Poll: The Princess and the Frog

[Prudence]

Hell yes!

My goofy friends didn't believe this movie existed until they saw it in the previews for their selves. They used to ask me questions like, "Does the princess turn into a black frog? What do you mean, no? All the black people should be black frogs and all the white people should be white frogs!"

I said that would be bizarre and racist, and asked what the green frogs were.

"True frogs."

[pap64]

Hell yes!

My goofy friends didn't believe this movie existed until they saw it in the previews for their selves. They used to ask me questions like, "Does the princess turn into a black frog? What do you mean, no? All the black people should be black frogs and all the white people should be white frogs!"

I said that would be bizarre and racist, and asked what the green frogs were.

"True frogs."

As far as I know, there are black and white frogs. They are, however, very, very far away from the Louisiana bayous .

As for me, of course I am excited for this movie! I am, however, trying to maintain my excitement levels down. I just expect the movie to be solid. If its fantastic or a huge piece of turd that I will have to wait when I see it.

About the "formulaic" comments, I wonder if fans felt the same way when The Little Mermaid was released? Of course back then there was no internet, but considering Little Mermaid was a "return to force" film I am sure some felt dubious.

[Prudence]

Hell yes!

My goofy friends didn't believe this movie existed until they saw it in the previews for their selves. They used to ask me questions like, "Does the princess turn into a black frog? What do you mean, no? All the black people should be black frogs and all the white people should be white frogs!"

I said that would be bizarre and racist, and asked what the green frogs were.

"True frogs."

As far as I know, there are black and white frogs. They are, however, very, very far away from the Louisiana bayous .

Well, yes. There are also brown frogs and red frogs and yellow frogs.

[akhenaten]

i chose the first cause i always go to the first showing on opening day..its a ritual. but im not excited at all..i used to be excited and giddy and all but i think ive hit my mickeypause. im more excited to see alice and BATB (and pocahontas) in 3d.

[Disney Duster]

Yes, because if it's crappy and successful, Disney will recognize that crap sells and will hurry up and produce more crap - the never-ending cycle of compost! (Just kidding.)

I'm still out on a limb about TPatF. I really want to like it, but it just feels like they're trying too hard. We'll see.

Well I hope you are kidding! Because as you said yourself, you can see THEY ARE TRYING. They are trying to make this good. We must support there efforts so they can keep trying to do good, maybe they'll get it to actually be good then, and maybe this is already good.

[Arielle]

I'm really excited for it! I live in LA, so I'm happy that (hopefully) I'll be able to attend one of the limited releases. Also, I'm a D23 member, so maybe they'll give us a sneak peak at it too.

I am so happy that Disney is going back to musicals. This was the format that I grew up on -- and it worked! I'm hoping this movie will be the next Disney classic.

[Neal]

I'll be there on premiere night, just like BOLT and WALL-E.

[Elladorine]

I'll be there the first night I can. I've missed hand-drawn so much, plus I do believe I'll genuinely enjoy the characters and story.

[pinkrenata]

Yes, because if it's crappy and successful, Disney will recognize that crap sells and will hurry up and produce more crap - the never-ending cycle of compost! (Just kidding.)

I'm still out on a limb about TPatF. I really want to like it, but it just feels like they're trying too hard. We'll see.

Well I hope you are kidding! Because as you said yourself, you can see THEY ARE TRYING. They are trying to make this good. We must support there efforts so they can keep trying to do good, maybe they'll get it to actually be good then, and maybe this is already good.

I meant by trying to appeal to every single demographic. I may be proven wrong when the film opens (I really hope so), but it seems more like they went over various traits of Disney classic, and decided on a formula that would create a successful release. Fairytale theme? Check. A musical similar to the 1990s films? Check. A multicultural flair that will make sure no demographic is left out? Check. That's a different sort of trying as opposed to wanting to make a good film just for the heck of it.

[pap64]

To be perfectly honest, I think people are not giving enough credit to the film for being unique. Yes, it follows the formula quite well and Disney is marketing the film based on nostalgia factor alone.

But think about it; it has a setting unique to Disney (1920s-30s Jazz age New Orleans), a lovely female lead perfectly suited for the setting (Tiana), a well developed prince (Naveen), some interesting magical beings (Facilier and Mama Odie), a Jazzy soundtrack and finally a fairy tale that does NOT follow the original story to a T.

I think that even if the films ends up being classic Disney it has enough unique elements to make it standout among the canon. And even wildly different Disney films have the same elements, so Princess and the Frog following the status quo shouldn't be an issue.

I am sure that many fans will decide to focus their attention on what happened around the film's release rather than the film itself and continue on seeing it as a "bad" film on that merit alone. Which is a shame, really.

[Flanger-Hanger]

I meant by trying to appeal to every single demographic. I may be proven wrong when the film opens (I really hope so), but it seems more like they went over various traits of Disney classic, and decided on a formula that would create a successful release. Fairytale theme? Check. A musical similar to the 1990s films? Check. A multicultural flair that will make sure no demographic is left out? Check. That's a different sort of trying as opposed to wanting to make a good film just for the heck of it.

A feel a similar way towards the film too. It's as if in order to justify the beancounters on doing a hand draw animated movie they have to make a movie that's 100% "bankable" and a pretty much guaranteed hit while being reasonably cheap to do (it's going to cost Mickey $80 million to do this which is very reasonable considering the $175 million Pixar spent on doing Up). I'm hoping after this the animator's will be allowed to be more experimental, but I could see the opposite happening and a new slate of bland formula movies begin poured out to rake in as much dough as possible (not to mention merch tie ins, the more Princesses the better!).

