| The Princess and the Frog | |
|---|---|
Original theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Ron Clements John Musker |
| Produced by | Peter Del Vecho |
| Screenplay by | Ron Clements John Musker Rob Edwards |
| Story by | Ron Clements John Musker Greg Erb Jason Oremland Don Hall |
| Based on | The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker |
| Starring | Anika Noni Rose Bruno Campos Keith David Michael-Leon Wooley Jennifer Cody Jim Cummings Peter Bartlett Jenifer Lewis Oprah Winfrey Terrence Howard John Goodman |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
| Editing by | Jeff Draheim |
| Studio | Walt Disney Animation Studios |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 25, 2009 (Los Angeles premiere) December 11, 2009 (United States) |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $105 million[1] |
| Box office | $267,045,057 (Worldwide)[2] |
The Princess and the Frog is a 2009 American animated musical family film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, inspired in part by E. D. Baker's novel The Frog Princess, which was in turn inspired by the Grimm brothers' fairy tale "The Frog Prince".[3][4][5] The film opened in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on November 25, 2009, and in wide release by Walt Disney Pictures on December 11, 2009. It is the 49th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics line and the first of these films to be traditionally animated since 2004's Home on the Range. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, directors of The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, and Treasure Planet, with songs and score composed by Randy Newman and featuring the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jennifer Cody, Jim Cummings, Peter Bartlett, Jenifer Lewis, Oprah Winfrey,[6] Terrence Howard, and John Goodman. Tiana, the main character, is Disney's first black princess.[7]
The Princess and the Frog, which began production under the working title The Frog Princess, is an American fairy tale, a Broadway-style musical set in, and around New Orleans, Louisiana at the height of the Roaring Twenties. The film received three Academy Award nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards: one for Best Animated Feature and two for Best Original Song. It lost to Up and Crazy Heart, respectively.[8]
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Tiana is a young inhabitant of 1926 New Orleans. She has held a passion for the culinary arts since childhood, and works two jobs in order to save money and eventually open her own restaurant. Charlotte La Bouff, a débutante and childhood friend of Tiana, hires her to provide refreshments for the Mardi Gras masquerade ball being thrown by her rich daddy, Eli La Bouff. Eli, the perennial King of the Mardi Gras, seeks to welcome Prince Naveen of Maldonia, who has recently arrived, as an eligible suitor to his pampered daughter. Tiana is thrilled to finally have enough to purchase and renovate an old sugar mill into her restaurant.
The disinherited Prince Naveen, penniless and unskilled, is nevertheless intent on marrying a wealthy woman, rather than learning a trade. He and his valet Lawrence encounter Dr. Facilier, a voodoo witch doctor who convinces the pair that he can improve both their lives. Instead, Facilier transforms Naveen into a frog and gives Lawrence a voodoo charm, filled with Naveen's blood, which when worn transforms his appearance to that of Naveen's. Facilier intends for Lawrence, under the guise of Naveen, to marry Charlotte in order to gain access to her father’s fortune.
At the ball, Charlotte flirts with Lawrence as Tiana discovers she may lose the mill to a higher bidder. Tiana then meets Naveen, who, believing her to be a princess because of her costume, asks her to kiss him and break Facilier's curse. Tiana agrees, in exchange for the money needed to outbid the other buyer. However, instead of Naveen turning into a human, Tiana is turned into a frog herself. Naveen and Tiana escape to a bayou.
Lawrence later proposes to Charlotte, who happily agrees, but soon the magic in Facilier's charm wears off and Lawrence reverts to his original form. Facilier tells Lawrence they need another sample of the prince's blood in order to prolong the spell, but discovers that Lawrence had foolishly released him. Facilier turns to the voodoo gods for help, with the promise that once Lawrence marries Charlotte, he will have total control over New Orleans and will be able to offer the citizens' souls as payment. The voodoo gods give Facilier shadow demons, who are then dispatched to locate Naveen.
At the bayou, Tiana and Naveen meet Louis the Alligator, who plays a trumpet expertly, and Ray, a Cajun firefly. Louis and Ray offer to lead them to the good voodoo priestess Mama Odie, who they believe can undo the curse. Mama Odie tells the frogs that Naveen must kiss a true princess for them to become human. They determine that since Eli La Bouff is King of Mardi Gras, it follows that Charlotte is a princess. The quartet return to New Orleans in order to find Charlotte before Mardi Gras ends, at the stroke of midnight. Tiana and Naveen realize that they love each other but before they can admit their feelings, Naveen is captured and brought to Facilier.
