I also loved Charlotte La Bouff not only because she is funny but also by her kindness. She's clearly spoiled, growing up in a rich high society, use to getting almost anything she wanted. However she's not rotten. After finding out the prince was in love with her best friend, she did not hold a grudge and refuse to change them back. She was willing to give up a chance for her life long dream to be a princess, in favor of her best friend's happiness. I'm not sure others might have taken the same approach with the character.
I really liked that too. I was expecting her to be the typical "spoiled brat" character and when we first see them as kids, I thought she would grow up to be an antagonist who would get some mud-in-the-face come-uppance but I was glad they went a different way with it.
I can strangely kind of relate to Lottie in that regard, since I too was spoiled as a kid, but wasn’t rotten because of it. I think much of that is because I didn’t ask for the stuff I was given, and instead my mum just bought the stuff for me of her own free will, so I just assumed other “spoiled” people just patiently waited around to be given stuff too. Oh, how naïve I was. :/
Alicia Donovan Me! I wish people would realize that 2D animation is simply another medium, not an outdated technology. There's a lot with 2D you can get away with that you can't in CGI. Also PatF and Winnie the Pooh didn't do well simply because they were marketed poorly and oh yeah, PRINCESS AND THE FROG WAS RELEASED ONE FRIGGIN WEEK BEFORE AVATAR. That might have had something to do with it, not so much the baseless thought of people being turned off by traditional animation.
Alicia Donovan oh hell yes and not that cg animation looks bad anymore but it all looks the same as a style. 2d animation is just so much better because it creates the chance to be more stylistic and have each movie look more unique. i don't think Disney will do that but a Dream is a wish your heart makes and i'm wishing rather strongly here for it to come true.
God I love this movie. I will never understand why people hate it. I love the songs, the comedy, the animation, the characters, the villain; everything in this movie is just so great! The romance is believable and earned rather than just being there. Heck, he actually tries to propose! How often do you see that in a fairy tale?! Prince Naveen is enjoyable and honestly one of my favorite Disney princes. Tiana is a very relatable character who just wants to make her dream come true. And dang they made sure she worked for her happy ending! Working two jobs for years, without stopping to try to relax or take a break, or have a personal life that's some freaking dedication! Now I have to say, when Ray died, I cried harder than I did for Mufasa (that can be attributed to the fact that he's voiced by Jim Cummings, quite literally the voice of my childhood) It is, without question, the most beautiful Disney death. Yes, he died but in doing so he was able to finally be with his love, Evangeline. It's so tragic yet so uplifting. Heck, when I showed this movie to my fiancee, he actually gasped out loud when Ray got crushed. He gave me a look as if to say, "did that really just happen?" and I just nodded. However, my absolute favorite thing from this movie is Tiana's friend Charlotte. I could watch this girl all day. She is so silly and over the top that she just steals the show whenever she's on screen. I also love that she genuinely does care about Tiana. It would have been so easy for them to make her the one person that you're friends with. You know, the one who's really not that nice and even you don't really know why you're friends but you just are. I'm so glad they didn't do that. I just freaking love this movie to death. And if you think this movie is racist, then you seriously need to look again because I just don't see it.
I don't think people really hated it. I just think it was overshadowed by Tangled and especially Frozen. Also I don't think people cared to see a 2D animated movie especially with the main characters being talking animals and interacting with other animals for most of the movie.
I think why this movie didn't do so well when it came out because of when it came out. There was a little movie steamrolling everyone down called "Avatar"...
+janeyrevanescence12 For me, I didn't have anyone to go see it and it just didn't grab my attention as much as other movies. I heard from a friend it was good but I was also going through a stage when I thought it was getting too old to pay to see a Disney movie. I actually saw this when it aired on Disney Channel. It was the same for Tangled.
+janeyrevanescence12 I was really excited about it... until I found out they spent most of the movie as frogs. I was promised a princess movie, dammit, not a talking animal movie! Still liked it, but I would've been more enthused if they'd been human longer.
I finally saw this movie today, and I have to say, the plot didn't feel nearly as complicated as Doug made it seem. I know that he said before that he felt Monsters Inc. was too complicated (which I saw as a kid when it came out in theaters) and I disagreed, but I still thought he was probably right on this one. His description just sounded really complicated. But...I got it! lol I guess the story wasn't as simple and basic as the other Disney fairy tale classics, but its understandable and enjoyable enough in my eyes. Also, the Shadow Man is FUCKING AWESOME! His design, personality, his villain song, AND his death were incredible! Definitely up there in my top favorite Disney villains! If the movie got nothing else right, they nailed how to do a kickass, classic Disney villain PERFECTLY! I only wish he'd had more screen time.
I'm confused by the tone of this comment. I KNOW its just his opinion, and that he didn't insist that everyone would feel that way. I was just saying how surprised I was when I finally watched it and didn't see it the same way, since I tend to agree with Doug on whether a story is too complicated or not. I was expecting something different from his description. All I did was explain that I disagreed. I didn't say there was anything wrong with that.
I REALLY hope Disney (or any other company) makes more of these. There's just something magical about 2D that CGI will never capture. I think this movie WAS revolutionary in that aspect. It just needed more marketing.
I think the reason it didn't do so well is because Tiana is a frog throughout the majority of the movie, which is not that appealing to young girls. It's a shame because Tiana's human form is a great design. Simple, but beautiful. Like Belle. Personally, I love the movie, I think the story is good, the songs are nice, the characters work off each other great and the villain is awesome! It also has a great moral and Tiana is a good role model for girls :)
I thought it had do more with the fact it was like Treasure Planet in terms of its release. Princess and the Frog had to go against James Fucking Cameron's 'Avatar' and Alvin and the Chipmunks Sequel. TP had to fight Harry Potter and Lords of the Rings: Towers. Unlike TP P&TF suceeded to an extent and avoided becoming a bomb where as TP became one. Doesn't help the Frog had a better marketing team than Planet when Planet was under Eisner's control.
That could be why, but then again the marketing mostly showed her as a human and only Naveen as a frog. Yeah, they showed her turning into a frog in the trailer, but as far as merchandise and TV spots, she was usually in her normal form.
The main problem I had with this film was how they portrayed Tiana. As a character, she is awesome; she's a hard worker, she sets high goals, and is very strong in her motives and abilities. They could've done so much more with that, but it seems to me that she's a frog for more than 3/4ths of the entire movie. I don't necessarily wanna see a frog princess, I wanna see a human princess. To me that's the true reason the movie didn't do as well as it could've; there was more froggy screen time than anything else! Because of this, it was less of a princess film and more of an animal swamp adventure. The storyline was only ok, it didn't blow me away. All in all, this film passes, but I wish there were less animals and more people.
"I don't necessarily wanna see a frog princess, I wanna see a human princess" ... the title of the movie is "The princess and the frog" and even was first thought as "The frog princess"....
i was just surprised everyone made such a big deal about the first black princess yet nobody made a big deal about the first Arabic, Native or Chinese princess....
+Kevin Murphy actually i think this sort of uproar is always just a media thing. some guy needs to come up with a story that's due yesterday and looks up the fact that Disney's making a new flick and it's gonna feature the first black princess and there you got yourself a story. in fact, actual people (at least an overwhelming majority of white people, i guess with other races it might be somewhat different) really don't give too much of a damn as to what race a particular character is as long as they are relateable
+Kevin Murphy I think it was just a marketing strategy put in use by the Big Brother Disney. I mean, nobody cares if a princess is black or white. They do care for storm troopers but, princesses? I don't think anyone would dare spit at it. But the media went nuts over the fact that it is. And I think it is for the success of the film. Princess and the frog doesn't ring a bell for a good story and it is lacking big grand scenery unlike any other Disney films. It compensated that with controversy put in to marketing!
Jungwhi Park didn't really help much though, this movie was hardly the kind of success previous Disney features were. but that had nothing to do with the main character being black, it was just the marketing guys thought this was a great idea to push it right before Avatar. and made a few other mistakes as well. in fact, i'm not sure if someone over there didn't really sabotage this movie in order to force Disney into going full speed into CGI animation
I really like this film for multiple reason as well. Unlike most Disney princesses at the time, Tiana didn't do it for a prince, she was working hard for what she wanted. Second, She's black (So am I) And finally, its in my home state GO LOUSIANA!!!
And tbh, even though it causes controversy as Tiana was the first black princess it was hands down one of the most creative disney films that followed the formula loosely but put something new towards it.
