The Princess and the Frog...SMR

(For those of you who haven't already figured it out, SMR stands for summer movie review. Okay, got it? Good.)

As a girl who grew up watching Disney movies, and especially loving the ones that involved Princesses falling in love with handsome Princes in far-away magical lands, I had not been this excited to see a movie in a long, long time. And sure enough, Disney didn't let me down.

Basically, think basic The Frog Prince story line, add a cup of Gnawlins, a few table spoons of all the African-American culture that Disney sort of skipped out on over the years, and a pinch of Shrek...and you got yourself the movie.

60-second break down (but you have to say it really fast to do it in 60 seconds): Prince cut off from family has no funds and must marry rich lady to survive, gets turned into a frog by a witch doctor and believes he must kiss a princess to change back. Poor waitress dreams of opening up her own restaurant one day, can't afford downpayment, really sad, meets aforementioned frog on balcony and agrees to kiss him if he then helps her with the funds for the restaurant, but by some weird twist of fate (here comes the pinch of Shrek) she herself turns into a frog and they go off in search of Mme. Odie to turn them back. They have lots of adventures down the bayou, meet Cajun fireflies and a jazz-loving alligator. Of course they do, because, it's Disney, so who else were they going to meet? Anyways, back to the story, Mme. Odie says kiss Southern Belle blond girl aka poor waitress' childhood friend by midnight and they'll both turn back but the frogs realize they're in love with eachother, defeat witch doctor, decide to stay frogs, they get married (because frogs can do that too, you know) and then they kiss, but because she's now a princess it means he's kissing a princess so they both turn human again anyways and open up a restaurant and live happily ever after.

*deep breath in*

Questions though: What race is this prince, exactly? He has a French accent, his name is Naveen which sounds kind of Middle Eastern to me, and he's from the fictional Maldonia...which sounds kind of African to me. Hmmm, not that it matters what race he is, just curious.

The music was good, but nothing at all compared to The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast. I think the best part was actually the scenery, which is weird, I know, for an animated film, but I think they portrayed the French Quarter of New Orleans as well as the Louisiana bayou really well. My favorite character is, by far, the blond, obnoxious Southern Belle who wants nothing more than to marry a prince and become a real, live Princess. In most movies she would be the antagonist, or at least an evil character, but Disney has moved beyond that- she was extremely wealthy, extremely demanding and extremely kind-hearted, in the end sacrificing her own dream of marrying a Prince for her friend. Although the whole, "here, let me kiss the man you love so that you can get married as humans" is also a bit weird. And then when it didn't work she kissed him like another twelve times to make sure...

Interesting note though, while they're live action films and computer animated ones have become more and more violent/mature to cater to today's audience's, TPATF's levels of violence and scariness was about equal to that of Snow White's...in fact, I'd actually say the Evil Queen in Snow White was far scarier that the Witch Doctor in this film. Then again, the last time I watched Snow White I was probably about seven...

Anyways, if you're like me and have a special place in your heart for films such as these, I definitely wouldn't consider the cost of a movie ticket a waste. The accents are colorful, the music is catchy and fun, the characters are loveable, the animated is old-fashioned and refreshing, the story is great...and it's Disney. So how can you hate it? 4 out of 5 stars.

Side-note: Saw the preview for the next Toy Story. Andy's going off to college?! Uh-oh, I wonder what will happen to Woody and friends...that's another movie I'll wait in line to see in cinemas. I can remember seeing the first one in cinemas when it came out on a special date with my dad. :-) Jeeze...what was that, about 15 years ago?!?! I'm growing old!!

Oh! Which makes me remember...I felt so out of place in the cinema...everyone there was either aged 8 or under, or the parent of someone aged 8 or under...

And they all lived happily ever after...