The Princess and the Frog Discussion - Part III

[disneyboy20022]

Also to those who have not seen it....watch closely in the Mardi Gras Parade.....for a cameo and a few other things that make you wonder if... I'll put this in white just in case you want to see if you can catch the things I noticed on your own or if you didn't catch it

In the Mardi Gras Parade there was a float that looked resembled King Trtion from The Little Mermaid and also I think during the Frog Hunters when they run away in the boat it looked like it was paying homage to Captain Hook's get away at the end of Peter Pan...also a dog chases Frog Naveen and Tiana at the party and gets a mermaid tail from a differ costume that looks like Ariel's Tale...and in little Charolottes room I swear all the dolls in room that are Princesses looke strikeingly like past Disney princesses....like I could of sworn I saw a Belle type doll in a yellow dress and the scene where Naveen and Tiana almost kiss as frogs on the lily pad looked like it was paying homage to the scene from The Little Mermaid song...Kiss the Girl....

There's also some more that John and Ron told us about at the D23 showing of the movie. At the very beginning when Down in New Orleans is starting, a woman is waving the carpet from Aladdin over her balcony and when Mama Odie goes through her trunk, one of the things that goes flying in the background is the lamp from Aladdin.

I think this is one of the movies that you probably won't be able to see all the homage's in one viewing or references.....which I will probably see it again in theaters...but this should be fun thing to p try to to spot all of them when it hits Bluray and DVD...I bet there will be some sorta game like was on the enchanted Blu Ray.....

and this also happened with Tarzan...with references....to Mulan's dog as a toy and Beauty and the Beast of Mrs Potts and Chip that I recall

[estefan]

* The story was vaguely Wizard of Ozish, but thankfully they approached it in a differet way. Besides, I don't think Disney's ever done a feature animation film before with this story structure, have they? Where the characters spend the movie on a road trip to a destination to find something they thought they needed?

A Goofy Movie

Also The Emperor's New Groove.

And wasn't Lawrence arrested and sent to prison? That kind of ends his arc as he got his just desserts for pretending to be a prince and trying to marry an innocent girl just for her inheretence.

Can you imagine if this was made during the Eisner era? There surely would have been a sequel with Lawrence plotting his revenge.

[disneyboy20022]

A Goofy Movie

Also The Emperor's New Groove.

And wasn't Lawrence arrested and sent to prison? That kind of ends his arc as he got his just desserts for pretending to be a prince and trying to marry an innocent girl just for her inheretence.

Can you imagine if this was made during the Eisner era? There surely would have been a sequel with Lawrence plotting his revenge.

now that I think about it....Lawrence looks likea short chubby Michael Eisner...similair to Eisner's story at Disney....he was a servant of Disney that ran the place but then when he wasn't be appreciated....he went rogue.....ending disney animation and he also got his just desserts.....

Wonder if there is an inspiration inside joke on that??

[Disneykid]

A Goofy Movie and Emperor's New Groove didn't spring to mind right away since in those films, the protagonists don't pick up new friends along the way who are also in search of something the way the ones in Wizard of Oz and Princess and the Frog are.

Oh, and estefan, thanks for refreshing my memory. I actually did catch that, but when writing my thoughts, I kept thinking his last scene washim running out of the chapel screaming. Now that I think about it, the transition from that to him being arrested was REALLY abrupt. Charlotte and her father wouldn't have any grounds for arresting him until they hear Naveen tell the whole story, and by that point, Lawrence should've been long gone. How'd they catch him so fast?

[akhenaten]

is everyone forgetting bolt was a road trip too??

[ColorsOfTheWind]

Just got back from seeing the movie for the 3rd time I swear, every time I see it, I love it more and more. The music is reeeaally growing on me too. I can't seem to get the songs out of my head! But I'm not complaining.

[Babaloo]

This is my second time seeing the movie (saw it yesterday too), and I can say I love it even more. When I first saw it, I liked it, but I said it would grow on me, and it has already! I'm so happy with the overall product!

-The Lawrence story not continuing did not bug me much. I actually thought him going to prison was enough. He was more just Facilier's minion, and I didn't care what happened to him.

- Ray...his death would have been better if it didn't show him again. I LOVED his character! But I do think if Facilier crushed him, it should stay that way. I also liked his funeral scene, but the thing I didn't like was how light began to appear, and everyone looked up in awe and cheered. I would have liked it much more if they showed that Ray became a star, but not acknowledge it (I don't know if that made sense ).