Before Lawrence (disguised as Naveen) and Charlotte can marry, Ray helps Naveen escape and steals the charm. Ray gives the charm to Tiana in order to hold back Facilier's minions, but is killed by Facilier. Facilier then confronts Tiana and offers to make her restaurant dream come true in exchange for the charm, but she refuses and destroys it. The angered voodoo spirits claim Facilier himself as payment for his debts and drag him into the underworld.
Tiana and Naveen reveal their love to each other and explain the situation to Charlotte, who agrees to kiss Naveen. Unfortunately, the clock strikes midnight before she can kiss him, but the two decide they are content to live together as frogs. After a funeral is held for Ray, Tiana and Naveen are married by Mama Odie. Because of Tiana's new status as princess, they are restored back to human form after their kiss. The couple return to New Orleans to celebrate and, with Louis's help, finally buy and open the new restaurant.
Disney had once announced that 2004's Home on the Range would be their feature animation studio's last traditionally animated production. After the company's acquisition of Pixar in early 2006, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, the new president and chief creative officer of Disney Animation Studios, reversed this decision and reinstated hand-drawn animation at the studio.[15] Many animators who had either been laid off or had left the studio when the traditional animation units were dissolved in 2003 were located and re-hired for the project.[16]
The Princess and the Frog was originally announced as The Frog Princess in July 2006,[15] and early concepts and songs were presented to the public at the Walt Disney Company's annual shareholders' meeting in March 2007.[17] These announcements drew criticism from African-American media outlets, due to elements of the Frog Princess story, characters, and settings considered distasteful.[18][19] African-American critics disapproved of the original name for the heroine, "Maddy", feeling it sounded too close to the derogatory term "mammy".[18] Also protested were Maddy's original career as a chambermaid,[19] the choice to have the black heroine's love interest be a non-black prince,[18] and the use of a black male voodoo witchdoctor as the film's villain.[18] The Frog Princess title was also thought by critics to be a slur on French people.[20]
Also questioned was the film's setting of New Orleans, which had been heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, resulting in the expulsion of a large number of mostly black residents.[21] Critics claimed the choice of New Orleans as the setting for a Disney film with a black heroine was an affront to the Katrina victims' plight;[18][21] Clements and Musker stated that they chose New Orleans as a tribute to the history of the city, for its "magical" qualities, and because it was executive producer John Lasseter's favorite city.[12][22]
In response to these early criticisms, the film's title was changed in May 2007 from The Frog Princess to The Princess and the Frog. The name "Maddy" was changed to "Tiana",[20][23] and the character's occupation was altered from chambermaid to waitress.[18] Popular black talk show host Oprah Winfrey was hired as a technical consultant for the film, leading to her taking a voice acting role in the film as Tiana's mother Eudora.[12]
The Princess and the Frog was directed and co-written by Ron Clements and John Musker, whose earlier works included The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Hercules (1997), and Treasure Planet (2002).[24][25] The story for the film began development by merging two separate projects in development at Disney and Pixar at the time, both based around the "Frog Prince" fairy tale.[12][16] One of the projects was based on E. D. Baker's The Frog Princess, in which the story's heroine (Princess Emma) kisses a prince turned frog (Prince Eadric), only to become a frog herself.[16] The Princess and the Frog returns to the musical film format used in many of the previously successful Disney animated films.[26] John Lasseter personally asked Clements and Musker, who had left the company in 2005, to return to Disney to direct and write the film, and had let them choose the style of animation (traditional or CGI) they wanted to use.[12]
On December 1, 2006, a detailed casting call was announced for the film at the Manhattan Theatre Source forum.[27] The casting call states the film as being an American fairy tale musical set in New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age, and provides a detailed list of the film's major characters.