Well there's a reason ppl hate it... Ok it's not the worst movie out there. But ppl expected more/feelt ripped of cuz they didn't get what the trailers/marketing promised.
Zippr Yeah I know that's the thing. I watched it without any prior knowledge about what it is about, and saw it as a film about the relationship between a mother and her daughter, and that's rare in Disney/Pixar films. I personally found it very touching and charming.
I do think it's a shame they were frogs for almost the entire movie, just because the character designs for their human versions look really amazing, in my opinion.
+kirara2516 I believe the marketing of it was pretty bad, i remember hearing about it the first time when i watched it on tv, but i never saw annything els of it. (atleast in the netherlands)
La Bouff was probably one of the best disney characters ever. She’s energetic and has her dreams, but she isn’t an asshole about it. She’s kind and caring.
Katherine Quin I don't know why people thought it was sad or funny. I originally was sitting there like, "oh god, not another Disney death where I could care either way." Only to be happily surprised to see the nice twist that it's not supposed to be sad. It was Disney's way of giving Ray the wish he wanted: to end up with Evangeline....in a border-line twisted way. xD
+Katherine Quin I hate to sound sadistic, but I was kind of snickering. I liked Ray, too. Jim Cummings is one of the greatest voice actors in the business. And I thought Ray's death was pointless and I don't know why I was snickering, but the funeral did seem a little goofy. I can't explain.
Playfulpanthress Um, i don't think that's what they're going for here, but you're welcome to interpret it your way. But him being turned into a star was for him to be with his love Evangeline. The twisted part I'm talking about is that in order for him to be with his love, he had to die.
I was excited when this movie came out, I remmeber being pissed when I found out Alvin and the Chipmunks the squeakuel made more money at the box office every parent took their kids to see the same rehash bullshit that wasn't good in the first place I mean this was the first Disney hand drawn animated film in years and instead you go see a bunch of annoying, pop culture referencing chipmunks? Really people?!
Which really doesn't get my hopes up for the new Peanuts movie and the Smurfs reboot. The new Peanuts movie will keep true to the characters (The CG itself looks soooo much like the original cartoon, it looks more like stop-motion than CG animation) and the Smurfs will be completely CG and will NOT throw them into any real world city (Although I'd love to see a third movie where they visit Tokyo and they fall into one of the "adult vending machines") but will instead, focus on the origins of the tiny blue creatures But with the onslaught of modernized, pop culture referencing piles of bile they shovel out into theaters and how more popular those are than well-thought out movies like this... It just makes me sad
True story: Frozen was supposed to be 2d animation cause Disney wanted every other princess movie to be in 2d animation, but because the financial disappointment of this movie, Frozen was changed to 3d and ya 2 billion dollars later
I love the hand drawn movies, I miss them so much. All these computer made 3D ones are really getting old so I was excited about this. I admit I only liked the villain in it but it is hand drawn! Who cares?! Gave me a little taste of my childhood. I want them to go back to hand drawn because their current animated styles gives me a headache. Also though I wasn't in love with it I love the idea of a black princess , about time.
I didn't really experience the movie as being complicated. The villain was great, the main characters were pretty refreshing, and that blonde girl was absolutely crazy, liked her too. All in all, nice movie
My biggest issue is that the main characters hardly interact with Facillier. Naveem only interacts with him when he gets turned into a frog, and Tiana only interacts with him right before his death. Beyond that, he spends most of the movie in a panic because his plan isn’t entirely working out. It needed more of the bad guy being bad.
I only have two real problems with the movie: 1.) I didn't really like the alligator character that much. Not that he was annoying or anything, it's just that he wasn't essential to the plot. You could have taken him out and it wouldn't have changed the story at all. 2.) I thought The Shadow Man was a REALLY underused. Don't get me wrong, Friends on the Other Side is AWESOME, but that's because it was building him up as a great villain, but then the rest of the movie was just focused on the two frogs. Also by the time that they defeat him, it just seemed too easy. I was expecting something grander since they were building him up so much. Aside from that, I REALLY enjoyed this movie and would love to see it again!
+Mauricio Vasquez (Spirits) 1) Really? He's by far the most intertaining of the "bayou cast". The scene where he tried for the first time to play his trumpet with the humans on the boat made me lol. 2) I see what you mean, though I didn't really feel underwhelmed with his myself. I think much of his strength came from the little things, like the way his shadow behaved indipendently from his body, or the fact that his first card reading to the prince and his servants has a double meaning. Terribly underrated movie imo
I'll agree this film isn't as good as Tangled or Frozen, due to the cluttered story line, but I LIKED that Disney made the main character a workaholic - it's something different for a Disney princess.
While I haven't seen Tangled, I honestly thought this was better than Frozen. I could connect with the characters more because they were developed better, the musical style was upbeat and had me dancing to the tune, and I could actually follow the plot pretty easily. This may be just my opinion, and I respect yours, but I enjoyed this far more than I did Frozen.
Out of the last four princess (Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, and Anna), Tiana was the most original. She was the only Disney princess to have two jobs and was one of few that were actively working to achieve their goals. Of course, a majority of the princesses had desires of what they wanted in life as well, but they either a) wanted something completely out of their realm, b) spent too much time wishing/waiting for something to happen, or c) did not know how they were going to make their dreams come true. Tiana had dreams, but she knew she had to put in the hard work herself to make her dreams a reality. Sure, some people doubted that she'd get her restaurant, but at least it was an obtainable goal (and not one she could only achieve through magic). Plus, she was a pretty practical person as well.
I don't think that the story was too complicate, yes it's a little confusing, but i just think that is not that good, but not bad either. I agree that Ray's death was unnecessary, but it wasn't silly, it was actually a sad moment, because you didn't see that coming. It was one of the funny characters in the movie, and usually the funny characters never die. I absolutley loved Tiana and Dr. Facilier. Tiana has BALLS! We need more princess like her in Disney movies, and Facilier was one of the coolest villains, my third favourite after Frollo and Scar.
Kiuraz I don't think Doug means that the story is complicated because it's confusing, I think he means that it's complicated in that there's too much going on, which I agree with. For all the time that they spend trying to explain the plot, they could have spent on character development and on scenes where they show instead of tell.
"well, theres only one problem and sadly it's kind of a big one..." "....now is it a major problem? I guess not, because you're constantly guessing..." Well, Critic, IS IT A BIG PROBLEM OR NOT?!!
I really liked this movie! Tiana was a very interesting character and her relationship with Naveen seemed very well developed. I hope disney will eventually come out with more black princesses in the future.
It's not as good as Tangled but it's MUCH better than Frozen and Brave. It's an amazing film and only didn't do as well as Disney wanted because people are prejudice against hand drawn animation. Yet a film like Frozen, which has more problems, plot holes, unmemorable characters, and poor character development, is a computer animated film that became something big. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
***** Frozen became big because of the songs and the computer animation. When you look past how good the soundtrack was and how beautiful it looked, Frozen has flaws, and a LOT of them. I hate seeing the Princess and the Frog not do that well while Frozen does amazing. This movie was so much better than Frozen was.
So underrated great villian and awesome princess amazing music compared to other films by Disney this one is so slept on. One of the best villian songs of all time.
Tiana is a great princess and role model for young women, but this film fell flat for me. The story line wasn't complex to me, but a bit vague and...idk. It just could have been better. I didn't like that she and the prince were frogs for most of it too. However, the animation and music was quite beautiful. Everything is CGI now, and while I like CGI I'll still miss 2D animation.
Well, just got finished watching it for the first time after so long, and I have to say, I had fun. Tiana was a strong princess, Navine was a strong prince, most of the songs were so enjoyable, the animation was fantastic, and yes, even though some side characters were kind of stereotypes, they at least were side characters I liked. I agree, the death scene at the end is a little out of place, even though the bit with the second star was cute, but other than that, I really liked this film. I'll no doubt be returning to it.
I never understood why people called this movie racist. I mean if they had made Tiana white people would have still complained that she wasn't 'ethnic.' Never the less I love PatF, I find Tiana a good influence and someone I can relate to. The plot wasn't that terrible compared to Frozen.
I know a lot of people hate that Tiana was a frog for most of her screen time...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed about that, too, but she's still one of my all-time favorite Disney heroines.
I agree. This movie is immensely better than Frozen (I didn't like that movie at all actually). This movie established all the main characters and villain in the first third. Frozen pulled a boring villain completely out of nowhere in the third act just for the sake of having a villain. Worst. Plot twist. Ever.
