The Princess and the Frog

Plot: Based on the story "The Frog Princess" by E.D. Baker, a young African American woman in Jazz Era New Orleans kisses a frog who claims to be a prince, and then turns into one herself.

Voices by: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Jenifer Lewis, Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard, John Goodman

Review: A sweet, classic fairytale story that harkens back to another time of Disney, the time before computer animation & 3D effects. Being Cajun myself, I really enjoyed the jazz music, the use of the setting of New Orleans, and the use of Voodoo as the magical element in this story. This revamp wasn't racist or pc, it was actually done very well. You never know how Disney is going to treat minorities, given the fundamental belief system of the original Walt Disney. I enjoyed this movie. I understand why it got the Oscar nods and am not surprised it didn't win. It shouldn't have, but I'm glad it was nominated. This film had a really good message about what's really important in life, true love. To be honest, I got teary eyed watching this film. I think it's because the actors were very good and honest in their portrayals. They didn't overact. Anika Noni Rose is amazing. That voice. I'm very happy they went for talent over popularity. I will admit that I got a bit tired of all the music and found myself fast-forwarding through a few. The only great music moments were the intro song and anything sung by Rose. A great family movie. When I say family movie, I mean just that. It's not a laugh out loud riot like Finding Nemo, but it's a nice straight-forward fairy tale done in a very mature way.

Awards:

2010	Nominated	Oscar	Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Randy Newman For the song "Almost There".
			Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Randy Newman For the song "Down in New Orleans".
			Best Animated Feature Film of the Year John Musker Ron Clements

2010	Nominated	Image Award	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Anika Noni Rose
			Outstanding Motion Picture

Rating:

Voice over-B

Writing-A

Directing-B

Music-B

Animation-B

Cinematography-B

Editing-B

**1/2 Stars