements, John Musker, and Rob Edwards (Treasure Planet) (screenplay)

Cast: Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls), Bruno Campos, Keith David (Coraline), Jim Cummings (Bee Movie)

Length: 1h 37m

Synopsis: Tiana (Rose) is a hard-working lower class girl who is trying as hard as she can to save up enough money to open up her own restaurant, which was both her and her father’s life long dream. One day, while wishing upon a star for help in achieving this, she comes across a frog who calls himself a prince (Campos). He claims that he’s only a frog because an evil voodoo magician turned him into one, and that a kiss would set everything right again. As it turns out, the solution to their problems is not so simple.

Analysis: The subject of the film, from a distance, is not about a princess finding true love with a prince who just happens to be a frog. Rather, it is about the fulfillment of wishes – specifically the methods which are used to fulfill them. Tiana wishes hard for her dreams to come true, but unlike some other fairy tales she also decides to be pragmatic and work hard towards achieving them. She knows, as we hear her father tell her, that one cannot rely on wishing alone, and that personal effort and perseverance are vital if she is to get what she desires so greatly. Much like other Disney films like Aladdin or Cinderella magic does indeed play a big part in the final outcome, however the film’s message about the imperativeness of hard work is conveyed through the actual journey that Tiana embarks on. One could argue that the journey is where this message ought to be conveyed if it were to be done during only one part of a normal three act story, as it provides the “proof” needed to argue for the message the film aims to send so strongly.

The frog prince, as we find out, plays the foil. Unlike Tiana, he tries time and again to get what he wants in the easiest way possible, which often involves absolutely no effort on his part. We learn that the prince has been cut off from his family’s money as he visits America, which makes him utterly broke. Instead of finding a job and earning money for himself, he makes a deal with a voodoo magician named Dr. Facilier (David) that (in a typical quasi-Faustian manner) ends up going not as well as he’d hoped (thus arises the explanation of how he became a frog). So, looking at Tiana and the prince’s characters side by side allows us the audience to clearly discern that the story is not only advocating honest work but denouncing the act of cutting corners.

While such a practical and universally supported theme is not necessarily uncommon in fairy tales in general, it is with Disney’s list of 2D animated features. Cinderella, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty all rely heavily on luck and tremendous circumstances to convey themes which ask their audiences not just to believe in magic, but also believe that they can rely on it. Jiminy Cricket’s famous words, “If you wish upon a star your dreams come true,” resonate with audiences across the globe, but one can argue that, in the end, they inadvertently attest that dreams cannot come true without the assistance of magic, i.e. some enigmatic ultra-powerful outside force (aka God?). And so for The Princess and the Frog to claim that magic exists but doesn’t withhold the power to make dreams come true without the help of personal enterprise is a sharp turn away from what has come to be referred to as “classic Disney.” The question that results from all of this is, have we now entered a new era of Disney animated films?

Rating: 8.0