I've been watching a bunch of Nostalgia Critic videos, and that's the only reason I've come across this movie. I'd never even heard of this movie until today. I didn't even know it existed. I personally feel that that reflects on the marketing and promotion of the movie, nothing else.
I finally saw this movie for the first time a few days ago. Boy, have I been missing out! This movie has everything I enjoy: a good story, fun characters, catchy songs, and a scary villain.
The real Disney racism in this film is the same as in Emperor's New Groove and Brother Bear. All the new era Disney films with a non-white main character has them transformed into an animal for the overwhelming majority of the movie. Why!?
Or it could also be that you are trying to find racism where there is none. Disney took one of the most famous princesses that they had yet to focus on and made her black. It is true that in the original tale she never turned into a frog but she was also a petulant spoiled brat (therefore adding the conflict) so ultimately, you are complaining that they made the black character a likeable, industrious, strong young woman who didn't need rescuing. Really? Is that a complaint you would like to make. It seems like you wouldn't be happy no matter what. If they had made Sleeping Beauty black instead you would have complained that she was boring and underdeveloped meaning RACISM. Why? Because you are just looking for something to be angry about. Brother Bear: sorry but human transfiguration plays a heavy role in Inuit lore, that is simply the way it is. You complaining about this would be like you complaining about Lilo & Stich because the characters like to surf. Disney usually does so little to pay respect to the culture they are portraying, I am not going to complain when they do something correctly. As far as Emperor's New Groove, I don't think that even warrants a response. If you are looking to Kuzco as an accurate and well rounded example of an Incan king, I don't think I can even take you seriously. Not to mention that, though he is the title character, Kuzco is not the sole lead and Pachu remains human and sensible throughout the entirety of the film. Do not try to turn a movie like this into something it is not. This is like you watching a stand up comedian and getting offended, nothing short of ridiculous. Finally, I don't quite understand why it matters that they are animals for a portion of their films.They are people, the content of their character and their personalities should matter FAR more than the color of their skin. The fact that you can see nothing about Tiana other than the fact that she is black makes you a bit racist in my opinion. She has so many other qualities that are more important and none of those change when she is in frog form. A character's worth lies far beneath their skin, otherwise Belle and Aurora would be just as well loved (they are both incredibly hot, after all). Take a break from being a SJW, it is doing nothing but making you seem like a fool.
Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, that one Atlantis movie I can never remember anything about. And now we can officially add Moana to the list. All these have POC main characters who aren't transformed. But I guess you just don't remember them.
I just realized that I've never seen ANY DISNEY FILMS IN THEATERS! Don't get me wrong, I DO WATCH THEM but I always remember renting it, watching it online, or catching it on TV! I feel so ashamed of myself!
"Maybe the world wasn't read for a black princess". God that is such a sad...sad line DX Almost as sad when people had a problem with that kids series Princess Sofia because Sofia is Hispanic(?)
I thought one of the really revolutionary things about this movie was that, for the first time, there was a character who died and stayed dead (not counting villains). Usually you know any good character who appears to be dead will come back to life and you're not very emotionally invested in the scene. Here the death was sad and poignant.
+Mark Borok bambi's mother, cinderella's parents, mufasa, anastasia's family, the king in the swann princess, ariel's mother, phocahontas love intrest, the brother in brother bear, nemo's brothers/sisters and his mother. just to name a few...
My ONLY gripe with this movie was that it didn't have enough Facilier! I would watch an entire movie with just him! Screw that... I would just listen to his VOICE for hours. He's one of the best Disney Villains ever.
There are 3 songs I love in this movie. I like Almost There and Friends on the Other Side as well, but one I’m surprised wasn’t mentioned was Dig a Little Deeper. While I really like it, I do admit it’s not the best disney song out there, but it’s easily one of my most memorable, probably because of how infectiously catchy the tune is
I have yet to see this all the way through, but it sounds fantastic. I've not seen a traditional Disney Princess movie for quite a long time, but this has all the right elements that made them instant classics and always has that Disney twist on an original story that makes it so much better; much like how Tangled added an entirely new element to the story that explained everything and gave it a depth that you wouldn't have seen otherwise.
I love Charlotte's character, she could have easily been the annoying bratty rich girl and while she's clearly spoiled and not used to being told no she isn't mean spirited. Like the scene where Tiana falls on the table, spills all the food, and ruins her dress. A normal rich brat character would have berated Tiana for ruining all that food and breaking the table, but not only dose Charlotte not get mad she helped Tiana to her feet and lent Tiana one of her dresses for the night, that's a pretty telling difference. And then when she finds out that Tiana and Naveen are in love, she doesn't resent either of them but is instead happy her best friend found love.
Bullshit. This movie is SO much more than ANY Disney film I’ve ever seen. It’s fucking phenomenal, brilliant, beautiful, and left me absolutely speechless from the very first second. I usually don’t see “Disney” as anything but kids films, but THIS was by god the best animated film that they have EVER created. Stunning characters, stunning twists, stunning animation, music, art, culture. The fact that such a brilliant and fantastical work of art is SO under appreciated, rated, and the like is just plain tragic. I hope one day this movie gets the CREDIT IT DESERVES. It will always remain one of the greatest animated films for me, it was pure magic, and it deserves its JUSTICE.
Disney just can't win the racism game, can they? If they try and evade using diverse casts with possible problems of stereotyping any minority they get bashed for that "insensibility", if they try and include minorities they get bashed on the constant allegation of getting it wrong. They could make the animated equivalent of Tron or Wall-E and still would get whacked for having something being allegedly racist... Maybe that tells more about the critics that desparately want to find something racist to beat Disney up about than about the movies. Talk about a trope gone awry.
It's not just Disney, every form of media who veers from the norm in casting, gets accused of racism. People today seem to be overly (and in many cases unnecessarily) sensitive to EVERYTHING now. Even a movie like this. A family film that beautifully broke boundaries that had been in place for far too long. Being an African American woman myself, I was overjoyed when I first heard about this movie. Knowing that there was finally a Disney princess who looked like me (I was 18 when this movie aired) was magical; and I made sure I had my seat in the theatre to see it! People can cry racism all they want. It's just a sad, unfounded excuse to dislike or find a flaw in something, when you can't provide a legitimate reason for disliking it; and to me it's just lazy, and like you said, critics and viewers alike are just trying to find excuses to play the racism card :/
personally, I think Disney needs to make another 2D comeback movie. when I first heard they were making a film about the descendants of the Fairytale disney characters I thought it would be in 2D like all the originals but was disappointed to see it was live action and insulting to everything Walt ever did. If they made it 2D though, and wrote it like they wrote Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid then it could be the 2D Disney comeback we've all been waiting for.
I do wish this movie had gotten more attention and praise like some of the more modern Disney movies. This is definitely one of my favorites - there are so many great things about it - but I keep hearing people praise "Tangled"...Ugh... I will say there are, of course, some flaws with the movie: 1) Ray...Just Ray. 2) How come Lottie didn't turn into a frog when she kissed Naveen at the end? If she wasn't a princess anymore, wouldn't she had turned into a frog like Tiana did?
the reason Lottie didn't turn into a frog is because when she kissed Naveen it was for the rights, when Tiana kissed him the first time it was for the wrong reasons.
Please, Disney, please come out with another movie soon, or at least a new television series perhaps! I'm a very big fan of Louis the Alligator, and would really love to see more moments of that character, since there were so little of them in the first movie.
I just watched this movie now (I know, extremely late on my part) then decided to watch this critic. The critic about the movie's plot being a bit too complicated was the exact same critic that I had watching the movie. I constantly thought I was missing either a vital bit of information, or I was just not getting it. I always had to carefully listen to the characters' explanations on the situation to be caught up. Which was a weird feeling, because for most disney movies I can usually be one step ahead of the plot (easier to predict). Glad I wasn't the only one!
I think that it was the voodoo aspect that turned people off to it, as well. When this came out, my class went to fucking Planet 51 instead of this because of the voodoo stuff. That's my theory.
When I saw this in theaters, parents were ushering their kids out the door once the voodoo stuff got too scary and intense. I wouldn't be surprised if that aspect turned a lot of people away.
Sin Talento Producciones I'm a Christian, and I wasn't put off by the voodoo in it. When you're going into a Disney movie, you should know that it's going to have some magical elements, pagan, witchcraft, whatever else. I think people abandoned the theater because the voodoo scenes literally frightened their kids.
To me, this movie isn't great. The problem is that stupid alligator and that dumb fire fly. They're like the gargoyales in hunchback. They're annoying and don't fit the story.
