The Princess and The Frog review

Let me start off by saying, I love this The Princess and The Frog. I love New Orleans as a city, I love its culture, and I think the characters in this movie are very well developed. The unordinary cast of two humans turned frog, an alligator, and a firefly somehow band together to create one of the more moving endings to any Disney princess movie.

This movie really stands out from all other Disney movies in my opinion because of New Orleans twang and the fun nature of so many of the songs. The music numbers are some of my favorite in any movie. My favorite songs were probably “Down in New Orleans” and “When We’re Human.” They’re really just great songs.

For some more substantive stuff, this is one of the few movies where the bad guy isn’t the rich stuck up person, which makes for a little change of pace. The entire movie the La Bouff family was nothing but kindhearted towards Tiana and her family. They were more than generous with money on multiple occasions and Tiana and Lottie remained pretty close friends despite the blaring class difference. Even further, in the final moments of the movie, when Lottie knows Prince Naveen is in love with Tiana, she doesn’t get the least bit jealous but rather tries to help her friend. This is quite unusual behavior for the stereotypical spoiled, boy-crazy “princess.” I have to respect that she wasn’t even the least bit jealous because that takes a lot of maturity.

Now to the villain. Dr. Facillier is so creepy. I mean c’mon the man has got voodoo dolls and evil shadows working for him. That’s just not fair if you ask me. He is very manipulative and definitely uses it to his advantage. He easily finds what each character wants the most and he uses that to trick them into trusting him. It kind of reminds me of Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek 3. And I guess most villains with powers, but there’s something about Dr. Facillier that makes him significantly more scary. It might be his tall lanky stature, or his cringe-worthy voice. I don’t know, but what I do know is that I hate him and I’m glad the evil spirts on the other side swallowed him up.

Another great part of this movie is, like Pocahontas, the depiction of women. Tiana isn’t a stuck up girl waiting for a man to prance in front of her. She is a hardworking woman. She works multiple jobs to achieve her goal, she is extremely motivated and determined in everything she does, and she isn’t enchanted by money or power. As a matter of fact, she shows no interest in Prince Naveen early on. She treats him like a regular person, making him mince those mushrooms. Lastly, she doesn’t mold into the woman her man wants her to (quite the opposite). Unlike most marriages, she makes Naveen follow her dream with her rather than his dream. I think this is such a valuable lesson that can be taken away: follow your dreams no matter your gender or status.