Why do people hate Princess and the Frog so much?

[Semaj]

3 ) It was quite dark for today's Soccer Mum society. The shadow demons and the way the Villian died was quite harsh for today's standards.

Which is weird, because Disney's more esteemed classics have been much more daring. And this is the same world where kids are exposed to South Park and Family Guy.

[blackcauldron85]

There is no overwhelming desire to become human

Um, for me, I think Tiana's & Naveen's desire to become human is greater than Ariel's, since, you know, they are human! And like Ariel in a way, Louis had an overwhelming desire to play music, his love, just like Eric was Ariel's love, and Louis' best bet to play music would be to be human, so he wouldn't scare everyone anymore when he joined in!

It was quite dark for today's Soccer Mum society. The shadow demons and the way the Villian died was quite harsh for today's standards.

I know that you said "today's standards," but I mean, TP&tF is no darker than other Disney films...I mean, it's less dark in some ways, at least with Ray, because he becomes a star with his true love (vs. Mufasa, who is dead...at least he's a ghost!). Facilier is a dark villian, but the early Disney villains (not of today, I know) were quite dark, and even going to Gaston and Jafar, murder wasn't going to get in their way of getting what they want!

[thedisneyspirit]

Not hate, but the movie is certainly not perfect. The message is phoned in every five minutes and doesn't seem to agree on it (Tiana is a good role model for working...But at the same time she works too hard? I'm lost). Also most of the screentime when they're frogs is just goofy slapstick which is clearly not for everyone. Tiana seems more tied to the message than being her own character.

Tangled may have problems but the script is smoother and the focus is on the relationship between the two leads, where it matters.

Not to mention Disney hadn't made a good movie in ages, it's kinda hard to promote your new films to audiences who have grown bored with your products in the last five years...

[unprincess]

I dont know why i couldnt get into PATF more. It was...ok. Nothing more. I felt the same way about Tangled too. But PATF will be one rung above Tangled for me b/c it was a hand drawn film (which I prefer) & it didnt look like a generic Barbie movie like Tangled did.

The songs for both films I felt were ....ok. about equal, I didnt love them exactly. I probably prefer PATF songs b/c it didnt have some pandering to tween girls pop song sung by the heroine. On the other hand Almost There is really repititious & monotonous. Tangled does have a great song in Now I see the Light.

also Naveen>Flynn(yuck)

[Big One]

I don't think there is really many people who hate it outside of diehard racists who hate everything that features a different color than themselves so it isn't anything personal against the movie.

The movie itself was just underwhelming. The soundtrack as substandard, the story and characters sucked unless it was the human scene (which was about only 20% of the actual movie), etc. It just fell short of expectations for a return to form. Then again it's better than some of the Renaissance films imo (though I consider Tarzan to be the end of the Renaissance so might opinion might not match your's). It was a pretty good film but nothing amazing, which sucks cause a black princess deserves a lot better than a movie like Princess and the Frog. You can't go anywhere saying that you didn't care for Princess and the Frog without being called a racist, but maybe if Disney made a better film in the first place then there would be no reason to have any legitimate critique over it.

When a movie that spends most of it's time having it's central characters as frogs full of shitty humor throughout their journey, and an even worse and more annoying sidekick in the form of Louis the Alligator who is one of the worst Disney characters of all time, audiences aren't going to be attached to anything in the movie. I was much more invested in the human scenes which were executed beautifully but there's so little of them in the actual movie I feel like I might as well be watching a movie like Shark Tale from Dreamworks.

The charm with Disney is that while it has a lot of appeal to children, there's a lot of aspects that adults can appreciate also. When I was watching Tangled I felt a sense of nostalgia I haven't seen in Disney for years in how it carried itself as a film, with beautifully written and executed songs, innovative animation techniques, great characters, tasteful humor. To me, that's a balanced Disney film unlike something like Princess and the Frog which is just all over the place. When I watch Tangled, I think of classics like The Little Mermaid and Cinderella. When I watch Princess and the Frog, I think of subpar films like Robin Hood and The Jungle Book.

Disney itself is the only one to blame for Princess and the Frog's failure. Who is to say that execs at Disney didn't have an objective to slander the idea of a black princess film? That seems much more likely to me considering they released it alongside Avatar so they basically sent the film to fail in terms of the box office which was completely unnecessary and bad business. Disney should've known better but they buried the idea of a black princess film and 2D animation in one swoop. I'd be more frustrated by that then Disney fans critique the film itself.

[estefan]

Disney itself is the only one to blame for Princess and the Frog's failure. Who is to say that execs at Disney didn't have an objective to slander the idea of a black princess film? That seems much more likely to me considering they released it alongside Avatar so they basically sent the film to fail in terms of the box office which was completely unnecessary and bad business. Disney should've known better but they buried the idea of a black princess film and 2D animation in one swoop. I'd be more frustrated by that then Disney fans critique the film itself.

Why do people think of Avatar as competition for The Princess and the Frog? I'm sorry, but it's the most stupid reasoning to say Avatar affected that film's box-office, when Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks were released less than a week after Avatar and still did amazing business.