The firefly probably wasn't necessary so much, or could of been given a bigger purpose, but the alligator was funny at times. The scene where he tries playing on a boat and suddenly shot down to the water made me laugh so hard at the movie theater I couldn't control it for 10 minutes
I thought the movie was okay. My problem with it was that it was a princess movie yet it spent too much time as talking animal movie. There are plenty of princess movies with talking animals or inanimate objects, but they seem more balanced. Even The Swan Princess, though not Disney, spent plenty of time as talking animal movie, but it didn't feel like it spent too much time. This one did. I think what they could have done to help it, and it's such a simple thing, too, and I was expecting them to do it, but they never did, was during emotional moments, you would see the characters as what they truly look like in the background doing the same exact things as their frog selves, that way you don't ever forget that they are people, not talking frogs.
I didn't enjoy this movie the same as I did Beauty and the Beast for most of the same reasons Doug did. The story was "eh" and overly complicated, and some of the other songs and characters weren't memorable enough to keep my attention even on screen. The setting for this movie will get the racism card thrown at it because no one can agree what's a happy medium of reality and "wish it was so" fantasy. However, though hints at Tiana's battle with racism was apparent, it was so tastefully subtle (at least in the town) that it was almost easy to miss (especially for innocent children that would equate her struggle to simple poverty) and had it been any louder I think the moral and life of the movie itself would have been lost. I also greatly appreciated how they handled her relationship with Big Daddy and Charlotte. It could have been a much more touchy issue than it became, and the way especially Charlotte was moved out of her comfort zone to care and provide for her friend regardless of her own desires was one of the most admirable and notable acts of selfless generosity I have seen in Disney. It wasn't even a debt, just goodwill. Tiana and Naveen are the best Disney Couple I have seen in FOREVER. Neither thought the other was perfect, and they were able to set their differences aside to resolve immediate pressing conflict and their interpersonal relationship in a way that equally developed each other. Their marraige was based on real love, not greed or fanciful whim; and the two balance each other well. Tiana is my definition of a perfect "strong female lead" because she stood on her own two feet, worked hard for what she wanted, raised her voice only when she was truly heated and asked forgiveness after, and ultimately chose to do what was right at her own expense instead of what was in her own interests. Naveen showed incredible character development over the film that puts him far ahead of almost every Disney male lead to date, just to start; and he reacted in a way that made complete sense for someone in his situation. Again, his ultimate selflessness made him an amazing companion lead character. The depth of these characters played off of each other so well I would love to just watch the two interact for an hour in a room alone doing daily chores. That's hard to find anywhere. The story fell flat, but if it had some rearranging and a second shot that kept the same character depth and development this movie could be absolutely phenomenal!
Neither did I, but maybe it's a bit harder if you watch non-stop, or if your brain isn't always there. There's a fair bit of important details throughout, so I don't know, maybe they can just be easy to miss. I'm just guessing.
I love this movie. watched it yesterday and its my favorite of disney's hand drawn films. I actually found the story easy to follow and the music fantastic. Almost there is AMAZING, and Friends on the Other Side is pretty fun too. I actually loved When I'm Human as well, and even the firefly song wasn't annoying.
I do like this film. The first half is spectacular and I love Tiana's character and the Shadow Man is a pretty interesting villain. However, maybe it was an issue with the story, but by the time the second half arrived, I immediately became bored. I just didn't connect with the film as a whole as much as the other Disney films. It's just not a movie that I would ever watch again. Here's my prejudice, and it's not against black people or 2D animation: I do not like the south and I really do not like loud southern accents- though, I love Tiana's speaking voice; it's so enthralling. And since this film takes place in New Orleans, all of the characters speak in loud, annoying southern accents and it quickly annoys me. Maybe I have negative experiences with growing up in the south, but watching a movie with characters who constantly butcher basic grammar and shout inanely in nasally, shrill southern accents really gets under my skin. It's just a "me" thing. That's not a criticism against the movie itself. Certain accents just irritate me and I have never been very fond of the south. In fact, that's why I left.
Not all people from the south are loud, I'm from south Louisiana and sure we have some people with loud southern accents, but we aren't loud when we shouldn't be. Some of us do say words that are different and we do say y'all a lot, but that's just how we are
Listening to this review again, I’m wondering what Doug would think of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, since those stories hinge around a similar kind of quibble/loophole-based plots. (Gilbert trained as a lawyer before he started writing plays.) Thankfully, none of them involve characters turning into animals (except the animated _Ruddigore_ , and even then it’s just for a brief gag).
I also loved Charlotte La Bouff not only because she is funny but also by her kindness. She's clearly spoiled, growing up in a rich high society, use to getting almost anything she wanted. However she's not rotten. After finding out the prince was in love with her best friend, she did not hold a grudge and refuse to change them back. She was willing to give up a chance for her life long dream to be a princess, in favor of her best friend's happiness. I'm not sure others might have taken the same approach with the character.
I really liked that too. I was expecting her to be the typical "spoiled brat" character and when we first see them as kids, I thought she would grow up to be an antagonist who would get some mud-in-the-face come-uppance but I was glad they went a different way with it.
I think she's a great character,One of the best really.
I can strangely kind of relate to Lottie in that regard, since I too was spoiled as a kid, but wasn’t rotten because of it. I think much of that is because I didn’t ask for the stuff I was given, and instead my mum just bought the stuff for me of her own free will, so I just assumed other “spoiled” people just patiently waited around to be given stuff too. Oh, how naïve I was. :/
Hands up who wants to see Disney go back to classic 2D animation?
So badly!
Exactly. I can imagine that in a few years, 2D animation will be considered "Retro" and Disney may make money off it for that? Maybe?
Alicia Donovan
Hell yes I would!
Alicia Donovan Me! I wish people would realize that 2D animation is simply another medium, not an outdated technology. There's a lot with 2D you can get away with that you can't in CGI. Also PatF and Winnie the Pooh didn't do well simply because they were marketed poorly and oh yeah, PRINCESS AND THE FROG WAS RELEASED ONE FRIGGIN WEEK BEFORE AVATAR. That might have had something to do with it, not so much the baseless thought of people being turned off by traditional animation.
Alicia Donovan
oh hell yes and not that cg animation looks bad anymore but it all looks the same as a style. 2d animation is just so much better because it creates the chance to be more stylistic and have each movie look more unique. i don't think Disney will do that but a Dream is a wish your heart makes and i'm wishing rather strongly here for it to come true.
God I love this movie. I will never understand why people hate it. I love the songs, the comedy, the animation, the characters, the villain; everything in this movie is just so great!
The romance is believable and earned rather than just being there. Heck, he actually tries to propose! How often do you see that in a fairy tale?! Prince Naveen is enjoyable and honestly one of my favorite Disney princes. Tiana is a very relatable character who just wants to make her dream come true. And dang they made sure she worked for her happy ending! Working two jobs for years, without stopping to try to relax or take a break, or have a personal life that's some freaking dedication!
Now I have to say, when Ray died, I cried harder than I did for Mufasa (that can be attributed to the fact that he's voiced by Jim Cummings, quite literally the voice of my childhood) It is, without question, the most beautiful Disney death. Yes, he died but in doing so he was able to finally be with his love, Evangeline. It's so tragic yet so uplifting. Heck, when I showed this movie to my fiancee, he actually gasped out loud when Ray got crushed. He gave me a look as if to say, "did that really just happen?" and I just nodded.
However, my absolute favorite thing from this movie is Tiana's friend Charlotte. I could watch this girl all day. She is so silly and over the top that she just steals the show whenever she's on screen. I also love that she genuinely does care about Tiana. It would have been so easy for them to make her the one person that you're friends with. You know, the one who's really not that nice and even you don't really know why you're friends but you just are. I'm so glad they didn't do that.
I just freaking love this movie to death. And if you think this movie is racist, then you seriously need to look again because I just don't see it.
Shwah Gamers people don’t hate this. They just didn’t think it was one of Disney’s best
Shwah Gamers i couldn’t agree with you more I’m so glad you feel this way even tho I’m 3 years late
I don't think people really hated it. I just think it was overshadowed by Tangled and especially Frozen. Also I don't think people cared to see a 2D animated movie especially with the main characters being talking animals and interacting with other animals for most of the movie.
I think why this movie didn't do so well when it came out because of when it came out. There was a little movie steamrolling everyone down called "Avatar"...
+janeyrevanescence12 And the stupid Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel movie. God that was awful.
