The Princess and the Frog 2009 Movie Review
Release Date: November 25, 2009 (LA/NY)
December 11, 2009
Genre: Family
Director: John Musker, Ron Clements
Writer: John Musker, Ron Clements
Cast: Anika Noni Rose, Keith David
AKA: Frog Princess, The
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Official site: disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog
Running Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated G
A musical set in the legendary birthplace of jazz -- New Orleans -- "The Frog Princess" will introduce the newest Disney princess, Maddy, a young African-American girl living amid the charming elegance and grandeur of the fabled French Quarter. From the heart of Louisiana's mystical bayous and the banks of the mighty Mississippi comes an unforgettable tale of love, enchantment and discovery with a soulful singing crocodile, voodoo spells and Cajun charm at every turn....
STARRING Anika Noni Rose, Terrence Howard, Oprah Winfrey, John Goodman, Keith Howard
WRITTEN BY Ron Clements, John Musker, Rob Edwards
DIRECTED BY Ron Clements, John Musker
Has there ever been so much riding on a single film? Particularly one about singing amphibians? The Princess and the Frog marks Disney's first traditionally animated feature since the 2004 flop Home on the Range, after which the studio (and its peers) pushed all its chips into computer animation. ''There was a feeling that people didn't want to watch hand-drawn animation anymore,'' says Disney-Pixar honcho John Lasseter. ''That's ludicrous. When you see Frog, you cannot imagine it in CG.''
Lasseter enlisted directors Ron Clements and John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin) to reinvent the Grimm fairy tale ''The Frog Prince.'' The film's twist: When the princess kisses the cursed royal amphibian, she turns into one too. Oh, and the story's set in 1920s New Orleans and centers on Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), Disney's first animated African-American heroine. ''We maybe didn't realize the impact of that,'' says Clements. ''But we made every effort to be as sensitive as possible.'' Tiana, a tenacious waitress who dreams of owning her own restaurant, is loosely based on New Orleans' famed chef Leah Chase. ''Leah's big thing was how food brought people together,'' says Musker. With Frog, Disney hopes to do just that. And perhaps sell a doll or two.