In February 2007, it was reported that Dreamgirls actresses Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose were top contenders for the voice of Tiana, and that Alicia Keys directly contacted Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook about voicing the role.[28] It was later reported that Tyra Banks was considered for the role as well.[29] By April 2007, it was confirmed that Rose would be voicing Tiana.[30] Three months later, it was reported that Keith David would be doing the voice of Dr. Facilier, the villain of the film.[31]
Toon Boom Animation's Toon Boom Harmony software was used as the main software package for the production of the film, as the CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) system Disney developed with Pixar in the 1980s for use on their previous traditionally animated films had become outdated.[32] The Harmony software was augmented with a number of plug-ins to provide CAPS-like effects such as shading on cheeks and smoke effects.[14][33] The reinstated traditional unit's first production, a 2007 Goofy cartoon short entitled How to Hook Up Your Home Theater, was partly animated without paper by using Harmony and Wacom Cintiq pressure-sensitive tablets. The character animators found some difficulty with this approach, and decided to use traditional paper and pencil drawings, which were then scanned into the computer systems, for The Princess and the Frog.[14]
The one exception to the new Toon Boom Harmony pipeline was the "Almost There" dream sequence, which utilized an Art Deco graphic style based on the art of Harlem Renaissance painter Aaron Douglas.[34] Supervised by Eric Goldberg and designed by Sue Nichols,[35] the "Almost There" sequence's character animation was done on paper without going through the clean-up animation department,[12] and scanned directly into Photoshop. The artwork was then enhanced to affect the appearance of painted strokes and fills, and combined with backgrounds, using Adobe After Effects.[13][14]
The visual effects and backgrounds for the film were created digitally using Cintiq tablet displays.[14][36] Marlon West, one of Disney's veteran animation visual effects supervisors, says about the production; "Those guys had this bright idea to bring back hand-drawn animation, but everything had to be started again from the ground up. One of the first things we did was focus on producing shorts, to help us re-introduce the 2D pipeline. I worked as vfx supervisor on the Goofy short, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater. It was a real plus for the effects department, so we went paperless for The Princess and the Frog." The backgrounds were painted digitally using Adobe Photoshop, and many of the architectural elements were based upon 3D models built in Autodesk Maya.[14]
The former trend in Disney's hand-drawn features where the characters and cinematography were influenced by a CGI-look has been abandoned. Andreas Deja, a veteran Disney animator who supervised the character of Mama Odie in Princess and the Frog, says "I always thought that maybe we should distinguish ourselves to go back to what 2D is good at, which is focusing on what the line can do rather than volume, which is a CG kind of thing. So we are doing less extravagant Treasure Planet kind of treatments. You have to create a world but [we're doing it more simply]. What we're trying to do with Princess and the Frog is hook up with things that the old guys did earlier. It's not going to be graphic...".[33] Deja also mentions that Lasseter was aiming for the Disney sculptural and dimensional look of the 1950s: "All those things that were non-graphic, which means go easy on the straight lines and have one volume flow into the other – an organic feel to the drawing."[33] Lasseter also felt that traditional animation created more character believability.[37] For example, with Louis the alligator, created by Eric Goldberg, Lasseter said: "It's the believability of this large character being able to move around quite like that."[37]
Clements and Musker had agreed from very early on that the style they were aiming for was primarily that of Disney's Lady and the Tramp (1955), a film which they and John Lasseter feel represents "the pinnacle of Disney's style".[38] "After that, everything started becoming more stylized, like 'Sleeping Beauty,' '101 Dalmatians' – which are fantastic films as well, but there's a particular style (to 'Lady and the Tramp') that's so classically Disney."[39] Lady and the Tramp also heavily informed the style of the New Orleans scenes, while Disney's Bambi (1942) served as the template for the bayou scenes.[38] Much of the clean-up animation, digital ink-and-paint, and compositing were outsourced to third party companies in Orlando, Florida (Premise Entertainment), Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Yowza! Animation), and Brooklin, São Paulo, Brazil (HGN Produções)[4]
During Disney's 2007 shareholder meeting, Randy Newman and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band performed the film's opening number, "Down in New Orleans", while slides of pre-production art from the film played on a screen.[17] Other songs in the film include "Almost There" (a solo for Tiana), "Dig a Little Deeper" (a song for Mama Odie), "When We're Human" (a song for Louis, Tiana and Naveen [as frogs]), "Friends on the Other Side" (a solo for Doctor Facilier), and "Gonna Take You There" and "Ma Belle Evangeline" (two solos for Ray).[17] Newman composed, arranged, and conducted the music for the film, a mixture of jazz, zydeco, blues, and gospel styles performed by the voice cast members for the respective characters while R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo wrote and performed the end title song "Never Knew I Needed", an R&B love song referring to the romance between the film's two main characters, Tiana and Naveen. Supported by a music video by Melina, "Never Knew I Needed" was issued to radio outlets as a commercial single from the Princess and the Frog soundtrack.[40]