+janeyrevanescence12 For me, I didn't have anyone to go see it and it just didn't grab my attention as much as other movies. I heard from a friend it was good but I was also going through a stage when I thought it was getting too old to pay to see a Disney movie. I actually saw this when it aired on Disney Channel. It was the same for Tangled.
Plus people didn't seem.interested in Hand drawn animation to the extent everyone claimed.
+janeyrevanescence12 I was really excited about it... until I found out they spent most of the movie as frogs. I was promised a princess movie, dammit, not a talking animal movie! Still liked it, but I would've been more enthused if they'd been human longer.
+allasar I like Avatar.
I finally saw this movie today, and I have to say, the plot didn't feel nearly as complicated as Doug made it seem.
I know that he said before that he felt Monsters Inc. was too complicated (which I saw as a kid when it came out in theaters) and I disagreed, but I still thought he was probably right on this one. His description just sounded really complicated. But...I got it! lol
I guess the story wasn't as simple and basic as the other Disney fairy tale classics, but its understandable and enjoyable enough in my eyes.
Also, the Shadow Man is FUCKING AWESOME! His design, personality, his villain song, AND his death were incredible! Definitely up there in my top favorite Disney villains! If the movie got nothing else right, they nailed how to do a kickass, classic Disney villain PERFECTLY! I only wish he'd had more screen time.
Wawagirl17 It's his opinion, not once did he state it as fact.... congratulations, you have differing opinions...
I'm confused by the tone of this comment.
I KNOW its just his opinion, and that he didn't insist that everyone would feel that way.
I was just saying how surprised I was when I finally watched it and didn't see it the same way, since I tend to agree with Doug on whether a story is too complicated or not. I was expecting something different from his description.
All I did was explain that I disagreed. I didn't say there was anything wrong with that.
Wawagirl17 I agree I just saw it and I had no trouble keeping up. I liked the movie to :)
I think he meant kids couldn't keep up with the loop holes and thee other stuff
Yeah, that's possible. It may be a little too hard for kids to follow.
I REALLY hope Disney (or any other company) makes more of these. There's just something magical about 2D that CGI will never capture. I think this movie WAS revolutionary in that aspect. It just needed more marketing.
I agree with you! I adore 2D movies. I really hope another company will come along and start making them again.
Coco Moro many trailers felt like they were spoiling most of it making many hesitate..!
I think the reason it didn't do so well is because Tiana is a frog throughout the majority of the movie, which is not that appealing to young girls. It's a shame because Tiana's human form is a great design. Simple, but beautiful. Like Belle.
Personally, I love the movie, I think the story is good, the songs are nice, the characters work off each other great and the villain is awesome! It also has a great moral and Tiana is a good role model for girls :)
I thought it had do more with the fact it was like Treasure Planet in terms of its release. Princess and the Frog had to go against James Fucking Cameron's 'Avatar' and Alvin and the Chipmunks Sequel.
TP had to fight Harry Potter and Lords of the Rings: Towers. Unlike TP P&TF suceeded to an extent and avoided becoming a bomb where as TP became one. Doesn't help the Frog had a better marketing team than Planet when Planet was under Eisner's control.
Abigail Misty Briarton I can see Avatar being a big competition, but Alvin and the Chipmunks?
Mew Chan *Shrugs* What can I say? Cinema has gone down.
Well if you read the book that gave the idea for the movie,"The Frog Princess", that's how it was. She was a frog for most of the book.
That could be why, but then again the marketing mostly showed her as a human and only Naveen as a frog. Yeah, they showed her turning into a frog in the trailer, but as far as merchandise and TV spots, she was usually in her normal form.
The main problem I had with this film was how they portrayed Tiana. As a character, she is awesome; she's a hard worker, she sets high goals, and is very strong in her motives and abilities. They could've done so much more with that, but it seems to me that she's a frog for more than 3/4ths of the entire movie. I don't necessarily wanna see a frog princess, I wanna see a human princess.
To me that's the true reason the movie didn't do as well as it could've; there was more froggy screen time than anything else! Because of this, it was less of a princess film and more of an animal swamp adventure. The storyline was only ok, it didn't blow me away.
All in all, this film passes, but I wish there were less animals and more people.
"I don't necessarily wanna see a frog princess, I wanna see a human princess"
... the title of the movie is "The princess and the frog" and even was first thought as "The frog princess"....
i was just surprised everyone made such a big deal about the first black princess
yet nobody made a big deal about the first Arabic, Native or Chinese princess....
+Kevin Murphy actually i think this sort of uproar is always just a media thing. some guy needs to come up with a story that's due yesterday and looks up the fact that Disney's making a new flick and it's gonna feature the first black princess and there you got yourself a story. in fact, actual people (at least an overwhelming majority of white people, i guess with other races it might be somewhat different) really don't give too much of a damn as to what race a particular character is as long as they are relateable
+Kevin Murphy I think it was just a marketing strategy put in use by the Big Brother Disney. I mean, nobody cares if a princess is black or white. They do care for storm troopers but, princesses? I don't think anyone would dare spit at it. But the media went nuts over the fact that it is. And I think it is for the success of the film. Princess and the frog doesn't ring a bell for a good story and it is lacking big grand scenery unlike any other Disney films. It compensated that with controversy put in to marketing!
Jungwhi Park didn't really help much though, this movie was hardly the kind of success previous Disney features were. but that had nothing to do with the main character being black, it was just the marketing guys thought this was a great idea to push it right before Avatar. and made a few other mistakes as well. in fact, i'm not sure if someone over there didn't really sabotage this movie in order to force Disney into going full speed into CGI animation
Mulan wasn't a princess though.....
Because Disney was known In the past for stuff like this th-cam.com/video/7Nx4ekJ0i_w/w-d-xo.html
I really like this film for multiple reason as well. Unlike most Disney princesses at the time, Tiana didn't do it for a prince, she was working hard for what she wanted. Second, She's black (So am I) And finally, its in my home state GO LOUSIANA!!!
Huh I'm from your state. I've been to New Orleans.
chase ross That's great!! I'm from central lousisiana (Don't know what city though)
+FurryZooer sorry meant to say been to tour state. Grammar error. I'm from Texas sorry
+chase ross i did visit your state thoug
+chase ross grammar error though
And tbh, even though it causes controversy as Tiana was the first black princess it was hands down one of the most creative disney films that followed the formula loosely but put something new towards it.
3 words: Best. Villain. Ever.
This and Brave are really underrated. I loved them both.
+Fadi Antwan Brave is by no means underrated...
+Zippr Everyone hates it way too much, and it'a not even bad by any standards. So yes it is underrated.
Well there's a reason ppl hate it... Ok it's not the worst movie out there. But ppl expected more/feelt ripped of cuz they didn't get what the trailers/marketing promised.
Zippr Yeah I know that's the thing. I watched it without any prior knowledge about what it is about, and saw it as a film about the relationship between a mother and her daughter, and that's rare in Disney/Pixar films. I personally found it very touching and charming.
+Fadi Antwan Underrated, maybe, but DEFINITELY overhyped.
I do think it's a shame they were frogs for almost the entire movie, just because the character designs for their human versions look really amazing, in my opinion.
I thought the main reason the movie failed was because the prince and princess spent majority of the time as a frog.
Fun fact: Naveen is not black! Given his accent and the fact he comes from a fictional land I dare say he is more of Italian if anything else.
@@bobi200samatar6 The voice actor is Brazilian, so I’m guessing Naveen is supposed to be from a Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country.
I still don't get why Treasure Planet didn't do well at the box office. It's one of my favorite Disney movies.
+kirara2516 I believe the marketing of it was pretty bad, i remember hearing about it the first time when i watched it on tv, but i never saw annything els of it. (atleast in the netherlands)
PsyduckWaterflower that's true. The most previews I saw of it was in the previews for others Disney Movies.
***** Which is a shame.
***** True, they could have pushed back the release date.
My friends dad heavily worked on that film, and we ask him that question constantly.
La Bouff was probably one of the best disney characters ever. She’s energetic and has her dreams, but she isn’t an asshole about it. She’s kind and caring.
People found the funeral funny? That's a little odd.. I thought it was sad
Well, it was a little sad, but it was kinda pointless
I was sad....I liked Ray.... :(
Katherine Quin I don't know why people thought it was sad or funny. I originally was sitting there like, "oh god, not another Disney death where I could care either way." Only to be happily surprised to see the nice twist that it's not supposed to be sad. It was Disney's way of giving Ray the wish he wanted: to end up with Evangeline....in a border-line twisted way. xD
+Katherine Quin I hate to sound sadistic, but I was kind of snickering. I liked Ray, too. Jim Cummings is one of the greatest voice actors in the business. And I thought Ray's death was pointless and I don't know why I was snickering, but the funeral did seem a little goofy. I can't explain.
