Disney, Disney, Disney

When I heard that Disney was making a princess movie set in New Orleans, I was a little bit confused.  A princess?  in New Orleans?  When was there a kingdom in New Orleans?  I knew this wasn’t going to be a movie I rushed to see in theaters, but I am glad that I had the chance to watch it.  One some levels The Princess and the Frog exceeded expectations, but on other levels it disappointed.

I am pleased to say that Disney did not do anything so ridiculous as attempt to create a kingdom of New Orleans.  In fact, they seem to acknowledge that the “princess” in the firm is stretching what it means to be a princess (the main character’s response to who the princess is, “Wait, does that even count?”).  The main character isn’t a princess at all, but is a waitress.  She is also perhaps the only genuinely likable character in the movie.

Tiana believes that hard work and dedication will help her achieve her dream of opening her own restaurant.  She finally gets enough money for the restaurant, if she can only manage to make it through the big catering gig with the richest family in town.  Of course, it is at the party that everything goes horribly awry.

We are also introduced to prince Naveen of Maldonia, who is perhaps the least likable character in the movie.  He starts the movie as a jazz-loving spoiled ladies man.  He stays this way the entire movie until one of the musical numbers, where he suddenly changes.  Now he is a selfless prince whose heart is dedicated to one woman.  It was just a bit too much all at once; there was no buildup to the moment of transformation.

Though I didn’t especially like the movie’s prince, I did enjoy the animation.  The animation was wonderful; it was obvious that a lot of work and care went into making the film beautiful.  The movie also met the #1 criteria of any movie, it was entertaining.  However, it was not without flaws.  The musical numbers were uninspired and boring.  And some characters seemed  were pulled directly from other popular Disney movies.  The prince’s bumbling and scheming sidekick seemed to be an exact copy of Nathaniel from Enchanted.  The evil voodoo shadow man seemed to borrow heavily from The Little Mermaid’s Ursula.

Despite its flaws, the movie is worth watching but probably not worth buying.  If you have netflix and you enjoy Disney movies, it you should add it to your que.  The film gets two and a half ribbits.