The Princess and the Frog is the story of Tiana (Anika Noni Rose – The Starter Wife) and Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos – Nip/Tuck), who on his first trip to 1930s America from far-far-away Maldonia, falls victim to the machinations of the evil "Shadow Man", a voodoo witch doctor also known as Dr. Facilier (Keith David – Gargoyles, Spectacular Spider-Man). Tiana has worked hard her whole life toward the restaurateur dream she inherited from her father James (Terrence Howard – Iron Man) who imparted Tiana with his hard working values and love of cooking and its causal relationship with the feelings of love and community.

Ever since Tiana (an impoverished black girl, in case it needs be said) was little, her seamstress mother Eudora (Oprah Winfrey) took Tiana along to play with wanna-be princess Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), the daughter of the richest man in town, the two girls have been cross-cultural friends. When Charlotte's father "Big Daddy" LaBouff (John Goodman – Rosanne) invites Prince Naveen to stay with them while he's in town, Charlotte asks Tiana to add her heavenly beignets (it's like a french/southern doughnut) to the extravagant catering at a party in the prince's honor.

The Shadow Man gets hold of the prince before the party, and transforms the prince into a frog and the prince's valet Lawrence (Peter Bartlett) into the prince. Inexplicable magic-wise but vital to the whole story is that when Tiana kisses the frog-prince, she herself is also turned into a frog.

From there, the story becomes yet another Disney anthropomorphic extravaganza with talking animals of all kinds, including key characters Louis the alligator (Michael-Leon Wooley) and Ray the firefly (Jim Cummings) who guide our heroes along their Oz-like journey first to the sage Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), and then finally home to try and recover their humanity, which does require them to follow Mama Odie's advice to "Dig a Little Deeper".

Music

Like any Disney Musical, The Princess and the Frog has loads of very singable songs that the whole family will enjoy and sing along to, maybe even before the first time through.

"Down in New Orleans" is a scene-setter in every way.
"Almost There" establishes Tiana's hard working attitude and restaurant dream
"Friends on the Other Side" shows us the power of Dr. Facilier and the soul-eating shadows he serves in exchange for his voodoo powers.
"When We're Human" is their version of "If I Only Had a Brain"
"Gonna Take You There" is almost a "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" with a bayou family feel.
"Ma Belle Evangeline" is the sweetest waltz of love we're likely to ever hear.
"Dig a Little Deeper" invites introspection
"Never Knew I Needed" by Ne-Yo is a great uplifting out-of-your-theater-seats positive love song that will send you off on the rest of your day with a smile.

Special Features

The Princess and the Frog runs 98 spellbinding minutes and on Blu-ray comes in 1080p with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The extras are all worth watching and serve to make you even more a fan of this fantastic feature. Blu-ray Extras include:

• Deleted Scenes
• The Making of a Princess
• Conjuring the Villain
• The Return to Hand-Drawn Animation
• The Disney Legacy
• Disney's Newest Princess
• Bringing Life to Animation
• Art Galleries
• Music Video by Ne-Yo
• The Princess Portraits Games
• "and more"

In the 3-Disc Combo Pack Edition, The DVD disc has:

• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary by the Filmmakers
• The Princess Portraits Game (actually good fun with a storybook prize at the end)
• Music Video

And the Digital Copy disc is a Special Feature in itself!

Overview

To say that Disney has done it again with 2009's The Princess and the Frog is a serious understatement. I have to say that my expectations were very low, as I had guessed that any return to two-dimensional animation would be a step backward. I'm glad to report that this is simply not the case, and The Princess and the Frog has now taken its place as an instant classic among the ranks of not only the modern Disney classics that began with The Little Mermaid, but also the older classics that it also harkens back to, including Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, and The Jungle Book. While computer generated features are not going away and are only getting better with each iteration, The Princess and the Frog proves that hand-drawn animation will live forever.

See if you can spot the callbacks to pretty much every Disney film ever made.

ComicsOnline gives The Princess and the Frog 5 out of 5 pots full of gumbo love.
 

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