Sunday, 7 February 2010

The Princess and the Frog!

So the other day I managed to find time in my incredibly busy schedule of being a serious scholar... :-s ... to visit my fabulous friend in Glasgow and see the first 2-D Disney epic in AGES, "The Princess and the Frog."

For us twenty-something females the Disney which simultaneously made our childhoods, but ruined the rest of our lives is back. YEY. "The Princess and the Frog" really is up there with "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid" - it doesn't disappoint. The songs aren't quite up to scratch...(god only knows why they didn't get Alan Menken to do the music) but Randy Newton does a pretty good job. There are no instant classics like "Under the Sea" or "A Whole New World" but I will certainly be limewiring the soundtrack when I get a minute.

The long awaited princess Tiana is a great character. She is intelligent, headstrong and beautiful - a fantastic role model. There will of course be some who claim the film is racist (like they do all Disney films) but these claims will be unfounded.  Sure, the film fails to portray the horrific racisim that New Orleans would have been riddled with in the 1920's...but the film is marketed towards tiny kiddies!? Tiana's family are incredibly heartwarming, and they provide a lovely (if not a bit suspiciously Christian) message "you can wish on a star, but that can only take you halfway." Also, spot the superstar cameos from Terrence Howard and Oprah Winfrey :-o

The animation is spectacular; and a refreshing change from Pixar. The firefly sequence was beautiful, and the thing that always strikes me about Disney 2D is their ability to give their characters the most beautiful eyes. Still makes me melt. There are also plenty of amazing sparkly dresses which will have you wishing that the Disney store stocked adult sized replicas.

The best thing about this film however is the humour. Louis the trumpet playing Alligator, Ray the firefly with an unfortunate love interest, and Prince Neveen as the frog all practically had me rolling about the floor with laughter. Hilarious.

Also....Aladdin has competition from Naveen for the hottest prince title... is that weird? Never mind.



It's a Disney renaissance, hurrah.

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