The film's soundtrack album, The Princess and the Frog: Original Songs and Score, contains the ten original songs from the film and seven instrumental pieces. The soundtrack was released on November 23, 2009, the day before the limited release of the film in New York and Los Angeles.[41]
The Princess and the Frog was supported by a wide array of merchandise leading up to and following the film's release. Although Disney's main marketing push was not set to begin until November 2009, positive word-of-mouth promotion created demand for merchandise well in advance of the film.[42] Princess Tiana costumes were selling out prior to Halloween 2009, and a gift set of Tiana-themed hair care products from Carol's Daughter sold out in seven hours on the company's website.[42] Other planned merchandise includes a cookbook for children and even a wedding gown.[42] Princess Tiana was also featured a few months before the release in the Disney on Ice: Let's Celebrate! show.[43] The film itself was promoted through advertisements, including one from GEICO where Naveen, as a frog, converses with the company's gecko mascot.[44]
A live parade and show called Tiana's Showboat Jubilee! premiered on October 26, 2009 at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida,[45] and on November 5 at Disneyland Park.[46] In Disneyland Park, actors in New Orleans Square parading to the Rivers of America and boarding the park's steamboat.[46] From there, the cast, starring Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, Louis the alligator, and Doctor Facilier, would sing songs from the movie, following a short storyline taking place after the events of the film. The Disneyland version's actors actually partook in singing, while the Walt Disney World rendition incorporated lip-syncing.[46]
Tiana's Showboat Jubilee! ran at both parks until January 3, 2010.[45][46] At Disneyland Park, the show was replaced by a land-based event called Princess Tiana's Mardi Gras Celebration, which features Princess Tiana along with five of the original presentation's "Mardi Gras dancers" and the park's "Jambalaya Jazz Band" as they perform songs from the movie.[47] "Tiana's Mardi Gras Celebration" officially ended on October 3, 2010. Tiana also appears in Disneyland Paris' New Generation Festival.[48] Some of the characters appear frequently during World of Color, the nightly fountain and projection show presented at Disney California Adventure Park. Disney announced on June 4, 2009, that they would release a video game inspired by the film and it was released on November 2009 exclusively for Wii and Nintendo DS platforms. It has been officially described an "adventure through the exciting world of New Orleans in a family-oriented video game," featuring events from the film and challenges for Princess Tiana.[49]
The film premiered in theaters with a limited run in New York and Los Angeles beginning on November 25, 2009, followed by wide release on December 11, 2009.[50] The film was originally set for release on Christmas Day 2009, but its release date was changed due to a competing family film, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, scheduled for release the same day.[51]
On its limited day release, the film grossed $263,890 at two theaters and grossed $786,190 its opening weekend.[52][53] On its opening day in wide release, the film grossed $7,020,000 at 3,434 theaters.[54] It went on to gross $24,208,916 over the opening weekend averaging $7,050 per theater,[55] marking it the highest-grossing start to date for an animated movie in December. The film went on to gross $104,400,899 (in the United States and Canada) and $267,045,756 (worldwide).[56] While the film did outgross Disney's more recent hand-drawn films such as Brother Bear, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Home on the Range, it was less auspicious than the animated movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios' 1990s heyday.[57]
The Princess and the Frog was released in North America on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 16, 2010.[58] The film is available in DVD, Blu-ray Disc and Blu-ray Disc combo-pack editions; the combo pack includes DVD and digital copies of the film, along with the Blu-ray Disc version.[58] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in Australia on June 2, 2010 and on June 21, 2010 in the United Kingdom. As of December 2010 the movie has sold 4,475,227 copies and has made $71,327,491 in DVD sales,[59] making it the eighth best-selling DVD of 2010.[60]
The film has received largely positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 84% of 152 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.3 out of 10.[61] Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 81%, based on a sample of 32 reviews. The site's general consensus is that "The warmth of traditional Disney animation makes this occasionally lightweight fairy-tale update a lively and captivating confection for the holidays."[62] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 0–100 from film critics, has a rating score of 73 based on 29 reviews.[63]
