Yes, My [Future] Children Will Watch The Princess and the Frog

I saw The Princess and the Frog in theaters my senior year of high school and I was no less excited than I was going to see Mulan when I was in the first grade. Since that time, this has become one of my favorite Disney princess movies. It has the whole package: an amazing soundtrack, a fun storyline, amazing animation, a competent prince, a strong and independent princess, animal and human sidekicks that are just extra enough to be hilarious without being obnoxious, and a show-stopping villain.

The Princess and the Frog was released into movie theaters on December 11th, 2009, coronating Tiana into Disney royalty eleven and a half years after predecessor Mulan and seventy-two years after Snow White. The film is based on The Frog Prince by The Brothers Grimm (in which a frog is turned back into a human prince after befriending a spoiled princess) and 2002 children's novel The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker (in which a princess kisses a frog to turn him back human but is turned into a frog herself). The public and the critics were generally very positive about the movie - Tiana was praised as an excellent role model and points were given for a return to hand-drawn animation, which had kind of gone by the wayside at this point in favor of computer animation. There was a little controversy with Dr. Facilier and the representation of Louisiana voodoo culture, but on the whole people seemed tot be pretty pleased with the movie. With a budget of $105 million, it saw a successful box office of $269 million. The movie was nominated for three Academy Awards in 2010 (Best Animated Feature and two entries in Best Original Song for Almost There and Down in New Orleans), one Grammy Award in 2011 (Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media for Down in New Orleans), and one Golden Globe in 2010 (Best Animated Feature Film). Tiana is currently the only Black Disney Princess, and she was the fourth woman of color to be a Disney Princess after Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan. While no film sequel has been announced, Tiana will be the star of one of the first film spinoff series on Disney+, simply titled Tiana, set to start streaming in 2022. Not a lot of info has been released about the series since its announcement in December, but Anika Noni Rose is for sure reprising her role as Tiana.

Having now been to New Orleans since this movie first came out, I love going back now and watching it and recognizing different parts of the city that show up - and don't get me started on how much I missed Cafe du Monde every time Tiana set a plate of beignets in front of someone. As much as I loved the food scene and the history of the city, the music scene is a different playing field all together. Music is engraved on every surface of New Orleans, and I thought Disney did a really great job at showing that off in the movie - live music is literally everywhere, from the streets to the restaurants to the jazz clubs.

As a whole, I love pretty much everything about this movie. Naveen is my #1 favorite Disney prince - he's hot, he can play an instrument, and watching the way he looks at Tiana throughout the movie should be enough to make anyone believe in love. Louis and Ray are really fun animal sidekicks - Louis's humor is quick and right on point, and I thought Jim Cummings did a fabulous job tackling that Cajun accent (which is not an easy one to replicate, believe you me). Charlotte - I ADORE Charlotte, and I've said since the beginning that the perfect live action version of her would have been played by Kristin Chenoweth. She may be a spoiled princess, but she is never, ever once mean to Tiana in any way and you can tell how much their friendship means to each of them. Plus, Charlotte has three of the most iconic lines in the whole movie: 1) "Travis. When a lady says 'later,' she really means 'not ever.'" 2) "I'm sweating like a sinner in church!" and 3) "I was starting to think wishing on stars was just for babies or...crazy people." I don't think Mama Odie got enough screen time - she and Juju are so much fun. Dr. Facilier - I'm not even sorry, he's a top tier villain for me. He's creepy, he has the best song in the movie, and he gets what's coming to him at the end.

I love, love, love Tiana as a character and think she has amazing growth throughout the plot, but I'm not going to lie, I kinda want to shake her a couple of times and ask if she's being hard-headed on purpose. Her work ethic is truly something to be admired, and she's driven and brave and willing to go to whatever distance to make she and her father's dream of owning a restaurant come true, but it's really sad to see not only how much she's sacrificed as a 19-year-old woman and how much it weighs on her. Deep down, you can tell it does bother her that she never has time to go out dancing with her friends, but she's willing to keep working her two bone-crushing jobs so that she can do whatever she wants when she owns her own business. The part that really killed me throughout it all is how oblivious she is to Naveen. One the one hand, I get it - he has the worst work ethic in the world so he's not the type of guy she'd be looking for anyway, plus being best friends with Charlotte LaBuff her whole life probably has her used to guys not paying attention to her first anyway. However, the fact that it takes her so long to realize that what she needs is family and love and support, just like her father always had, is incredibly frustrating to me. All that aside, Anika Noni Rose does an amazing job with her voice work and I can't imagine anyone else lending Tiana her voice (and yes, I'm aware that Beyonce was under consideration but Anika's voice is better here, sue me).

This soundtrack, put together by music icon Randy Newman (with other Disney soundtrack credits such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc., A Bug's Life, and Cars 1 & 3), is really something special. Every single song is infused with that Jazz Era feel of the 1920s, and all of the songs are right on par with how other Disney soundtracks of years gone by have felt. They all lend to the story and they're all catchy as hell. Every song on the soundtrack is excellent, but my top 3 were not difficult to pick at all, so without any further ado here they are.

Almost There by Anika Noni Rose (written by R. Newman)

Obviously, Tiana's big song is going to be on here. This song is an absolute blast to sing, and it really shows her character off in a great way. Rose's vocals are phenomenal, and that jazz trumpet behind her is so much fun. It's a great way to set off the tone for the movie, and I LOVE the switch up in the animation styles during her fantasy about the restaurant.

I remember Daddy told me, "Fairytales can come true/But you gotta make ‘em happen, it all depends on you"/So I work real hard each and every day, now things for sure are going my way/Just doing what I do, look out, boys, I’m coming through/And I’m almost there, I’m almost there/People gon’ come here from everywhere and I’m almost there/I’m almost there

Friends on the Other Side by Keith David (written by R. Newman)

This is my favorite song in the whole damn movie and may be my favorite villain song period. Keith David plays Facilier as equal parts sleaze ball conman and actual evil person and it's just a really excellent performance on his part. I also have to give a standing ovation to the team who animated this whole sequence, because it's a really beautiful work of art with all the colors.

Sit down at my table, put your minds at ease/If you relax, it will enable me to do anything I please/I can read your future, I can change it ‘round some, too/I’ll look deep into your heart and soul - you do have a soul, don’t you Lawrence? - make your wildest dreams come true/I got voodoo, I got who-do, I got things I ain’t even tried/And I got friends on the other side

Ma Belle Evangeline by Jim Cummings ft. Terence Blanchard (written by R. Newman)

The big love song in The Princess and the Frog is so sweet, I just love it so much. Disney voiceover legend Jim Cummings does such a great job invoking the audience's feelings all with that Cajun accent, and Blanchard's trumpet underneath is really excellent. This scene is beautifully animated as well, and I love the small exchanges between Naveen and Tiana showing how they've begun to feel about each other.

Look how she lights up the sky, ma belle Evangeline/So far above me, yet I know her heart belongs to only me/Je t’adore, je t’aime, Evangeline/You’re my queen of the night, so still, so bright/That someone as beautiful as she could love someone like me

As is the case with all the Disney movies I cover on here, I encourage you to go back and watch The Princess and the Frog if it's been a while since you've seen it. It's such a great watch and you'll definitely have fun. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!