-Charlotte has got be one of my favourite characters in any Disney movie!!! So many times I thought she would turn around and get mad at Tiana, but she didn't. This looked like a very genuine friendship! My favourite line has got to be when she said "I'm sweating like a sinner in church"!!!! ...I actually couldn't stop laughing and people began to look at me!

-I LOVED the transformation scene ("Friend's on the other side" scene). The song isn't my favourite (although everyone I went with thought it was the best song from the movie), but the animation in it is AMAZING!

-The music really grew on me! When I bought the CD in November I was a bit disappointed, but seeing them as animated sequences really made me like them! Every song fits perfectly and progresses the story (although I think "Going down the Bayou" is pointless...). Now I LOVE the music! The only thing is that when I watching the movie, I kept thinking "Wow, the score really sounds like I'm watching a Pixar movie" (it reminded me so much of Monster's Inc, Bug's Life, and Toy Story.

-I thought there were some really random characters that really did not to be there...cough*Frog Hunters*cough... Also did anyone else but me think that Charlotte's dog was going to have at least a small part later in the movie? She says "Tiana" once, and that was it for her for the rest of the film...

-I loved every speaking character, other than the frog hunters. Tiana has got to be among the best of the princesses (second favourite after Ariel). I also loved all her clothing (especially the one when Facilier is tempting her). I have loved Naveen since the first trailer of the movie was shown. After seeing PatF, it made me live him even more! He and Charlotte made me laugh the whole time!

-Animation was amazing!!!!! Need I say more...

Overall this would rank among my favourites! I would say...hmmm...top ten? It was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Can't wait for it to come out on DVD/Blu-ray!

[Margos]

Babaloo... I think Stella existed only to set up the "Streetcar" gag.... (You know, Big Daddy pulling a Stanley? "STE-LLAAAAA!" ) Hey, when in NOLA!

[Babaloo]

Makes sense, and I did get the reference, but for some strange reason when I heard her say that one word, I really thought she would come back later in the movie.

UGH!!! I just came back a couple of hours ago from seeing it a second time, and I want to see it again!

[Margos]

Oh... I don't know, I wasn't really expecting her to come back. I just kind of thought it set up the concept that, in frog form, Tiana and Naveen were capable of speaking to both humans and animals.

[Babaloo]

Just a quick note, I couldn't believe how much this movie reminded me of TLM!!!! The necklace aspect and transformations are just some of the things, but what really got me was the way that Charlotte and "Naveen" look like on the float in the parade. It reminded me so much of the way that Eric and Vanessa looked like together in TLM.

[pap64]

According to Box Office Mojo, The Princess and the Frog earned 7 million on Friday, putting it in first place for the day. With two more days, the film could make 30 to 40 million in its first weekend, especially if business picks up during Saturday and Sunday, when a lot of families will be around.

I also predict that it will be a strong performer during the holiday season. having strong legs up till the end of its run.

[DisneyJedi]

According to Box Office Mojo, The Princess and the Frog earned 7 million on Friday, putting it in first place for the day. With two more days, the film could make 30 to 40 million in its first weekend, especially if business picks up during Saturday and Sunday, when a lot of families will be around.

I also predict that it will be a strong performer during the holiday season. having strong legs up till the end of its run.

Let's not forget, though, Pap64, that PatF is competing against Avatar, one of the year's most anticipated movies. Hopefully, the former won't be overshadowed by the latter, like how Indiana Jones 4 did to Prince Caspian.

[nachonaco]

First off, loved the film.

This is the first film I have EVER gone to and immediately said, five minutes into it, that I was definitely going to get the DVD.

Things I liked:

I loved Tiana. She seemed realistic.

I loved the 'Almost There' sequence. Art Deco FOR THE WIN.

'When We're Human' reminded me a bit of 'Bare Necessities'. A memorable but not a standout song like 'Beauty and the Beast'.

'Friends on the Other Side' was EPIC. I loved it.

Now, for things I didn't....

I don't think the whole 'wanting to marry Charlotte' thing was well-explained, but that's just me.

...Wow, only one thing.

[slave2moonlight]

Let's not forget, though, Pap64, that PatF is competing against Avatar, one of the year's most anticipated movies. Hopefully, the former won't be overshadowed by the latter, like how Indiana Jones 4 did to Prince Caspian.

I don't understand what the big deal is about this Avatar movie. Can anyone explain that to me? I don't think it looks very good.

[Marce82]

Well well...I just got back from seeing the Film.

Ok, so its no Beauty and the Beast, but its a darn GOOD FILM. I have to say i am extremely pleased, and surprisingly not disappointed! Not that I thought it was gonna be bad, but my expectations were sky high, and I thought the film would not live up to it.

