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Disney is back with a bang (or kiss)
(by Dedra Cordle, Staff Writer - December 17, 2009)
Even though most of the movies I watched during my pre-teenage angst years featured ravenous zombies, extraterrestrials and leather-clad rebels, I still managed to get some quality World of Walt Disney time in.
I had to gather my courage before watching "Bambi" as it made me cry too much; I wished I was a mermaid princess like Ariel, and then a proud warrior like Pocahontas; I got mad at my grandfather for making me share "101 Dalmatians" with my horrible cousins at Christmas one year; and then I fell in love with "The Lion King" despite having 'Hakuna Matata' stuck in my head for what seems like years after. (And yes, I find myself humming it right now.)
Each year there was a new masterpiece to enjoy, but after failed ventures in the early millennium, Disney took a new path and left 2-D animations behind. Until now that is. After many years of handing Pixar the reigns, Disney Animations is back in fine form with "The Princess and the Frog," and has a small piece of my heart for doing so.
"The Princess and the Frog" centers around Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), the hard-working daughter of a seamstress whose life ambition is not to find a handsome prince to sweep her off her feet, but to open a restaurant, which was her deceased father's dream.
Because she is so focused on saving enough money to purchase the building that will house Tiana's Place, her life seems to be a bit of a bore, but she lives vicariously through her childhood friend Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), who regularly holds parties to find her perfect man, preferably a prince, and not a metaphorical one.
Upon learning that Naveen, the Prince of Maldonia (Bruno Campo) will be visiting New Orleans, Charlotte immediately hosts a party to garner his attention and asks Tiana to made her famous beignets as "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
Before the celebration begins, Naveen - a charming and somewhat clueless ham - gets into trouble with Dr. Facilier (Keith David), a voodoo man whose intentions are anything but honorable.
While giving a tarot card reading (via catchy song, of course), Dr. Facilier reaches out to Naveen's servant Lawrence, who is horribly jealous of the young prince and aggress to a body switch: Lawrence (Peter Bartlett) gets to be Naveen and woo the rich debutante Charlotte, while the real Naveen turns into a frog.
Having read 'The Frog Prince,' Naveen finds a despondent Tiana (who has just learned she was outbid for her restaurant) and asks her to kiss him. If her kiss turns him back into a man, he promises to help her by lavishing her with riches. (He believes her to be a princess, as she is wearing a tiara for the masquerade ball.)
Pushing aside her aversion to frogs for a moment, Tiana kissed the prince, but their story doesn't unfold the way the fable does, as his kiss turns her into a frog as well.
Now the two squabbling cuties have to find their way to a voodoo priestess who can return them to human form, but their adventure is not without peril. They have to face hungry, jazz playing alligators, frog-hunting humans, vengeful spirits working with Dr. Facilier, and each other.
Even though it doesn't have the same depth and richness of Disney Animations of the past, "The Princess and the Frog" still manages to tickle that childhood spot. With its sweet plot, adorable characters, catchy tunes and impressive visuals, this is possibly the cutest movies I have seen in years. B+
Dedra Cordle is a Messenger staff writer.
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