The Princess and the Frog (Dec. '09)

[The Spectacular Professor]

[CENTER][YOUTUBE="Trailer"]VimbxQZVHHo[/YOUTUBE][/CENTER]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Disney's 49th animated film.

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]Based somewhat on E.D. Baker's [I]The Frog Princess[/I], this is the story of Tiana, a young girl living in New Orleans during the Jazz Age, and Naveen, the cursed prince of Maldonia. Naveen has been tuned into a frog by Dr. Facilier, an evil voodoo practitioner. It's not an unheard of malady, of course, as fairy tales of it have been around for ages. According to all accounts Naveen has been made aware of, the cure is a maiden's kiss. This is where Tiana comes in. Though she is reluctant at first, she eventually grants the smooth-talking amphibian his request. Unfortunately, the effect ends up being the opposite of what was desired, and now both must search for a cure to the frog curse.[/FONT]

From the trailer, the film looks fantastic so far. I'm definitely looking forward to another traditionally animated Disney film. The last one was [I]Home on the Range[/I], which was both five years ago and a pretty dumb movie. This one's been in the works a while, so there has been plenty of time to test audiences and work out kinks. Dr. Facilier is definitely an interesting-looking character and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him. It also goes without saying that Disney needs something that doesn't suck on their reputation after five years of pointless sequels and Hannah Montana.

Oh, and Randy Newman is composing the soundtrack. Being from New Orleans, he's an excellent choice, and he's done some excellent jazz-themed soundtracks before. Check out [I]Cats Don't Dance[/I], for example. Actually, go check out [I]Cats Don't Dance[/I] anyway. It needs more love.

So yeah, really excited. According to IMDb, the release date is December 11th, '09. I suppose that's subject to change, though.[/FONT]

[Sangome]

[SIZE="1"]omgomgomgomgomgomg

I've been keeping tabs on this movie for a couple of years now, and I am so freakin' [I]stoked[/I] to see it so close to fruition. Not that I don't enjoy Disney's outings with Pixar, but it's so nice to see something in 2D, like the good ol' days.

Man. The Princess and the Frog this year, Toy Story 3 next year...it's gonna be awesome.[/SIZE]

[Chikara Kokoro]

Honestly? When that laugh and "It's goin' be good" came at the end of the trailer I groaned... Racial sensitivity isn't exactly Disney's strong suit. I mean... voodoo? Really? I enjoyed E. D. Baker's book, and this is clearly only similar in terms of the very basic plot and name.

Home on the Range has left me scarred, and it's going to take a lot more than Enchanted to restore my faith in the Disney animation department. I'm attempting to be cautiously optimistic, but it's difficult.

[The Spectacular Professor]

[quote name='Chikara Kokoro']Honestly? When that laugh and "It's goin' be good" came at the end of the trailer I groaned... Racial sensitivity isn't exactly Disney's strong suit.[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Honestly, I think the racial insensitivity card has been thrown around far too freely in opposition to this film. Looking through Disney's old catalog, you can finc plenty of characters like that. Most of their depictions of French people, for example, speak in ridiculously thick accents and are either complete psychos or suave, polite and absurdly likable. Heck, let's get even more recent. [I]Lilo and Stitch[/I] never got nearly as many complaints about race as this movie is getting, and I'm fairly certain there was at least a certain level of Hawaiian stereotype there, somewhere between the hula dancing and the fact that "Ohana" is now a loan word.

And besides, just because something is a stereotype doesn't mean it can't be a good character. Take Leeron from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann for example. One of the most entertaining flamboyantly gay characters you can find in any show.

[quote name='Chikara Kokoro']I mean... voodoo? Really? I enjoyed E. D. Baker's book, and this is clearly only similar in terms of the very basic plot and name.[/QUOTE]

The same can be said of just about every animated adaptation Disney has made. The Little Mermaid originally ended with the death of the title character. Sleeping Beauty didn't wake up from the initial kiss. Aladdin had unlimited wishes. Hunchback of Notre Dame used to be a [I]Victor Hugo Novel.[/I] o_O

[quote name='Chikara Kokoro']Home on the Range has left me scarred, and it's going to take a lot more than Enchanted to restore my faith in the Disney animation department. I'm attempting to be cautiously optimistic, but it's difficult.[/QUOTE]

Home on the Range is widely speculated to have been intentionally made to cause the downfall of the animation department. Doesn't help that the guy who was in charge of Disney at the time is well-known for being a traditional animation hater. Besides that, they've been working on this one for quite some time, so it's not just some attempt to churn out something that'll make a quick buck. Besides that, considering their track record before that (more recent ones including Lilo and Stitch, The Emperor's New Groove, Tarzan and Mulan,) I don't think it's fair to condemn 75 years of legacy for a single flop. Granted, they did also work some weaker stuff in there, like Treasure Planet and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, but even those were received pretty well in most circles.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course. I'm just trying to provide a little more perspective.[/FONT]

[Chikara Kokoro]

[quote name='Ace']Honestly, I think the racial insensitivity card has been thrown around far too freely in opposition to this film.[/QUOTE]

Most of my points were intended to hearken back to things that Disney has done poorly in the past. Does the fact that Disney's Mulan has little to do with either Chinese history and culture or the original poem prevent it from being an immensely enjoyable film? Of course not. Still, as you mentioned in your first post, Disney hasn't put out something of quality in quite a while. That point is, of course, debatable, but Pixar and Hannah Montana have been sustaining Disney for a while now.