My first issue is that I had to pee all the way through it, but I didnt want to miss a minute of it!

I think the best word I can think to describe the film overall is CHARMING. It really is.

The characters were VERY well fleshed out. There are a lot of characters, and a LOT of story to be told. No character has no purpose, no event superfluous. Eventhough I felt the scene with the frog hunters was somewhat superfluous, Naveen DOES get a different appreciation for TIana because of it. There may have been a more economical way to convey the same.

The art direction overall was really great, taking chances changing the overall style for different sections, which is rare for Disney...specially in the musical numbers, each of them distinct and really enhancing the scene. The music is pretty good, and I agree with what a lot of people here have said, that it works better in context. Sadly, though they work well for the film, the songs here are far from Disney's best.

I did feel there was no real show stopper...and as cool looking as Facilier's song was, it felt like too short a scene, specially given how much story happens in such a short period.

The animation was very good, but not great. It was a bit more cartoony than its usual for disney, and it lacked a certain grace. Charlotte sometimes went off model, and the background characters sometimes didnt feel like they harmonized with the main characters. But I guess that's more a design issue, not animation.

I really liked the character design, thought I wasnt crazy about tiana in her frog form. I think her not having teeth didnt work this time (worked very well for Lilo on Lilo and Stitch). Contrast to her, Naveen was actually more charming as a frog. Something I especially liked about Naveen, is that we only get a small glimpse of the character as a human, but most of his development happens as a frog.

Facilier was a great villian, and though he doesnt get as much screen time as one might think, sometimes its good to leave wanting more. I always felt like that about the queen in Snow White.

And how awesome was Charlotte!!!

As for the pacing...I agree with some people here that at times it felt rushed. Its like there are no "rest periods"...no breathers. And the climax isnt as....climactic as it should. But again, there is A LOT of story to tell in only 95 minutes. And I think most of it comes from editing...some scenes could have lingered a bit longer so we could really absorb what was happening.

One thing that really bothered me was how the leaves and foliage in general was not hand animated, but just moved around and deformed with the computer manipulating a single piece of art.

Overall, it was a wonderful movie. Really charming, fun and beautiful to look at. Though maybe not Disney's top 5...its certainly close to the top. As much as i like Hunchback and Hercules, I would say this is a noch above them.

Im actually tempted to see it again, which I very seldomly do....definitely a good sign!

AND A MAJOR NOTE: if people stayed through the credits...DID YOU NOTICED THAT DISNEY OUTSOURCED SOME OF THE ANIMATION AND BACKGROUND PRODUCTION TO THREE OTHER ANIMATION STUDIOS??? ONE OF THEM IN PORTUGAL! i COULDNT BELIEVE IT WHEN I SAW IT!


SPOILER section (trying to make this section white, but dunno if it will work!): I was SHOCKED as to how Ray got killed. I couldnt believe Disney would be so bold about it. The shadows were approprietly scary....and I agree that the whole thing would have worked better if we hadnt seen Ray again (could have been wrapped in a blanket or someting). And the thing with Naveen's brother....my jaw dropped! As for Facilier's demise....wonderful!

[ToyStoryFan]

That's great about the box office. I hope it proves to Disney there is a market for 2D and hopefully it's here to stay!! My only minor complaint for the film is that I don't know if there is a real musical "moment" in the way that A Whole New World, Circle of Life, Beauty and the Beast, or even You Can Fly! and Under the Sea are. Those are legendary to Disney, and this fim didn't really have that. They were good songs for sure, but nothing IMO that will be iconic like the much of Disney's are.

Spoiler:
My whole theater went "awwwwww" in a real romantic way when Ray turned into the star next to the wishing star. That was such a touching moment!

[slave2moonlight]

I don't think I'll get to see it till next weekend. I have just enough to get the soundtrack (on sale) or go see the movie until I get paid again next Friday, and the soundtrack is on sale this week, so if I find it, I want to get it. It's been hard to find though, so if I can't, I'll see the movie.

[Sotiris]

I don't think I'll get to see it till next weekend. I have just enough to get the soundtrack (on sale) or go see the movie until I get paid again next Friday, and the soundtrack is on sale this week, so if I find it, I want to get it. It's been hard to find though, so if I can't, I'll see the movie.

Or you can download the soundtrack and go see the movie.

[Brer Brandon]

The character design and voice for Charlotte (though not the way the character acted) reminded me a lot of Darla Dimple from Cats Don't Dance.