At times I feel this movie is like a telethon for Disney animation and Tiana is begin the girl asking us to send in as big a pledge as we can. I shouldn't feel like that but judging the film based on what has been shown my enthusiasm on any given day is dwindling at best.

I'd love to be proven wrong though on the film's quality, but at this point I'm much more looking forward to stuff begin released next year by Disney.

[pap64]

Flanger Hanger just proved my point.

Once again, fans are underestimating the film's freshness. From what I read from screen showings the movie is quite clever despite its familiarity. And once again, while the rest of the fairy tale films stayed very close to the original material Princess and the Frog is putting a big spin on the original story, enough that it could stay as its own story.

Disney is definitely selling the film based on nostalgia, but I think the film might surprise in the end. Besides, all Disney films follow a formula, even those that are very experimental, so I ask once again why is this an issue in Princess and the Frog?

People don't like Disney when they are experimental, people don't like Disney when they follow the trends established by others and people don't like Disney when they follow the tradition they themselves established?

Whatever happened to just wishing they made good films regardless of their nature in the company?

[kurtadisneyite]

My older Gen X friends, some former Disney artists, felt PATF looked excellent but felt too contemporary and lacked essential "magic".

But, in all honesty, Gen X (which includes me) doesn't matter much this time around.

If PATF nails the Gen Y / Z groups with story, look and feel, then IMHO Disney 2.5D (PATF has 3D in it, cleverly disguised) is "back" and off the runway. And J. Lasseter will get to add yet another chapter to his extensive success story.

[Goliath]

About the "formulaic" comments, I wonder if fans felt the same way when The Little Mermaid was released? Of course back then there was no internet, but considering Little Mermaid was a "return to force" film I am sure some felt dubious.

TLM is a bit different, since it really was the first in its sort. I know it's often described as a 'return' to the classical Disney-style, but it is not. It's the start of a whole string of films that rely more or less on the same formula in a way previous Disney-films never did. TLM was new, in that way.

[Prudence]

Once again, fans are underestimating the film's freshness. From what I read from screen showings the movie is quite clever despite its familiarity. And once again, while the rest of the fairy tale films stayed very close to the original material Princess and the Frog is putting a big spin on the original story, enough that it could stay as its own story.

Disney is definitely selling the film based on nostalgia, but I think the film might surprise in the end. Besides, all Disney films follow a formula, even those that are very experimental, so I ask once again why is this an issue in Princess and the Frog?

People don't like Disney when they are experimental, people don't like Disney when they follow the trends established by others and people don't like Disney when they follow the tradition they themselves established?

Whatever happened to just wishing they made good films regardless of their nature in the company?

This. Also, the majority of my friends are of Generation X and they think that this film looks like a good one to be judged, you know, after viewing.

And, to add to that last thought,

The truth is the majority of people that are going to see this aren't die hard Disney fanatics. They don't know the company's history or anything about animation. They just want to see a good & fresh story on screen, which is what they are going to get. They aren't going to give a crap about whether something is drawn right or whatever.

[tsom]

The truth is the majority of people that are going to see this aren't die hard Disney fanatics. They don't know the company's history or anything about animation. They just want to see a good & fresh story on screen, which is what they are going to get. They aren't going to give a crap about whether something is drawn right or whatever.

Judging by the reactions when the trailer was shown before the new Harry Potter movie, I can tell you this movie is going to be successful. The room was dead silent and all were in awe. I've heard that in some movie theaters, people actually clapped after the trailer was shown.

Oh, and some say the jokes & humor are lame and childish, but people actually laughed at the supposed "lame" parts of the trailer.

Honestly, I think some people are just looking for a reason not to like it, which is fine because we all have our own opinions, but please, don't judge a movie till you've seen it.

Not trying to be controversal with the whole race issue, but I wonder how things would have played out if the story took place between the 16th and 19th century in a European kingdom with Alan Menken doing the music.

[Disney Duster]

pinkrenata, as pap said, this film's pretty darn unique and different from anything Disney's done. All that it really has in common is it's a fairy tale and a musical. You don't want to see anymore fairy tale musicals? They wanted to make a great movie just for the heck of it, and they only changed some things after way too many people complained, and I think they almost had to change things. But they always had, and are trying to keep, an original twisted vision. Yes, possibly beginning with "we need this movie to succeed" and "we need a black princess", but to come up with this whole thing out of just that? That's a lot of great imagination, vision, and trying to make a great, entertaining film.

Goliath, The Little Mermaid was both a return to form and a new form.

tsom, remember, Disney could still have done an old century European musical fairy tale...with a black heroine adopted into a royal family of the country of the original fairy tale's origin, Germany. Or a German-like country, real or imagined.

And yea, the mainstream general audience will not care about the drawing...but it still counts. Good drawing is good drawing. Good movie-making. It will be a shame if people love movies with crappy drawing. What if they just stopped drawing well?

[Disney's Divinity]

TLM is a bit different, since it really was the first in its sort. I know it's often described as a 'return' to the classical Disney-style, but it is not. It's the start of a whole string of films that rely more or less on the same formula in a way previous Disney-films never did. TLM was new, in that way.

I always felt that way as well. The Little Mermaid was similar to its predecessors where having princesses, magic and emotion was concerned, but it also told its story in a way not done in a previous film. To me, most of the 90s seemed based off this movie's sequence of events. Sure, the styles were different on occasion (such as with Pocahontas, Tarzan, or Hercules, for example--and I'm not just talking about animation), but the stories were essentially the same when you got down to it with maybe a few blips here and there. It wasn't until Lilo & Stitch and Atlantis that they finally got out of that.

I think TP&TF does have similarities to this formula such as Tiana wanting a restaurant, a physical transformation that mimics character development and the villain likely having a song (he seems like that type), but it seems to have more original elements.