[Musical Master]

I don't think there is really many people who hate it outside of diehard racists who hate everything that features a different color than themselves so it isn't anything personal against the movie.

The movie itself was just underwhelming. The soundtrack as substandard, the story and characters sucked unless it was the human scene (which was about only 20% of the actual movie), etc. It just fell short of expectations for a return to form. Then again it's better than some of the Renaissance films imo (though I consider Tarzan to be the end of the Renaissance so might opinion might not match your's). It was a pretty good film but nothing amazing, which sucks cause a black princess deserves a lot better than a movie like Princess and the Frog. You can't go anywhere saying that you didn't care for Princess and the Frog without being called a racist, but maybe if Disney made a better film in the first place then there would be no reason to have any legitimate critique over it.

When a movie that spends most of it's time having it's central characters as frogs full of shitty humor throughout their journey, and an even worse and more annoying sidekick in the form of Louis the Alligator who is one of the worst Disney characters of all time, audiences aren't going to be attached to anything in the movie. I was much more invested in the human scenes which were executed beautifully but there's so little of them in the actual movie I feel like I might as well be watching a movie like Shark Tale from Dreamworks.

The charm with Disney is that while it has a lot of appeal to children, there's a lot of aspects that adults can appreciate also. When I was watching Tangled I felt a sense of nostalgia I haven't seen in Disney for years in how it carried itself as a film, with beautifully written and executed songs, innovative animation techniques, great characters, tasteful humor. To me, that's a balanced Disney film unlike something like Princess and the Frog which is just all over the place. When I watch Tangled, I think of classics like The Little Mermaid and Cinderella. When I watch Princess and the Frog, I think of subpar films like Robin Hood and The Jungle Book.

Disney itself is the only one to blame for Princess and the Frog's failure. Who is to say that execs at Disney didn't have an objective to slander the idea of a black princess film? That seems much more likely to me considering they released it alongside Avatar so they basically sent the film to fail in terms of the box office which was completely unnecessary and bad business. Disney should've known better but they buried the idea of a black princess film and 2D animation in one swoop. I'd be more frustrated by that then Disney fans critique the film itself.

You and I are on the same page when it comes to thoughts on both movies.

[Big One]

Disney itself is the only one to blame for Princess and the Frog's failure. Who is to say that execs at Disney didn't have an objective to slander the idea of a black princess film? That seems much more likely to me considering they released it alongside Avatar so they basically sent the film to fail in terms of the box office which was completely unnecessary and bad business. Disney should've known better but they buried the idea of a black princess film and 2D animation in one swoop. I'd be more frustrated by that then Disney fans critique the film itself.

Why do people think of Avatar as competition for The Princess and the Frog? I'm sorry, but it's the most stupid reasoning to say Avatar affected that film's box-office, when Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks were released less than a week after Avatar and still did amazing business.

That's after Avatar, not before. The majority of the population will only see one movie every couple of months, at max. Why would anyone want to watch Princess and the Frog when movies like Avatar and Alvin and the Chipmunks are coming out?

[estefan]

It doesn't matter if Frog opened before or after Avatar, my point still stands. Alvin and the Chipmunks very likely took Frog's audience. Avatar was aimed more at the teenager/young adult crowd.

[DisneyJedi]

Okay, Big One? About you claiming that Louis was the worst Disney character?

How.

Freaking!

DARE YOU?!

You act like he caused a corrupted chancellor to turn congress into a galaxy wide tyrannical Empire, aka a Jar-Jar. Sure, he took Tiana and Naveen in the wrong direction to Mama Odie, but if it weren't for him, they wouldn't have gotten back to New Orleans, Tiana and Naveen wouldn't have started to fall in love and Tiana might not have even gotten her restaurant.

Oh, and when he got a shot at his dream to play with the big boys, he willingly gave that up to go after Ray when he was in peril. And he managed to get his dream in the end.

You might see my ranting as pointless defense, but I doubt you'd understand.

[Warm Regards]

My opinion on Louis is sort of halfway.

On one hand, he is likable and does have some funny moments.

But I don't think he was needed, per say. In my opinion, Ray could have been the only sidekick and the story would have been intact.

[Linden]

Okay, Big One? About you claiming that Louis was the worst Disney character?

How.

Freaking!

DARE YOU?!

Whoa. Calm down there, DisneyJedi. Someone can think that if they want to.

I don't get all the Louis hate on these boards. I like him most of the time. Then again, he led Tiana and Naveen the wrong way for absolutely no reason. I guess that's poor writing, though, but it made my sister convinced he was a villain when she first saw that part. And his humour feels forced. But overall, I think he's about on par with most Disney sidekicks, take that as you will.

[DisneyJedi]

Sorry. It just really irritates me when somebody unwarrantedly badmouths a character that I like and tries to make them sound like [the characters] are worse than they are.

Plus, I'm getting so fricking sick and tired of people listing Louis as one of their "main" problems with the movie.