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" and wrote in her review that "the creative team behind The Princess and the Frog upholds the great tradition of classic Disney animation."[64] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter wrote in his review that "The narrative behind The Princess and the Frog is that Walt Disney Animation has rediscovered its traditional hand-drawn animation, which has been supplanted by computer-generated cartoons." Honeycutt also praised the film for "a thing called story."[65] David Germain of the Associated Press wrote that "Princess and the Frog isn't the second coming of Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King. It's just plain pleasant, an old-fashioned little charmer that's not straining to be the next glib animated compendium of pop-culture flotsam."[66] Justin Chang of Variety being less receptive of the film stating "this long-anticipated throwback to a venerable house style never comes within kissing distance of the studio's former glory."[67] Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News gave the film 3/5 stars claimed "The Princess and the Frog breaks the color barrier for Disney princesses, but is a throwback to traditional animation and her story is a retread."[68] Village Voice's Scott Foundas's response toward the film is that "the movie as a whole never approaches the wit, cleverness, and storytelling brio of the studio's early-1990s animation renaissance (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) or pretty much anything by Pixar."[69] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review claiming "With The Princess and the Frog they've gotten just about everything right. The dialogue is fresh-prince clever, the themes are ageless, the rhythms are riotous and the return to a primal animation style is beautifully executed."[70] Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, giving the film three out of four stars, highly praised the film admiring Disney's step back to traditional animation saying, "This is what classic animation once was like!" and, in his print review wrote, "No 3-D! No glasses! No extra ticket charge! No frantic frenzies of meaningless action! And...good gravy! A story! Characters! A plot!"[71] The financial and critical success of The Princess and the Frog has persuaded Disney to greenlight at least one new hand-drawn animated feature to be released every two years.[16]
Upon its release, the film created controversy amongst some Christians over its use of Louisiana Voodoo as a plot device.[72] In Christianity Today's review of the film they criticized its sexual undertones, however they said that, "it's the use of voodoo that ultimately reveals the movie's hollow, thoughtless core." They argued that the scenes with Dr. Facilier and his "friends on the other side" contain many horror elements and that young children might be frightened by the film.[73] The film's treatment of Louisiana voodoo as a type of magic instead of a religion also drew criticism from non-Christian factions.[74]
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to Up and Crazy Heart, respectively.[8][75] It was also nominated for eight Annie Awards and, at the 37th Annie Awards Ceremony on February 6, 2010, won three.[11]
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 Satellite Awards[76] | Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media | The Princess and the Frog | Nominated |
| Best Original Song | Randy Newman ("Almost There") |
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| Randy Newman ("Down in New Orleans") |
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| 2009 Producers Guild of America Awards[77] | Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures | Peter Del Vecho | |
| 2009 Online Film Critics Society Awards[78] | Best Animated Feature | The Princess and the Frog | |
| 67th Golden Globe Awards[79] | Best Animated Feature Film | ||
| 2009 Chicago Film Critics Association[80] | Best Animated Feature | ||
| 2009 Critics Choice Awards[81] | Best Picture | ||
| Best Animated Feature | |||
| Best Score | Randy Newman | ||
| Best Song ("Almost There") |
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| 2009 Black Reel Awards[82] | Best Film | The Princess and the Frog | |
| Best Song, Original or Adapted | Ne-Yo ("Never Knew I Needed") |
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| Anika Noni Rose ("Almost There") |
Won | ||
| Anika Noni Rose ("Down in New Orleans") |
Nominated | ||
| Best Voice Performance | Keith David | ||
| Anika Noni Rose | Won | ||
| Best Ensemble | The Princess and the Frog | Nominated | |
| 37th Annie Awards[11] | Best Animated Feature | ||
| Animated Effects | James DeValera Mansfield | Won | |
| Production Design in a Feature Production | Ian Gooding | Nominated | |
| Character Animation in a Feature Production | Andreas Deja | ||
| Eric Goldberg | Won | ||
| Bruce W. Smith | Nominated | ||
| Voice Acting in a Feature Production | Jennifer Cody ("Charlotte") | Won | |
| Jenifer Lewis ("Mama Odie") | Nominated | ||
| 82nd Academy Awards[8][75] | |||
| Best Animated Feature | Ron Clements and John Musker | ||
| Best Original Song | Randy Newman ("Almost There") | ||
| Randy Newman ("Down in New Orleans") | |||
| 36th Saturn Awards[83] | Best Animated Film | The Princess and the Frog | |
| 2010 Teen Choice Awards[84][85] | Choice Movie: Animated | ||
| 2011 Grammy Awards[86] | Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media | Randy Newman ("Down in New Orleans") |
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