Playfulpanthress Um, i don't think that's what they're going for here, but you're welcome to interpret it your way. But him being turned into a star was for him to be with his love Evangeline. The twisted part I'm talking about is that in order for him to be with his love, he had to die.
This is one of my favorite Disney movies.
I class it in my top ten, Everything is awesome.
cool yeah it is a great movie
Nicholas king It deserves more love.
yeah
It’s my favorite Disney movie
I was excited when this movie came out, I remmeber being pissed when I found out Alvin and the Chipmunks the squeakuel made more money at the box office every parent took their kids to see the same rehash bullshit that wasn't good in the first place I mean this was the first Disney hand drawn animated film in years and instead you go see a bunch of annoying, pop culture referencing chipmunks? Really people?!
Which really doesn't get my hopes up for the new Peanuts movie and the Smurfs reboot. The new Peanuts movie will keep true to the characters (The CG itself looks soooo much like the original cartoon, it looks more like stop-motion than CG animation) and the Smurfs will be completely CG and will NOT throw them into any real world city (Although I'd love to see a third movie where they visit Tokyo and they fall into one of the "adult vending machines") but will instead, focus on the origins of the tiny blue creatures
But with the onslaught of modernized, pop culture referencing piles of bile they shovel out into theaters and how more popular those are than well-thought out movies like this... It just makes me sad
I saw this movie as a little kid and I followed it just fine. Trust me, if I'm able to follow a movie, it can't be very complicated.
True story: Frozen was supposed to be 2d animation cause Disney wanted every other princess movie to be in 2d animation, but because the financial disappointment of this movie, Frozen was changed to 3d and ya 2 billion dollars later
I love the hand drawn movies, I miss them so much. All these computer made 3D ones are really getting old so I was excited about this. I admit I only liked the villain in it but it is hand drawn! Who cares?! Gave me a little taste of my childhood. I want them to go back to hand drawn because their current animated styles gives me a headache. Also though I wasn't in love with it I love the idea of a black princess , about time.
I didn't really experience the movie as being complicated. The villain was great, the main characters were pretty refreshing, and that blonde girl was absolutely crazy, liked her too. All in all, nice movie
I feel like the song friends on the other side side is perfect for Bill Cypher from Gravity Falls
George Glenn for any funny demon or chaos entity actually xD
When I saw this at the cinema in 2009 I enjoyed the film but I just had one thing to say about it,"THE SHADOW MAN IS SCARY!"
My biggest issue is that the main characters hardly interact with Facillier. Naveem only interacts with him when he gets turned into a frog, and Tiana only interacts with him right before his death. Beyond that, he spends most of the movie in a panic because his plan isn’t entirely working out. It needed more of the bad guy being bad.
I only have two real problems with the movie:
1.) I didn't really like the alligator character that much. Not that he was annoying or anything, it's just that he wasn't essential to the plot. You could have taken him out and it wouldn't have changed the story at all.
2.) I thought The Shadow Man was a REALLY underused. Don't get me wrong, Friends on the Other Side is AWESOME, but that's because it was building him up as a great villain, but then the rest of the movie was just focused on the two frogs. Also by the time that they defeat him, it just seemed too easy. I was expecting something grander since they were building him up so much.
Aside from that, I REALLY enjoyed this movie and would love to see it again!
+Mauricio Vasquez (Spirits) 1) Really? He's by far the most intertaining of the "bayou cast". The scene where he tried for the first time to play his trumpet with the humans on the boat made me lol.
2) I see what you mean, though I didn't really feel underwhelmed with his myself. I think much of his strength came from the little things, like the way his shadow behaved indipendently from his body, or the fact that his first card reading to the prince and his servants has a double meaning.
Terribly underrated movie imo
I'll agree this film isn't as good as Tangled or Frozen, due to the cluttered story line, but I LIKED that Disney made the main character a workaholic - it's something different for a Disney princess.
While I haven't seen Tangled, I honestly thought this was better than Frozen. I could connect with the characters more because they were developed better, the musical style was upbeat and had me dancing to the tune, and I could actually follow the plot pretty easily. This may be just my opinion, and I respect yours, but I enjoyed this far more than I did Frozen.
Loved the movie/review. The New Orleans setting was so refreshing for a Disney movie!
Louis the alligator singing ~A BIG lipped alligator moment lol
I still can't believe it came out in 2009
Out of the last four princess (Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, and Anna), Tiana was the most original. She was the only Disney princess to have two jobs and was one of few that were actively working to achieve their goals. Of course, a majority of the princesses had desires of what they wanted in life as well, but they either a) wanted something completely out of their realm, b) spent too much time wishing/waiting for something to happen, or c) did not know how they were going to make their dreams come true. Tiana had dreams, but she knew she had to put in the hard work herself to make her dreams a reality. Sure, some people doubted that she'd get her restaurant, but at least it was an obtainable goal (and not one she could only achieve through magic).
Plus, she was a pretty practical person as well.
I don't think that the story was too complicate, yes it's a little confusing, but i just think that is not that good, but not bad either. I agree that Ray's death was unnecessary, but it wasn't silly, it was actually a sad moment, because you didn't see that coming. It was one of the funny characters in the movie, and usually the funny characters never die.
I absolutley loved Tiana and Dr. Facilier. Tiana has BALLS! We need more princess like her in Disney movies, and Facilier was one of the coolest villains, my third favourite after Frollo and Scar.
Kiuraz I don't think Doug means that the story is complicated because it's confusing, I think he means that it's complicated in that there's too much going on, which I agree with. For all the time that they spend trying to explain the plot, they could have spent on character development and on scenes where they show instead of tell.
"well, theres only one problem and sadly it's kind of a big one..."
"....now is it a major problem? I guess not, because you're constantly guessing..."
Well, Critic, IS IT A BIG PROBLEM OR NOT?!!
what was so complicated about the story? it's paced well and explains each detail clearly.
I really liked this movie! Tiana was a very interesting character and her relationship with Naveen seemed very well developed. I hope disney will eventually come out with more black princesses in the future.
This was my favourite disney movie and still is
I'm telling you man the black guy always dies first
***** damn...
"Oh, I get caught! The BLACK superhero gets caught!"
It's not as good as Tangled but it's MUCH better than Frozen and Brave. It's an amazing film and only didn't do as well as Disney wanted because people are prejudice against hand drawn animation. Yet a film like Frozen, which has more problems, plot holes, unmemorable characters, and poor character development, is a computer animated film that became something big. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
***** Frozen became big because of the songs and the computer animation. When you look past how good the soundtrack was and how beautiful it looked, Frozen has flaws, and a LOT of them. I hate seeing the Princess and the Frog not do that well while Frozen does amazing. This movie was so much better than Frozen was.
I've been obsessed with this movie lately, mostly because of the alligator, and it's one of my very favorites.
I remember seeing this when it came out, and to be honest, well GOD it made me feel like a little Disney obsessed child again!
So underrated great villian and awesome princess amazing music compared to other films by Disney this one is so slept on. One of the best villian songs of all time.
Tiana is a great princess and role model for young women, but this film fell flat for me. The story line wasn't complex to me, but a bit vague and...idk. It just could have been better. I didn't like that she and the prince were frogs for most of it too. However, the animation and music was quite beautiful. Everything is CGI now, and while I like CGI I'll still miss 2D animation.
Well, just got finished watching it for the first time after so long, and I have to say, I had fun. Tiana was a strong princess, Navine was a strong prince, most of the songs were so enjoyable, the animation was fantastic, and yes, even though some side characters were kind of stereotypes, they at least were side characters I liked. I agree, the death scene at the end is a little out of place, even though the bit with the second star was cute, but other than that, I really liked this film. I'll no doubt be returning to it.
I never understood why people called this movie racist. I mean if they had made Tiana white people would have still complained that she wasn't 'ethnic.' Never the less I love PatF, I find Tiana a good influence and someone I can relate to. The plot wasn't that terrible compared to Frozen.
I know a lot of people hate that Tiana was a frog for most of her screen time...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed about that, too, but she's still one of my all-time favorite Disney heroines.
I agree. This movie is immensely better than Frozen (I didn't like that movie at all actually). This movie established all the main characters and villain in the first third. Frozen pulled a boring villain completely out of nowhere in the third act just for the sake of having a villain. Worst. Plot twist. Ever.
