“You sure this is the right blind voodoo lady who lives in the boat in the tree in the bayou?”

The Scoop: 2009, G.  Directed by Roger Clements and John Musker and starring Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, and Keith David

Summary Capsule: Nawleans, circa 1920. Girl meets frog. Girl kisses frog. Fairytale is turned upside down when girl turns into smaller, more attractive frog. Naturally, jazz and voodoo are heavily involved.

Courtney’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars (or are they fireflies?)

Courtney’s review: So here’s my main issue with the bulk of Disney’s princess movies;  as much as I want to hate them, it’s just impossible. You can rave all day long about predictable gender roles and implications of mature content and all that jazz (believe me; I rave about it a lot.) But you’ll still catch yourself humming “Be Our Guest,” or feeling a sudden irresistable urge to re-watch Sleeping Beauty every now and then. These movies are just made out of pixie dust that appeals to the soul and captures the heart. Or some crap like that.

Suffice to say that as much as I had planned on being down on The Princess and the Frog, I actually had a rather fun experience watching it. It took me back to my childhood, to a point where the most important films in my life were The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. I don’t know if it was Disney’s return to traditional hand-drawn animation in place of CGI or the romantic fairytale plot, but it definitely struck all the right chords. That’s not to say that it didn’t have its share of flaws, but it was definitely friendly for all but the most cynical viewers.

Instead of long ago, in a land far away, Princess takes place in New Orleans during the Jazz Era. The titular princess is actually a waitress named Tiana, a girl whose beauty and kindness is surpassed only by her ambition (imagine that – a Disney heroine with actual goals! I love it already!) Tiana is a talented cook and an incredibly hard worker. She is saving her money to open up her own restaurant, a dream she shared with her father (who is, of course, dead.) On the other side of the lifestyle spectrum is charismatic and carefree Naveen, the prince of the fictitious nation Maldonia (I know it’s fake, ’cause I Goggled it.).  Naveen has just been cut off financially by his parents because of his exuberance and has come to New Orleans to find a wealthy wife to support him – specifically, Tiana’s BFF Lotte, the spoiled-but-not-rotten daughter of Mardi Gras king Big Daddy LaBouff.

Enter Dr. Facilier, or “the Shadow Man,” the shockingly charming villain with a diabolical plan. For some unknown reason, he has voodoo magic bestowed upon him by demonic shadows (his “friends on the other side”) to whom he is indebted. He plots to get rid of Prince Naveen, fill a talisman with a drop of his blood, and give it to Naveen’s servant Lawrence, which will make Lawrence look like the prince. Then, Lawrence will woo Lotte and marry her so Facilier can kill Big Daddy via voodoo doll and somehow gain control over the entire city of New Orleans and turn the soul of each citizen to his “friends.” Obviously. It all makes complete sense.

So Facilier lures Naveen into a trap by giving him a tarot card reading and promising to make his wish to live a carefree life come true. Then he turns him into a frog, because that’s what mean street magicians do. So now Naveen has to find a princess to kiss and turn him back to human. When hops into Tiana’s life, she’s dressed up like a princess for Lotte’s costume party, and Naveen assumes that she must actually be royalty and talks her into a smooch. But the spell backfires – Naveen maintains his froggy form and Tiana gains one of her own. The bulk of the film centers on their quest to get help from Mama Odie, a blind old lady who lives in a boat in a tree in the bayou and practices good voodoo, a sort of Glinda to Facilier’s Wicked Witch of the West (their clothes are even color-coded.) Along the way they befreind Louis, an alligator with a trumpet and a passion for jazz, and Ray, a Cajun firefly in love with a star – he insists “she’s” his beloved firefly-girlfriend Evangeline. And there’s lots of music and random encounters with frog-huntin’ rednecks and, in the end, it proves to be nothin’ but a love story. Did I spoil it for you?

What really makes Princess stand out from other Disney fairytales is the extent of character development for both Tiana and Naveen. They already get a good start – they have actual personalities *gasp!* But by the end of their journey, they truly get to learn from and help each other, and you really feel like they could genuinely be in love. Tiana is a great protagonist who isn’t defined by romance, but who doesn’t shy away from it, either. And Naveen is the funniest character in the movie, roguishly endearing in a manner not unlike my favorite Disney hero Aladdin.

Dr. Facilier’s a pretty awesome villain. His motives and background are really unclear, but he gets a cool song and creepy powers. He also commits what may be ranked amongst the evilest of acts ever in a children’s film, which certainly ups his BAMF factor. He’s no Maleficent or Frollo, but he’s right near Cruella DeVil and Hades as far as evil guys go. He’s definitely a welcome addition to the Disney villain family.

However, where the primary characters were three-dimensional and charismatic, most of the side characters felt flat. You just don’t really get to see enough of any of them to grow an attachment. They were a bunch of transparent stock characters who just serve their respective plot purposes and then drift back into the background. It’s as though the writers spent so much energy on Tiana and Naveen and were too exhausted to thoroughly develop anyone else, and they weren’t any comic standouts like Genie or Sebastian. Lotte is an exception – she’s a hysterical contrast to Tiana and surprisingly sweet despite her father’s need to fulfill her every demand, and she even gets a bit of development herself towards the end. But it would have been nice to see more of Ray and Louis, and even Mama Odie.

What was also really cool about Princess was the semi-contemporary setting. It didn’t take away from the magic of the fairytale, but it did give the movie a more distinct tone and look from previous Disney flicks. It allowed the story to be a little more tongue-in-cheek and lovingly poke fun at the standard formula. Randy Newman’s music was less memorable than the showtunes of Beauty and the Beast or the gospel songs of Hercules. I didn’t exactly leave the theater with songs stuck in my head, but it was fun and appropriate to the story and the setting.

Don’t go into this flick expecting to be blown away by innovation or cutting-edge. It’s a completely predictable piece of 100% fluff, with sparkles and a shiny bow. But you will have fun watching it, and sometimes, that’s really all that matters.