Review: ‘The Princess and the Frog’

December 14, 2009 by Jane Boursaw

Movie: The Princess and the Frog * Official Site	In Theaters: Dec. 11, 2009
Runtime: 97 minutes	Directed by: Ron Clements
MPAA Rating: G	Gecko Rating:

Just when you think there aren’t any good family movies being made anymore, along comes a gem like “The Princess and the Frog.” It’s got everything going for it, including a cast of colorful characters, a sweet old-fashioned story, snazzy musical numbers, and a cool Deep South setting.

The story, which is a modern-day retelling of the classic story, “The Frog Prince,” begins in New Orleans during the Jazz Age. Young Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) tags along with her mother, a seamstress at a wealthy man’s mansion. Tiana and the man’s daughter, Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), are close friends, even though they’re in much different classes in the Old South.

More after the jump…

At home, Tiana and her parents (Oprah Winfrey and Terrence Howard) live a poor life, but one that’s rich in friends and family, as they gather for a bowl of her dad’s famous gumbo on the porch. Tiana, too, is a wonderful cook, and she dreams of opening a classy restaurant some day.

Fast-forward about 20 years and Tiana is still holding fast to that dream, working several jobs and saving pennies to buy an old building she hopes to fix up for her restaurant.

But things go horribly awry when the arrogant, carefree Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) comes to town. He’s transformed into a frog by the evil voodoo magician Dr. Facilier (Keith David), but when the frog gets Tiana to kiss him (thinking she’s a princess), she herself turns into a frog! The two embark on a journey through the bayou in search of an old woman named Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis) who lives in a tree and might be able to reverse the spell.

Along the way, the pair cross paths with a trumpet-playing alligator named Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) — I kept thinking about Baloo the Bear from “The Jungle Book” — a Cajun firefly (Jim Cummings), and several other fun characters.

What they don’t know, however, is that the Prince’s servant is back in the city working with the magician to marry Charlotte and inherit her father’s wealth.

It’s not often that I come across a family movie that I truly want to see again, but I would see “The Princess and the Frog” again in a heartbeat. It’s a fresh breeze of good, old-fashioned hand-drawn animation and human stories that motor along at just the right pace. It’s not 3D, which I appreciate, and it’s delightfully free of fast-paced car crashes and gross-out humor.

“The Princess and the Frog” is really just a sweet movie that both kids and adults will love.