The story centers on Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), whom we first meet as a young girl living in 1920's era New Orleans. Her mother, Eudora (Oprah Winfrey), is a seamstress to "Big Daddy" La Bouff (John Goodman) and Tiana spends her days with young Lottie La Bouff, as the two dream of becoming princesses. Tiana draws inspiration from her father, James (Terrance Howard), who is a masterful cook, and Tiana hopes to one day fulfill their shared dream of opening a restaurant.
Fast-forward a number of years and Tiana is now a hard-working young woman who holds down several jobs, all in the hopes of saving enough money to open her dream restaurant. While the rest of the city is bustling over the arrival of a handsome young foreign prince named Naveen (Bruno Campos), Tiana keeps her nose to the grindstone. But all is not what it appears with Naveen. Although he seems to be quite the catch, in actuality, his parents have cut him off financially because of his lack of responsibility. All he wants to do is make merry and play music and he falls under the spell of the local voodoo man, Dr. Facilier (Keith David), who convinces him he can make all his dreams come true when, in fact, Facilier casts a spell that renders Naveen into the form of a frog. Naveen tries to break the spell by convincing Tiana to kiss him since she is dressed for a costume ball and looks like a princess, but they are both stunned when she gets turned into a frog too! The pair have quite an adventure as they set out to reverse the spell and learn to appreciate each other's differences along the way.
Along the way, they meet a number of memorable characters like a friendly gator named Louis (Michel-Leon Wooley), who has quite a knack for playing Jazz music, a charming Cajun firefly named Ray (Jim Cummings), who is convinced that a bright star is his true love, and Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), an old voodoo woman they enlist to help break the spell. With every new character comes a new song done in various music types from Jazz to Zydeco to even Gospel and Blues with the ever-wonderful Randy Newman at the helm of the soundtrack.
I must admit that when I first saw an ad for The Princess and the Frog many months ago, I wasn't too impressed and actually thought it might be insulting to those of us from Louisiana. Instead, I was completely won over by the film. Not only is it a fantastic fairytale story, but they nailed the look and feel of New Orleans perfectly and they even got all of the accents right! The return to hand-drawn animation is so very long overdue and I am thrilled that Disney chose to go that route with this film. The look is so much softer and the entire film reminded me of all that was good about Disney films of old. It's as if they took all of the components that made Disney films so spectacular and created something new and fresh for a new generation to enjoy.
The Princess and the Frog is simply luscious on Blu-ray's high definition. When the "camera" pans to take in all of New Orleans, it's simply breathtaking and you'll take full advantage of your surround sound system during all of the many songs in the film. Aside from the superb feature film, there are a ton of special features to see and each one is worthy of your time. There are featurettes on everything from creating the latest villain, to the newest princess, the return to hand-drawn animation, plus deleted scenes, art galleries, a music video and even a princess game. What's more, the features kids would tend to re-watch over and over like the music video and the princess game are also found on the DVD version, which is perfect to bring on the go. Finally, if you want your film ultra-portable, there's also a digital version of the film.
Don't even think about renting this film - this is one to buy. Packed with really interesting special features and fun stuff for Disney fans of all ages and kids alike, adding this movie to your collection is a no-brainer. The Princess and the Frog is sure to become another Disney classic, one for many generations to love.
