Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
A waitress, desperate to fulfill her dreams as a restaurant owner, is set on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human being, but she has to face the same problem after she kisses him.
The Princess and the Frog is a warm, well-crafted return to Disney's hand-drawn animation tradition, set against the vibrant backdrop of 1920s New Orleans with a voodoo-tinged fairy tale twist. The plot is a solid reworking of The Frog Prince with enjoyable complications — Tiana's ambition-driven arc is refreshing for a Disney princess — but the story meanders somewhat in the bayou middle section and doesn't fully capitalize on its premise. The voice acting is earnest and charming across the board, with Anika Noni Rose bringing genuine warmth to Tiana, though no single performance is truly standout. The hand-drawn animation is lovely and nostalgic, with some genuinely beautiful sequences (the firefly scenes especially), but it doesn't push the medium to exceptional new heights. The New Orleans/jazz setting and Tiana's working-class Black protagonist give it cultural distinction, and Randy Newman's score adds personality, but the overall execution feels somewhat conventional within the Disney musical formula. The ending is satisfying and emotionally coherent. A very good film that represents a successful revival of a beloved form without quite reaching the peaks of the Disney Renaissance.