The Princess and the Frog
This is the unwatched, unnoticed, runt-of-a-movie that you probably don’t even know exists. Yes, this, as Aladdin might put it, “diamond in the rough”, is a different kind of Disney movie, and as such wasn’t (or really, still isn’t) popular. Which is a shame.
Period.
Unlike most other Disney movies featuring princesses, this one (even though, you know, princess is in the title) plays out in a completely different setting than most of us are used to: it’s set in Louisiana.
Down South.
What’s nice about this change of setting is the fact that it plays off the old tale of The Prince Frog. Everyone knows it, so the modern retelling is actually welcomed.
Amazingly, this change of scenery really is what helps The Princess and the Frog shine so brightly.
Tiana is a perfect exactly of the younger generation; shoot, even I’m guilty of acting/feeling just like her. She is a ultra-hardworking woman, possessed with fulfilling her late father’s dream of owning her own restaurant, in order to share her passion for food and love with the world (the musical number here is great; still resonating in my ears). She has the drive, the passion, the emotional spirit to power her to her dreams. She’s working three jobs just to scrape as much money as possible for her restaurant. It’s great, really, but not when you sacrifice having fun. Especially when you’re young like her.
It makes you think about all the younger people (myself included) in our world who are in the exact same boat: work as hard as possible until you’ve made it, and then utilize this thing called life.
Speaking of life, Naveen lives his. He’s what you might find if you fused a party man of our age (probably some sort of symbolism) with an old school prince. Here is a man who is a Prince of his homeland, an arrogant, poignant one at that. He has no worries in his eyes; hakuna matata state of mind. He has never worked a day in his life, and now his parents have cut him off of his little trust fund that has kept him afloat.
Now, he needs to either find a real job, or marry into a rich family. Does this sound like what you might expect from a world 30 years ago, or now? Exactly.
So Naveen has the money, and Tiana has the dream. Unfortunately for both, they get mixed up with some con-artist (again, very symbolic of today’s world I imagine) doctor, Facilier, who turns them into frogs due to each other’s blindness to the situation.
What ensues after is a story of friendship, oddities, magic, and, above all else, love. From alligator songs, to stories of voodoo magic, to the small details of being down South. The musical scores are wonderful, and truly belong in this film, while the lyrics possess power above some of the more recent Disney movies. The characters also embody that Southern charm not found in a lot of films nowadays. My hat goes off to the alligator Louis (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley) and firefly Ray (Jim Cummings), as both make the latter part of the story that much more engrossing and enjoyable.
Overall, Both Tiana and Naveen start to realize that life is about more than just one person’s dream: it can and should be about two sharing each other’s dreams, together, due to love. No matter what happens, you never really know someone until you get to spend more time with them, in the real or animated world. In the end, it’s all about getting to know those who otherwise would pass you by, and really, you never know where those friendships are going to take you.
Sometimes, it may just be down in the Bayou.
