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Film Title: The Princess and the Frog

 Best for ages: 6 and up.

Movie Website:  Click Here

Year Released: 2009

Rated: G (US)

The Review

   The last Disney Princess to be created was Mulan in 1998; and although many of the Disney princesses have appeared in sequels in the past twelve years, no new princesses were introduced. Tiana is the newest member of the Disney princesses with the release of The Princess and the Frog, an animated tale loosely based on E. D. Baker's novel The Frog Princess, which was in turn inspired by the Grimm brothers' fairy tale The Frog Prince.

   The Princess and the Frog is about a young women named Tiana, a girl who lost her father and works for a rich family as their cook.  Her father’s dream was to one day own the best restaurant in New Orleans. Tiana is working hard to bring her father’s dream to life, yet every where she turns people keep telling her to keep doing what she’s doing and to stop thinking about what her late father wanted to do. Meanwhile, Prince Naveen of Maldonia has arrived in New Orleans determined to better his financial situation by marrying a southern belle named Charlotte LaBouff, a good friend of Tiana’s and her boss.  However Prince Naveen runs into trouble when he meets Dr. Facilier, an evil man who is into evil voodoo magic. He turns the prince into a frog and replaces the prince with his servant of whom also wants to be rid of the prince. Prince Naveen escapes however, and finds himself in the home of Miss LaBouff during a dinner party celebration in which he was supposed to meet Charlotte. However, the prince mistakens Tiana as a princess and asks her for a kiss. She agrees yet the fact that she is not a princess reverses the spell on her, and she too turns into a frog. The two nearly escape the party with their lives and find their way into the Louisiana bayous.  While avoiding danger in the swamp, they meet a jazz loving alligator named Louis and friendly Cajun firefly named Ray who will help on their journey though the bayou and stop the evil doctor.

   Amazing is the only word that comes to mind when describing this film. The last few princess films were alright and while I enjoyed Mulan, Pocahontas and Aladdin; I really didn’t get that great Disney princess feel that I did with Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. The Princess and the Frog has that great Disney feel to it. It feels like one of the great Disney Princess films like Cinderella and Snow White.  The animation is out of this world and the story is done in classic Disney style.

   The film does have it’s flaws when it comes to choosing whether or not this is a good film for your child to see. First and foremost, as with most Disney characters there is always some tragic in the characters past where they have lost a love one be tragic or not. This is the case with The Princess and the Frog as well, Tiana has lost people close to her, especially her father who’s dream she wants to make a reality for herself. Dr. Facilier is one evil guy and some of the sprits he conjures up and talks may be scary even terrifying to some younger children. Of course the animation of these spirits is done in such a way that they look silly in some respects, but they can also be very scary. There is also a character that dies in the film.  It is sad, and I don’t want to give to much away, but it did upset my daughter, however the story does in some respects let you know that this character is still around in the end, but for younger children they might not fully understand it. You also have your basic animated chase scenes and some scares involving hunters with guns who talk about eating frogs for dinner with some corn bread, and the usual hostage situations that the characters go though. Yet most of it is done in good taste and humor.

   The Blu-ray disc is like no other with plenty of features to keep you and your children entertained for hours. Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary with the filmmakers, The Princess Portraits game and the music video by Ne-Yo are included on both the DVD and Blu-ray discs in the set. Exclusive features just on the Blu-ray disc include a bunch of featurettes such as The Making of a Princess, Conjuring the Villain, Disney’s Newest Princess, Bringing Life to Animation, The Return to Hand-Drawn Animation, The Disney Legacy and Art Galleries from the film.  The Combo pack also comes with a digital copy of the film as well.

   Words cannot express how great of a film The Princess and the Frog is.  I was completely blown away by not only how great the story was but by how perfect the animation was.  This film really captures the spirit of what a Walt Disney film should be all about. Like I mentioned above, some of the content in the film might scare younger viewers, but only you as a parent know what your child is capable of watching. The best recommendation I can give is for you as a parent to watch the film before your child does to see if they will be able to handle some of the scary and emotional scenes in this film. My daughter laughed at the scary animation but was upset with one other particular scene that I mentioned above. On the safe side I would say it’s suitable for children ages six and up, however my daughter is only three and after her first viewing of the film she has watched it about four times since them and is in love with the film. Parents you will enjoy the great music and the soundtrack to this film just as much as you will the story. It’s simply put another great Disney Classic to add to the list of films that have made the Walt Disney company so great. This film is a must have for all Disney and Disney princess fans.

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