The Princess and the Frog

Post by **starlioness** » December 2nd, 2009, 6:07 pm

Foxtale wrote:Just got back from seeing the movie. It was fantastic!!!!

It felt a bit fast overall but was still great.

I thought I would hate Ray but he was actually a fun character. Trust me the tears were flowing by the end of the movie. I really enjoyed the characters, I just wish we had a bit more time to devote to developing some or more were given a bit more visible personality. Facilier was awesome but I think he needed a bit more.

It was a gorgeous and clean movie and the music went really well.

One of my favorite scenes is the Art Deco dream-like scene with Tiana.

One thing that bothered me (its so nitpicky) but (ah I'm blanking on the name, I'm too tired ) the blonde, the distance between her eyes was inconsistent throughout the movie. >.<

Watching Tiana, sometimes I saw Belle moves or Jasmine looks. It was funny.

The movie looked soooo good I must say and it was a ton of fun. A must see. What a triumphant return of 2D Disney animation. I hope its just one of the many wonderful things to come.

I agree with Foxtale..

Post by **Jake** » December 3rd, 2009, 5:37 pm

I flew out to LA last week to catch the opening day screening of "The Princess and the Frog". We made a vacation of it of course and went to Disneyland, as well. By this action, I was obviously looking forward to this movie and with high expectations. I read in D23 Lasseter say this movie could've come right after "The Lion King", clearly referring to what was known as a short-lived golden age for the studio with the consecutive releases of "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", and "The Lion King", and implying that "The Princess and the Frog" could be among them. In my opinion, it couldn't. Nor is it among the films that I believe extended that era up until the turn of the century ("Pocahontas", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Hercules", "Mulan", and "Tarzan").

It comes close, but overall I found there to be too many story problems. There is no signature scene that compares with Disney's most memorable. The animation is beautiful at times, but more often than not it reminded me of a DTV release. The characters aren't developed, especially Dr. Facilier, who makes a lackluster villian because of his weak motive and preparation. I also felt the movie was rushed. Most jarring is the transition from "Almost There" to "Friends on the Other Side". And they spend maybe one day in the Bayou which doesn't make for a particularly exciting adventure.

I didn't hate it by any means. I think its comparable to something like "Cats Don't Dance", which I love. I didn't have the expectations riding on it like I did "The Princess and the Frog", which may be unfair. And believe me, I'll be giving it another chance (or three). I just wanted more from Disney's return to traditional animation. I think I was most disappointed with exactly that! With the roster they had working for them, shouldn't this have been a visual masterpiece? Looking at the secondary characters, you're wondering if you've stumbled into a Warner Bros. television cartoon. During the sequence "Down in New Orleans" (the movie's best song, in my opinion), there is a band of a few musicians playing. Comparing the epic, festive lyrics with the visuals just doesn't match up.

Post by **EricJ** » December 8th, 2009, 7:18 pm

And one sign of the "old-school" Disney starting to rise back to its earlier glory--

Remember how we were getting depressed that all those cheap Australian Wal-Mart knockoffs weren't even bothering to rip off 2-D Disney films anymore after the 90's, and only plagiarized 00's Pixar films?
In a way, we can almost be glad to see Disney earn one of its old badges of honor again:
http://www.amazon.com/Frog-Prince-Artis ... 002Q3N2BS/

Post by **Dacey** » December 9th, 2009, 12:38 pm

That. Looks. AMAZING! I'm CERTAIN that it's better than Disney's version!

Post by **Foxtale** » December 9th, 2009, 4:00 pm

ROFLS *Falls off my chair laughing* Why did I even waste my money going to see the Disney version when I could have just watched this one instead.

I wonder if they tried as hard as Disney to not offend anyone >.>

Post by **Ben** » December 9th, 2009, 9:48 pm

"Not every frog turns out to be a prince"

No, and not every animated movie based on a classic fairy tale about a girl kissing a frog who turns into a prince is any good either.

I really want to see this, just to laugh and laugh and laugh.

Post by **Jake** » December 11th, 2009, 3:33 am

I just got back from the midnight showing, my second viewing. I just absolutely adored it this time. I definitely let my expectations interfere before. It might not live up to the classics but it's certainly a step in the right direction for Disney: their best animated film since "Tarzan" ten years ago. The movie was surprisingly packed for a midnight show -- and the audience was very interactive. There were laughs throughout, even tears.

Post by **EricJ** » December 11th, 2009, 1:03 pm

Ben wrote:I really want to see this, just to laugh and laugh and laugh.

(Hoping you're referring to the knockoff version, as context can often be lost on the new discussion page?)

Anyone else ever get morbidly curious enough to actually watch some of the Goodtimes videos that came out for the 90's titles after the real ones came out, just to compare?
Since they had to be in production and on shelves before their originals hit theaters, that meant horse-race guessing at what Disney was going to do with the story a year later, and the guessing is often either sad or hilarious to watch.

(Knocking off Hunchback, Pocahontas or Frog Prince was easy for them, since the stories were so straightforward to begin with--But safe to say that what Disney did with "Hercules" ended up throwing most of the knockoff-guessers for a loop, and I don't think they'll be close to the mark with Rapunzel, either.)

Post by **Josh** » December 12th, 2009, 12:39 pm

According to Deadline Hollywood, The Princess and the Frog will collect approximately $27 million this weekend, based on Friday's estimates. I think the film will have good word-of-mouth. I just hope Avatar and Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel don't kill the film's chance of reaching $100 million domestically.

Post by **Locall** » December 12th, 2009, 1:17 pm

compared to the 30-70 million the big-studios CGI films cash in their first weekends, the 27 seems quite low to me

Post by **Bill1978** » December 12th, 2009, 10:41 pm

Don't panic about the 'low' figures coming. December films traditionally open in the mid $20 millions. That's actually a good figure for a December film. December films are known for having legs, so as long as word of mouth is good this should see successs with that opening. Remember Titanic never made more than $30 million in any one weekend.

Post by **Dacey** » December 12th, 2009, 10:57 pm

It's a solid number. Not outstanding, but still something that should be considered good.

Think of it this way: This is the first time a non-CGI Disney animated movie has opened on top since Tarzan, and that was over ten years ago!

Post by **Dacey** » December 12th, 2009, 10:58 pm

It's a solid number. Not outstanding, but still something that should be considered good.

Think of it this way: This is the first time a non-CGI Disney animated movie has opened on top since "Tarzan", and that was over ten years ago!

Post by **eddievalient** » December 13th, 2009, 11:47 pm

Saw this tonight and it was amazing, the best film they've done since Lilo and Stitch. See, this is the Disney that I know and love. Where have they been the last few years? For awhile there I was almost embarrased to admit to people that I was a Disney fan, but I don't have to be embarrased anymore! The real Disney is back! Woohoo! The animation was gorgeous, Randy Newman's music was excellent as usual, the writing was fantastic, just an all around great movie.

If I have any complaint about this film it's that Dr. Facilier isn't in it enough. He's a great villain, but I would have liked to have seen more of him (although that could be because I just really like Keith David). His song, "Friends on the Other Side", was one of the film's highlights, IMO.

If you haven't seen this yet, what are you waiting for?

Post by **Foxtale** » December 14th, 2009, 2:11 am

Saw it for the second time on Friday (first showing of the local theater

) I must say, seeing the movie a second time was definately good. It didn't seem to move as fast and I noticed more subtle details worked into the movie.

Also

Good to hear that its doing well. I forgot where I read it but rumor has it, Disney studios has 2 more 2D films currently in the works.

Can't wait for the DVD.... is it out yet? ;P