It's been a long time since Disney had an animated hit without the name "Pixar" attached to it, but that could change with the release of "The Princess and the Frog," a delightful throwback to the old-school, hand-drawn classics. What's interesting is that the studio has returned to its signature style, rife with vibrant watercolor hues, while shedding some of its antiquated concepts.
For starters, now that we have a half-black president, there's simply no excuse for every lead character in a Disney movie to resemble Snow White. The star of "The Princess and the Frog" is an African-American female named Tiana ("Dreamgirls'" Anika Noni Rose), sadly new ground for Disney, and the film spotlights the blissfully bluesy city of New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age. There's a little less belle of the ball here and a little more bayou.
Another thing that sets Tiana apart is that, unlike past Disney ladies whose main mission is to be rescued by prince charming, she values hard work above all else. After her mom criticizes her lack of a love life, she busts into a wonderful song called "Almost There," about her more-pressing dreams of opening a restaurant in the French Quarter. She even references an old Disney movie ("Pinocchio") and backslaps its core idea: Perhaps I should spend less time wishing on a star and more time making things happen, she realizes.
The time has come for Disney to evolve in such a way, and the end result succeeds on a number of levels. There are still a colorful cast of characters, beautiful animation, endearing songs and everything we've come to expect from the House of Mouse, just with more diversity and better values. The basic, silly premise is that Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) gets wrapped up with a nutty voodoo peddler (Keith David) after his parents cut him off financially. What happens is that he becomes a frog -- not exactly what he had in mind -- sees Tiana in a princess costume (she's really a waitress), remembers the story of "The Frog Prince" and thinks a kiss from her will make him human again. Instead, she turns into a frog as well.
The pair of webbed-feet amphibians then hop through the Louisiana swamps in search of answers, and along the way they meet a jazz-loving gator (Michael-Leon Wooley); an old, blind voodoo doctor (Jenifer Lewis, singing one of the standout songs, "Dig a Little Deeper"); and the film's best character, a firefly named Ray (Jim Cummings), who is madly in love with the brightest star in the sky. He thinks she's a firefly he simply can't catch, and nobody has the heart to tell him that he's actually fawning over a celestial body. Semantics.
"The Princess and the Frog" is written/directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, creators of old-time favorites "Aladdin" and "The Little Mermaid." While there is a dash of romance between Tiana and Naveen -- a shared frog crisis can have strange bonding powers -- it's far from the point of the movie. This is a sweet, fun and simple film about keeping hope alive, loving large and enjoying life's many adventures. It may not be the year's best animated feature (that honor goes to "Up") but for traditional Disney fans, it's a dream come true.