Shwah Gamers Yea Frozen I think is overhyped and Hans being the villain was crap. I'm more excited for Moana.
fantasyfiction101 Who's Moana?
Shwah Gamers It's the new Disney Princess movie set for next November. It sounds pretty good from what I've heard.
Music rules this film, and I like it very much.
I've been watching a bunch of Nostalgia Critic videos, and that's the only reason I've come across this movie. I'd never even heard of this movie until today. I didn't even know it existed. I personally feel that that reflects on the marketing and promotion of the movie, nothing else.
Dr. Facilier was the main reason I liked this film.
This is my favorite Disney film ever.
I finally saw this movie for the first time a few days ago. Boy, have I been missing out! This movie has everything I enjoy: a good story, fun characters, catchy songs, and a scary villain.
The real Disney racism in this film is the same as in Emperor's New Groove and Brother Bear. All the new era Disney films with a non-white main character has them transformed into an animal for the overwhelming majority of the movie. Why!?
Or maybe they really don't know about it and didn't recognize it was racist.
Or it could also be that you are trying to find racism where there is none. Disney took one of the most famous princesses that they had yet to focus on and made her black. It is true that in the original tale she never turned into a frog but she was also a petulant spoiled brat (therefore adding the conflict) so ultimately, you are complaining that they made the black character a likeable, industrious, strong young woman who didn't need rescuing. Really? Is that a complaint you would like to make. It seems like you wouldn't be happy no matter what. If they had made Sleeping Beauty black instead you would have complained that she was boring and underdeveloped meaning RACISM. Why? Because you are just looking for something to be angry about.
Brother Bear: sorry but human transfiguration plays a heavy role in Inuit lore, that is simply the way it is. You complaining about this would be like you complaining about Lilo & Stich because the characters like to surf. Disney usually does so little to pay respect to the culture they are portraying, I am not going to complain when they do something correctly.
As far as Emperor's New Groove, I don't think that even warrants a response. If you are looking to Kuzco as an accurate and well rounded example of an Incan king, I don't think I can even take you seriously. Not to mention that, though he is the title character, Kuzco is not the sole lead and Pachu remains human and sensible throughout the entirety of the film. Do not try to turn a movie like this into something it is not. This is like you watching a stand up comedian and getting offended, nothing short of ridiculous.
Finally, I don't quite understand why it matters that they are animals for a portion of their films.They are people, the content of their character and their personalities should matter FAR more than the color of their skin. The fact that you can see nothing about Tiana other than the fact that she is black makes you a bit racist in my opinion. She has so many other qualities that are more important and none of those change when she is in frog form. A character's worth lies far beneath their skin, otherwise Belle and Aurora would be just as well loved (they are both incredibly hot, after all).
Take a break from being a SJW, it is doing nothing but making you seem like a fool.
+Ms18girly amen
Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, that one Atlantis movie I can never remember anything about. And now we can officially add Moana to the list. All these have POC main characters who aren't transformed. But I guess you just don't remember them.
I actually got all the plot. It sounds a bit crazy when spoken out but it's paced well enough to explain everything.
You know, ironically, this one the very first Disney movie that I saw in theaters.
I just realized that I've never seen ANY DISNEY FILMS IN THEATERS! Don't get me wrong, I DO WATCH THEM but I always remember renting it, watching it online, or catching it on TV! I feel so ashamed of myself!
I wonder if there'll be a sequel?
"Maybe the world wasn't read for a black princess".
God that is such a sad...sad line DX Almost as sad when people had a problem with that kids series Princess Sofia because Sofia is Hispanic(?)
"Tiana is the best female lead since Belle" Mulan says HELLO
I'm so happy he actually liked this movie.
I actually didn't think this movie was too complicated.
Honestly I blame advertising... Had they advertised the villian a little better this movie would of been a huge success.
Actually the Avatar the Last Air bender is very nearly hand drawn and popular with kids and adults
Yeah, but that's on TV. There's a huge difference in what people watch on TV vs what they'll pay for a movie ticket for.
Not with me. I hate that show.
godzillavkk we can never be friends
Only if you let yourself become a Airbender Fanatic, which has happened.
I thought one of the really revolutionary things about this movie was that, for the first time, there was a character who died and stayed dead (not counting villains). Usually you know any good character who appears to be dead will come back to life and you're not very emotionally invested in the scene. Here the death was sad and poignant.
Mark Borok It would have been revolutionary, if there weren't the fucking Lion King before, don't tell me you never saw it!
Midori K. Yeah, but Disney always had dead parents.
+Mark Borok bambi's mother, cinderella's parents, mufasa, anastasia's family, the king in the swann princess, ariel's mother, phocahontas love intrest, the brother in brother bear, nemo's brothers/sisters and his mother. just to name a few...
My ONLY gripe with this movie was that it didn't have enough Facilier! I would watch an entire movie with just him! Screw that... I would just listen to his VOICE for hours. He's one of the best Disney Villains ever.
"There's a fucking talking frog I think we'll live." LMAO! 😂😂😂
I know a lot of people dislike this movie but, it's one of my favorite Disney movies.
I gotta disagree with the Nostalgia Critic on this, I think this is one of the better 2-D animated films Disney has put out
I LOVE Lottie. She's so bubbly and I love her Southern Belle accent
I remember as a kid I couldn't stop pretending to be some of the characters. I just loved them and their story so much!
I loved this movie, And I watched it a ton of times.
I can understand why a lot of people wouldn't like it, but I see why many people love it too. :)
There are 3 songs I love in this movie. I like Almost There and Friends on the Other Side as well, but one I’m surprised wasn’t mentioned was Dig a Little Deeper. While I really like it, I do admit it’s not the best disney song out there, but it’s easily one of my most memorable, probably because of how infectiously catchy the tune is
I have yet to see this all the way through, but it sounds fantastic. I've not seen a traditional Disney Princess movie for quite a long time, but this has all the right elements that made them instant classics and always has that Disney twist on an original story that makes it so much better; much like how Tangled added an entirely new element to the story that explained everything and gave it a depth that you wouldn't have seen otherwise.
the princess and the frog wouldve been a smash hit if it was released in the early 00s, this was a 1990s - 2000s film released in the 2010's
I love Charlotte's character, she could have easily been the annoying bratty rich girl and while she's clearly spoiled and not used to being told no she isn't mean spirited. Like the scene where Tiana falls on the table, spills all the food, and ruins her dress. A normal rich brat character would have berated Tiana for ruining all that food and breaking the table, but not only dose Charlotte not get mad she helped Tiana to her feet and lent Tiana one of her dresses for the night, that's a pretty telling difference. And then when she finds out that Tiana and Naveen are in love, she doesn't resent either of them but is instead happy her best friend found love.
I loved this movie too.
I remember everyone hating on this movie but I saw it and I actually really enjoyed it.
Bullshit. This movie is SO much more than ANY Disney film I’ve ever seen. It’s fucking phenomenal, brilliant, beautiful, and left me absolutely speechless from the very first second. I usually don’t see “Disney” as anything but kids films, but THIS was by god the best animated film that they have EVER created. Stunning characters, stunning twists, stunning animation, music, art, culture. The fact that such a brilliant and fantastical work of art is SO under appreciated, rated, and the like is just plain tragic. I hope one day this movie gets the CREDIT IT DESERVES. It will always remain one of the greatest animated films for me, it was pure magic, and it deserves its JUSTICE.
Jack Skellington appeared in this movie!
OMG Tiana's friend is on of my favorite supporting/comic relief characters ever! Sh's SO FUNNY!!!
The song almost there is one of my fav Disney songs ever, top five at least along with be our guest.
Disney just can't win the racism game, can they?
If they try and evade using diverse casts with possible problems of stereotyping any minority they get bashed for that "insensibility", if they try and include minorities they get bashed on the constant allegation of getting it wrong. They could make the animated equivalent of Tron or Wall-E and still would get whacked for having something being allegedly racist...
Maybe that tells more about the critics that desparately want to find something racist to beat Disney up about than about the movies. Talk about a trope gone awry.
I mean...Wall-E was animated...
NASCARFAN160
I meant handdrawn / cartoony in comparison to "Life action" or CGI / 3D animated.
It's not just Disney, every form of media who veers from the norm in casting, gets accused of racism. People today seem to be overly (and in many cases unnecessarily) sensitive to EVERYTHING now. Even a movie like this. A family film that beautifully broke boundaries that had been in place for far too long. Being an African American woman myself, I was overjoyed when I first heard about this movie. Knowing that there was finally a Disney princess who looked like me (I was 18 when this movie aired) was magical; and I made sure I had my seat in the theatre to see it!
