The Princess and the Frog Review

I finally saw The Princess and the Frog last week and have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. In some ways, it is typical Disney fare (though in the good category). The story followed the typical boy meets girl style, added a few silly sidekicks (though I usually love the sidekicks), one bad guy, beautiful animation, great toe-tapping songs, and, of course, a happy ending. The result is a lot of fun.

But this blog always looks at things in terms of writing. Can we extrapolate parts of a movie and put them towards a book? Absolutely! A story is a story. It has plot and characters, just like any other story. When I watch something, I always look at it in terms of writing.

I would like to focus on the main character, Tiana, for she was the one I liked the best. I liked the fact that she was determined, smart, and hard working. One of the things that really irks me in most movies is when the hardworking person is always told by her/his friends to lighten up. Now, could some uptight, type A people learn to relax? Of course. But is it by learning meditation, how to paint, or just hanging out more with good friends and family? No, it's almost always how to party more. Great way to achieve your goals. Tiana knows that you don't achieve your dreams by wishing on stars or waiting for your prince to come; she knows it comes through hard work. But every character should have a fatal flaw - in her case, she works so hard for her dreams that she misses what's really important - love, in this case, not really from her prince, but from her family. She had worked so hard to achiever her and her late father's dream of owning a restaurant that she forgot how devoted her father was to the people he loved. A quality she doesn't lack, but has put aside for other things. To really achieve her dreams, she must learn what she needs, not just what she wants.

What I liked best was that it is not Tiana's looks that get her Prince Naveen (in fact, she doesn't even want him at first), but it is her smarts and determination that make the prince fall in love with her (after all, they both spend much of the film as frogs). It is the prince who must change to get the girl - he must learn that life cannot be one big party and that you can just toss people aside like used handkerchiefs. Life is about balance, and being nicer to people. Only after he learns this does Tiana start to fall in love with him.

Overall, the movie is sweet, full of heart, and fun. It's very nice to see a movie that doesn't resort to bawdy jokes, edginess, and hipness. It's nice to see a movie that is, well, nice.