Sitting in the dark theater to see the new Harry Potter flick last night and the trailers came on and the first film to be previewed was an animated film from Disney called “The Princess & The Frog”. It appears to be a movie about an African-American princess from New Orleans who kisses a frog and is turned into a frog. It looks to have musical dance numbers ala “Mary Poppins” and villains ala “The Little Mermaid” and lots of bayou ambiance ala “The Rescuers”. And I have to ask…why?
First off, this is old school animation. I’m not saying its a dead format but the animation that I saw looked very flat and single dimensional (which is essentially what cel animation is). Not good considering today’s technology allows for so much more depth and vivid imagery. I can’t imagine anyone over the age of 2 will find it to be interesting.
Secondly, it became fairly obvious to me that this was Disney’s attempt at having an African-American princess in its arsenal of sales. I would imagine that with the kind of popularity that the Princess line generates, it makes fiscal sense to have a princess for everyone. I mean, you have Mulan & Jasmine & Pocahontas representing for those minority groups, why not have an African-American princess, right? And I can’t argue that it WILL be good to have a representative for little girls everywhere who have been wondering why a princess of their race doesn’t exist. What I will argue though is why Disney apparently slammed together a film that looks like a third rate straight to DVD release instead of doing something classy? I mean, seriously, this film just looks like a retread of so many OTHER Disney films and the trailer looks terrible!
I am of the mindset that even the Mouse House needs cash flow, so for them to release a cel-based animated film once every 5 years or so is understandable. They get some movement at the box office and then the big deal is the DVD release. The last good non-Pixar animated film that Disney released, in my opinion, is “The Lion King” from 1994. Since then, films such as “Pocahontas” & “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” have become tediously boring movies with substandard animation and a lack of imagination. And this film doesn’t look to break out of that mold.
I guess I am just disappointed that Disney, with all of it’s creative ability, can’t come up with a better idea for a film to represent an entire population of little girls. It has been too long for them to represent with a new addition to such a popular line and to see what they came up with is a huge disappointment. It’s almost embarrassing really. And it just goes to prove that anymore it’s all about the money…even for the most magical company on earth.
Alan
L
Hey what the hell is your problem, trashing a bunch of movies that you may not like, but it might turn out that other people may just so happen like those movies. The world of entertainment doesn’t revolve around you and your opinion. For your information, Disney is a traditional and classic movie maker, a lot of people don’t want to see it grow up into these fictional Hollywood movies, like Camp Rock and PPP. The animation that they do is brilliant and being able to keep up with the other film blockbusters is a rare and appretiated thing, just because they are not doing 3D movies or IMAX doesn’t mean that they aren’t amazing movies. They did pick creating an African-American princess because there is still racial discrimination going on in these times and it helps to have a movie that doesn’t just have ditsy blondes in it. Also they chose to have the film based in New Orleans to commemorate the hurricane that swept through that are last year. So before you make accusations about movies you don’t care about, think of what people want to hear and write that instead of your ridiculous opinion. Thanks.
First off, I am not trashing the art of cell animation. When done correctly (Aladdin, The Lion King) it is still very much an effective form of entertainment. That being said, any company that makes a cell-based film has to realize that it is competing with some pretty stiff competition due to computer animation and make a film that is AMAZING. The trailer I saw for THIS film did NOT look amazing. As a matter of fact, it looked like a complete ripoff of a multiple number of Disney films already made. As for Disney making fictional Hollywood films like Camp Rock, they have ALWAYS done that. Go to your local DVD store and check out the Disney section. “Escape to Witch Mountain”, “That Darn Cat” and any other number of live action movies. So that’s not new. I DO agree that they need an African American princess. There’s no doubt about that and I am glad it is happening. However I was not impressed with the New Orleans setting (it’s been done…The Rescuers) and any thought that Disney is “commemorating” the anniversary of Katrina destroying the city is misguided. So maybe my opinion IS ridiculous…but I’m not backing down. At least not until I see the movie (which I might. I have a daughter) and it proves me wrong.
Emma,
This is funny to me because this is a movie review site. One persons opinion. It doesn’t mean everyone has to agree, it is just an opinion. It isn’t personal. This is his site, his point of view. If you want a people pleasing opinion, watch a movie trailer, or read the back of the DVD box when it comes out.
It is not intended to appease all readers. Although I think he did a pretty darn good job of saying he didn’t think it looked good, but mentioned that he thought it was good to have an African – American Princess. He also didn’t totally slam Disney, he gave credit where he felt credit was due, all in his opinion. Why so flustered? It’s not personal. It’s just a review. No different than Ebert & Roeper.
Hey, and by the way, I’m blonde, should I be mad at the ‘ditsy blonde’ remark? So, before you make accusations about ‘ditsy blondes’ you don’t care about, think of what people want to hear and write that instead of your ridiculous opinion. I feel stereotyped by your comment. Thanks.
Popcorn and A Soda in the midst of a race debate? Where the hell have I been? I leave the blogging to brother forr a while and he pisses off an entire race! Way to go. To throw my two cents in…
1) The trailer looked horrible.
2) There are no Princesses or Queens in New Orleans, at least not the kind our children should model themselves after. (That is a prostitution joke, not a rascist joke. ALNTV is the rascist, not me!!)
3) Disney made Song of the South, this may be their apology.
4) Do you still miss claymation? See, its not cool now either.
5) It was a review, not an accusation. An accusation would be something like this: Cell animation causes retardation among adults!! See, that was an accusation.
6) I think this ship has rightened itself, see you all in 6 months.
Frank