People can cry racism all they want. It's just a sad, unfounded excuse to dislike or find a flaw in something, when you can't provide a legitimate reason for disliking it; and to me it's just lazy, and like you said, critics and viewers alike are just trying to find excuses to play the racism card :/
"Disney just can't win the racism game, can they?"
when it comes to racism NOBODY WINS
personally, I think Disney needs to make another 2D comeback movie. when I first heard they were making a film about the descendants of the Fairytale disney characters I thought it would be in 2D like all the originals but was disappointed to see it was live action and insulting to everything Walt ever did. If they made it 2D though, and wrote it like they wrote Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid then it could be the 2D Disney comeback we've all been waiting for.
The villain in this was my favorite part of the movie. Friends on the other side is definitely a keeper.
I do wish this movie had gotten more attention and praise like some of the more modern Disney movies. This is definitely one of my favorites - there are so many great things about it - but I keep hearing people praise "Tangled"...Ugh...
I will say there are, of course, some flaws with the movie:
1) Ray...Just Ray.
2) How come Lottie didn't turn into a frog when she kissed Naveen at the end? If she wasn't a princess anymore, wouldn't she had turned into a frog like Tiana did?
the reason Lottie didn't turn into a frog is because when she kissed Naveen it was for the rights, when Tiana kissed him the first time it was for the wrong reasons.
Honestly, every part of this movie that actually showed the town I was looking for a sign over a building that said 'Rising Sun'.
Please, Disney, please come out with another movie soon, or at least a new television series perhaps! I'm a very big fan of Louis the Alligator, and would really love to see more moments of that character, since there were so little of them in the first movie.
I actually thought it was kind of clever how everything in the plot tied together.
I just watched this movie now (I know, extremely late on my part) then decided to watch this critic. The critic about the movie's plot being a bit too complicated was the exact same critic that I had watching the movie. I constantly thought I was missing either a vital bit of information, or I was just not getting it. I always had to carefully listen to the characters' explanations on the situation to be caught up. Which was a weird feeling, because for most disney movies I can usually be one step ahead of the plot (easier to predict). Glad I wasn't the only one!
this is the best Disney film, princess and fairytale. do not fight me on this. I just cried because of how much i love this film
This is one of my all time favorites since it came out when I was 9, the characters, the jazz music, the animation, every thing. Plus Naveen is HOT!
I think that it was the voodoo aspect that turned people off to it, as well. When this came out, my class went to fucking Planet 51 instead of this because of the voodoo stuff. That's my theory.
When I saw this in theaters, parents were ushering their kids out the door once the voodoo stuff got too scary and intense. I wouldn't be surprised if that aspect turned a lot of people away.
***** Yeah, but that was a bit more subtle than saying, "HEY LOOK AT THIS A SATANIC ART!" They didn't come out and say it, is what I'm saying.
Connor Veenstra
I agree since the majority of the people in America are Christians so your theory makes a lot of sense.
sweetblackblood1 I know, right? We may never have a legitimately scary scene in an animated Disney film ever again.
Sin Talento Producciones I'm a Christian, and I wasn't put off by the voodoo in it.
When you're going into a Disney movie, you should know that it's going to have some magical elements, pagan, witchcraft, whatever else.
I think people abandoned the theater because the voodoo scenes literally frightened their kids.
To me, this movie isn't great. The problem is that stupid alligator and that dumb fire fly. They're like the gargoyales in hunchback. They're annoying and don't fit the story.
I don't hate them, but I agree that they keep me from really loving this movie.
The firefly probably wasn't necessary so much, or could of been given a bigger purpose, but the alligator was funny at times. The scene where he tries playing on a boat and suddenly shot down to the water made me laugh so hard at the movie theater I couldn't control it for 10 minutes
5:25-5:30 Those adults should probably watch "Grave of the Fireflies" or "Akira". I think that will teach them their lesson.
Yeah those are probably the best ones to pick. Although if somebody wants something a bit more current I would recommend Fullmetal Alchemist.
I thought the movie was okay. My problem with it was that it was a princess movie yet it spent too much time as talking animal movie. There are plenty of princess movies with talking animals or inanimate objects, but they seem more balanced. Even The Swan Princess, though not Disney, spent plenty of time as talking animal movie, but it didn't feel like it spent too much time. This one did. I think what they could have done to help it, and it's such a simple thing, too, and I was expecting them to do it, but they never did, was during emotional moments, you would see the characters as what they truly look like in the background doing the same exact things as their frog selves, that way you don't ever forget that they are people, not talking frogs.
I didn't enjoy this movie the same as I did Beauty and the Beast for most of the same reasons Doug did. The story was "eh" and overly complicated, and some of the other songs and characters weren't memorable enough to keep my attention even on screen.
The setting for this movie will get the racism card thrown at it because no one can agree what's a happy medium of reality and "wish it was so" fantasy. However, though hints at Tiana's battle with racism was apparent, it was so tastefully subtle (at least in the town) that it was almost easy to miss (especially for innocent children that would equate her struggle to simple poverty) and had it been any louder I think the moral and life of the movie itself would have been lost. I also greatly appreciated how they handled her relationship with Big Daddy and Charlotte. It could have been a much more touchy issue than it became, and the way especially Charlotte was moved out of her comfort zone to care and provide for her friend regardless of her own desires was one of the most admirable and notable acts of selfless generosity I have seen in Disney. It wasn't even a debt, just goodwill.
Tiana and Naveen are the best Disney Couple I have seen in FOREVER. Neither thought the other was perfect, and they were able to set their differences aside to resolve immediate pressing conflict and their interpersonal relationship in a way that equally developed each other. Their marraige was based on real love, not greed or fanciful whim; and the two balance each other well.
Tiana is my definition of a perfect "strong female lead" because she stood on her own two feet, worked hard for what she wanted, raised her voice only when she was truly heated and asked forgiveness after, and ultimately chose to do what was right at her own expense instead of what was in her own interests. Naveen showed incredible character development over the film that puts him far ahead of almost every Disney male lead to date, just to start; and he reacted in a way that made complete sense for someone in his situation. Again, his ultimate selflessness made him an amazing companion lead character. The depth of these characters played off of each other so well I would love to just watch the two interact for an hour in a room alone doing daily chores. That's hard to find anywhere.
The story fell flat, but if it had some rearranging and a second shot that kept the same character depth and development this movie could be absolutely phenomenal!
The story wasn't that complicated. I was able to follow it pretty well.
Neither did I, but maybe it's a bit harder if you watch non-stop, or if your brain isn't always there. There's a fair bit of important details throughout, so I don't know, maybe they can just be easy to miss. I'm just guessing.
I love this movie. watched it yesterday and its my favorite of disney's hand drawn films. I actually found the story easy to follow and the music fantastic. Almost there is AMAZING, and Friends on the Other Side is pretty fun too. I actually loved When I'm Human as well, and even the firefly song wasn't annoying.
tbh this movie is a lot more entertaining if you're a Louisiana native
I do like this film. The first half is spectacular and I love Tiana's character and the Shadow Man is a pretty interesting villain. However, maybe it was an issue with the story, but by the time the second half arrived, I immediately became bored. I just didn't connect with the film as a whole as much as the other Disney films.
It's just not a movie that I would ever watch again. Here's my prejudice, and it's not against black people or 2D animation: I do not like the south and I really do not like loud southern accents- though, I love Tiana's speaking voice; it's so enthralling. And since this film takes place in New Orleans, all of the characters speak in loud, annoying southern accents and it quickly annoys me.
Maybe I have negative experiences with growing up in the south, but watching a movie with characters who constantly butcher basic grammar and shout inanely in nasally, shrill southern accents really gets under my skin. It's just a "me" thing. That's not a criticism against the movie itself. Certain accents just irritate me and I have never been very fond of the south. In fact, that's why I left.
Not all people from the south are loud, I'm from south Louisiana and sure we have some people with loud southern accents, but we aren't loud when we shouldn't be. Some of us do say words that are different and we do say y'all a lot, but that's just how we are
2:07
A BIG LIPPED ALLIGATOR MOMENT
Listening to this review again, I’m wondering what Doug would think of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, since those stories hinge around a similar kind of quibble/loophole-based plots. (Gilbert trained as a lawyer before he started writing plays.)
Thankfully, none of them involve characters turning into animals (except the animated _Ruddigore_ , and even then it’s just for a brief gag).