Admittedly I have yet to see Bolt, but I have not enjoyed a fully animated film that Disney has released on their own since Lilo & Stitch. That gives about 7 years worth of films- 5 animated movies- that do not give me much reason to put my faith into The Princess and the Frog.

Thank you for your perspective on things, and I wish this post could come across more pro-Disney. I guess what it boils down to is my preference for being pleasantly surprised over being disappointed.

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well, I for one would be happy to see this film, if only the trailer didn't fill me with disgust.

This is possibly because I object to the stereotype that black people can only be princesses and princes in, oh, New Orleans. As I recall there's this enormous continent over some...where... where there were a great many royalties, only unlike this movie, they didn't wear off the shoulder pouffy dresses.

Or it's because I object to being told in no uncertain terms that a movie is going to be great because an amphibian told me. I wouldn't call this movie RACIST in the sense that they're all possessed of afros and are scarfing down Popeyes chicken. But I would say that Disney is phoning it in and going for the easy way out.

Voodoo doctor.

Swamp.

Oh yes, and I agree about Mulan. But there would've been no bad guy except that evil army somewhere if they'd stuck to the poem. She would've had the support of her parents, and fooled the Imperial soldiers the entire time, then gone home happy and that would've been the end of it. Granted she'd also kick a lot more ***.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Nony]

I'm just happy to see a 2D animated film from Disney again. My gosh, they should leave the 3D animated stuff to Pixar, seriously.
The only problem is all the people throwing around the "RACIST RACIST" card, which I can't help but think would happen no matter what Disney did with a black princess, or a black character period. Oh well.

Also, did anyone else notice in the latest trailer how the first 45 seconds or so started off by reminding us, "Remember GOOD Disney movies? Yeah."

[Japan]

Remember all of those other movies? Snow White? Little Mermaid? Sleeping Beauty? Alice? Cinderella? They are all white. Why can't there be at least one movie where a black girl is the lead role?

I am very excited to see this movie. Pixar is enjoyable and all but really, nothing can ever compare to the classic 2D animated films. You know, the stuff that came around before CG graphics were even around? I am just sick of all of the Shrek and Toy Story movies. I didn't really like their sequels either.

I can't wait for this film. I hope that Disney continue to go back to their roots.

[John]

[quote name='Japan_86']I am just sick of all of the Shrek and Toy Story movies. I didn't really like their sequels either. [/quote] If you didn't like Toy Story or Toy Story 2, then you don't like movies.

[Japan]

[quote name='John']If you didn't like Toy Story or Toy Story 2, then you don't like movies.[/QUOTE]


Just because I am not a fan of CG art movies, doesn't mean I do not like movies.

[chibi-master]

I remember reading about the movie being in progress when I was in 4th grade or something, but I never really payed any attention to it. Though, now that I've seen the trailer, I must admit I'm very eager for this to start playing in theatres! And that's kind of new for me, seeing as I rarely look forward to a movie that isn't already in theatres (my current obsession is Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland!).:catgirl:

[KorbenDallas]

Sounds great, can't wait i love 2D animation.

[visualkei]

[quote name='John']If you didn't like Toy Story or Toy Story 2, then you don't like movies.[/QUOTE]

When I watched Toy Story for the first time, I was blown away! It wasn't the CG, it was the fact that Disney made another epic movie, taking place in a little house! I was shocked that the ten year olds I talked to recently never ever even heard of Toy Story. Made sense, they were newborns when that film came out.

But, Toy Story 3? Really? I can't wait!

Anyways, this new Disney 2-D movie didn't really attract me. The trailer was just "eh."

[KojiroJames2K9]

Okay, to update you on the release, there will be [COLOR="Teal"]a limited release (in major markets like NYC, LA - to get the Oscar nomination process going - and other places) Wednesday, November 25th[/COLOR], then there will be a wider release on Friday, December 11th.

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=#9933ff][font=monotype corsiva][size=4]*hits revive*

Okay I saw this movie twice- with my daughter and we both loved it. There were of course some racial undertones, but those were used to give more of a setting to the film itsself IMHO. Also to add a little bit more to the racial insesitivity and the stereotyping thing- a lot of the Bayou dialect is more Creole/ Acadian IE:Raymond (Ray) the lightning bug.

It was nice to have CG used just as an added feature instead of for the whole movie because while it's nice to have those ([B]Finding Nemo[/B]= ♥) but the old 80's kid in me craves the oldfashioned animation.

I'm glad that Disney finally created a princess for the newer princess generation who was doing something for herself instead of sitting around slaving for others and saying: Some Day my prince will come. Nope Tiana got up and worked her butt off for her dream.

Oh and the Ne-yo song - [B]Something I Never Knew I needed[/B] and[B] Ma Belle Evangeline[/B] are 2 great songs that I can't get over.[/color][/font][/size]