[Linden]

Yeah, I don't understand it either. I personally have more of a problem with Lawrence. He ruins the movie more than anyone else for me. Plus, he's basically a facsimile of Nathaniel from Enchanted. Not only is he annoying, he's unoriginal.

[GreatGreg]

Wow. Thank you BigOne for finally posting something with some coherence and maturity. Posting your opinion and defending it in a very eloquent way. Very refreshing from the usual banter about 'why my character is better than your character'. Well done. There is hope for these forums yet.

While I don't necessarily agree with all of your points, I do agree that PATF is a mess of a film with sub-standard music. The humour was very much aimed at kids and not very entertaining for adults.

TANGLED, on the other hand had excellent music (as expected, by Menken) and was very theatrical and entertaining. It is much more like a classic fairytale than PATF was, black princess or not.

[Musical Master]

Wow. Thank you BigOne for finally posting something with some coherence and maturity. Posting your opinion and defending it in a very eloquent way. Very refreshing from the usual banter about 'why my character is better than your character'. Well done. There is hope for these forums yet.

While I don't necessarily agree with all of your points, I do agree that PATF is a mess of a film with sub-standard music. The humour was very much aimed at kids and not very entertaining for adults.

TANGLED, on the other hand had excellent music (as expected, by Menken) and was very theatrical and entertaining. It is much more like a classic fairytale than PATF was, black princess or not.

My favorite song that Alan Menken wrote for Tangled is, with out a doubt, I See the Light for not only the beautiful scene where all the lanterns are in the sky and Rapunzel and Flynn finally realize their love for one another and it serves as a better love song for the story than Ma Belle Evangeline which tried to be like a more serious Kiss the Girl from TLM but it failed because of it's boring music and sub standard lyrics at best which could've been cut easily.

It was nice to have an eloquent opinion on this topic and Big One is one of the best posters on this forum.

[Big One]

Okay, Big One? About you claiming that Louis was the worst Disney character?

How.

Freaking!

DARE YOU?!

You act like he caused a corrupted chancellor to turn congress into a galaxy wide tyrannical Empire, aka a Jar-Jar. Sure, he took Tiana and Naveen in the wrong direction to Mama Odie, but if it weren't for him, they wouldn't have gotten back to New Orleans, Tiana and Naveen wouldn't have started to fall in love and Tiana might not have even gotten her restaurant.

Oh, and when he got a shot at his dream to play with the big boys, he willingly gave that up to go after Ray when he was in peril. And he managed to get his dream in the end.

You might see my ranting as pointless defense, but I doubt you'd understand.

I could write an thesis on how much better of a character Jar Jar Binks is to Louis the Alligator. That's how bland and uninspired Louis the Alligator is. Even in a business sense Louis the Alligator was a flop as Disney attempted to reinvent a merchandising machine it had in other iconic animal characters like Baloo, Stitch, Timon and Pumba, etc. Probably one of the most forgettable characters in Disney history.

What's worse is that he worked alongside Ray who, while not the greatest animal character ever, had an actual character arc and likable personality. Hell most of the cast in that movie did, but Louis didn't. But that's just in lue of other Disney gag characters so it's ok in concept, but when Louis runs around acting like an idiot playing the trumpet cause it's funny LOL ALLIGATOR PLAYING A TRUMPET, the humor just becomes forced and unnecessary. I can't even remember a single comical scene with Louis the Alligator, probably cause there wasn't one and if there was no one gave a shit because it was so unfunny, forgettable, and people cared more about everything else going on in the movie. The animated waters of New Orleans in the background are a hundred times more memorable than the antics of Louis the Alligator.

I will say at least he isn't as annoying as Gurgi from The Black Cauldron; I almost forgot about Gurgi, and for good reason too. At least Louis has that going for him in the list of 1 billion other characters in fictional mediums that are better than Gurgi.

[DisneyJedi]

I'm sorry, Big. But did you even watch the movie enough to- I dunno- pay attention?

I doubt you did. And by the way, I hate to be rude, but from the way you're talking down to me, you sound just like two jerkwads (that will go unnamed for their sake) that I know who always egged me on about a similar thing to the point of making me act out and getting in trouble with the administrators.

And by the way, your so-called "thesis" would just turn out to be bull-crap.

[Big One]

I'm sorry, Big. But did you even watch the movie enough to- I dunno- pay attention?

I doubt you did. And by the way, I hate to be rude, but from the way you're talking down to me, you sound just like two jerkwads (that will go unnamed for their sake) that I know who always egged me on about a similar thing to the point of making me act out and getting in trouble with the administrators.

And by the way, your so-called "thesis" would just turn out to be bull-crap.

If Louis the Alligator was involved, I probably didn't pay attention, cause there wasn't anything worth paying attention to. I'm still confused why Disney greenlit that anti-sales piece of garbage character. It's like they didn't want to make money off the film.

[Super Aurora]

Okay, Big One? About you claiming that Louis was the worst Disney character?

How.

Freaking!

DARE YOU?!

Yeah! How DARE someone voice his own opinion and views on a character!

You might see my ranting as pointless defense, but I doubt you'd understand.

I don't think we understand you, PERIOD.