The Princess and the Frog

{{Infobox film The film's plot concerns a prince named Naveen (Bruno Campos) from the land of Maldonia, who is transformed into a frog by the evil scheming voodoo magician Dr. Facilier (Keith David). The frog prince mistakes a girl named Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) for a princess and has her kiss him to break the spell. The kiss does not break the spell, but instead turns Tiana into a frog as well. Together, the two of them must reach the good voodoo queen of the deepest, darkest part of the Bayou, Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), while befriending a trumpet-playing alligator Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) and a hopelessly romantic Cajun firefly named Ray (Jim Cummings) along the way.
 * name          = The Princess and the Frog
 * image         = File:princessandthefrogposter.jpg
 * caption       = Theatrical Poster
 * director      = Ron Clements John Musker
 * writer        = Ron Clements John Musker Rob Edwards (Screenplay) Ron Clements John Musker Greg Erb Jason Oreml and Don Hall (Story)
 * starring      = Anika Noni Rose Bruno Campos Keith David Michael-Leon Wooley Jim Cummings Jenifer Lewis John Goodman Oprah Winfrey [Jennifer Cody]] Peter Bartlett Terrence Howard
 * producer      = Peter Del Vecho John Lasseter (Executive producer)
 * studio        = Walt Disney Animation Studios
 * distributor   = Walt Disney Pictures
 * released      = November 25, 2009 (2009-11-25) (Los Angeles premiere) December 11, 2009
 * music         = Randy Newman
 * editing       = Jeff Draheim
 * country       = United States
 * language      = English
 * budget        = $105 million
 * gross         =  $269,312,336 ((cite web | url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=

The film, which began production under the working title The Frog Princess, is an American fairy tale, Broadway-style musical set in, and around, New Orleans at the height of the Roaring Twenties. On February 2, 2010, the film received three Academy Award nominations: one for Best Animated Feature and two for Best Original Song

Plot
In 1912 New Orleans, a woman is reading a story to her daughter, Tiana, and her daughter's friend, Charlotte La Bouff, about the Frog Prince. Charlotte finds the story romantic, while Tiana proclaims she would never kiss a frog. When Tiana and her mother leave for home Tiana's father talks about one day owning his own restaurant and naming it "Tiana's Place", a dream Tiana wishes for too. Years pass by, and Tiana becomes a beautiful young woman who works two jobs so she can save money to start her own restaurant, fulfilling her now deceased father's dream.

Elsewhere, Prince Naveen of Maldonia arrives in New Orleans determined to better his financial situation. After being cut off by his parents, Naveen is forced to marry a rich southern belle. It soon becomes obvious that Tiana's best friend and the rich sugar baron's daughter, Charlotte LaBouff, is the perfect candidate. Meanwhile, Naveen and his valet Lawrence run into the shady Dr. Facilier, a voodoo doctor. Inviting them into his emporium, Facilier convinces the pair he can make their dreams come true. However, neither man gets what he's expecting; Naveen becomes a frog, while Lawrence is given a voodoo charm that makes him look like Naveen with Naveens blood (since the charm won't change Facilier). Facilier intends for Lawrence to marry Charlotte, after which he will kill Big Daddy La Bouff and claim his fortune.

At the ball, Charlotte flirts with "Naveen" as Tiana learns she may lose the mill for her resturant to a higher bidder. Adding insult to injury, her costume is accidentally ruined. Charlotte gives Tiana a princess costume and a tiara so she can rejoin the ball. After Charlotte returns to the party, Tiana makes a wish on the Evening Star, only to find a frog sitting next to her. The frog is Naveen, who asks Tiana (believing that she is a real princess) 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.

The pair narrowly escape to a bayou, where Naveen finally realizes Tiana isn't a Princess. After a fight the two make a deal: If Tiana helps Naveen get out of the swamp, he and Charlotte will buy her the mill. While in the bayou they encounter Louis, a trumpet-playing alligator who longs to be human, and Ray, a Cajun firefly who longs for a sparkling light he calls Evangeline. They offer to lead them to the good voodoo priestess Mama Odie, who can undo the curse. AFter saving each other from frog hunter's, Tiana and Naveen begin to develop feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Facilier makes a deal with the voodoo spirits, offering them the souls of the people of New Orleans in exchange for finding Naveen.

Mama Odie tells the frogs that Naveen must kiss a princess in order for them to become human. Tiana and her friends return to New Orleans to find Charlotte, the princess of the Mardi Gras Parade before midnight when the festival is over. Naveen tells Ray he loves Tiana and wishes to propose, willing to work a few jobs for Tiana's resturant. At the dinner Naveen plans, before he ask Tiana to marry him, he discovers that Tiana needs the down payment money by tomorrow or her dream will end. So Naveen doesn't propose so that Tiana can get the restruant. When he goes off to find Ray and Louis, is taken by the demons and brought back to Facilier since the charm was running out of his blood.

After Ray tells Tiana that Naveen truly loves her, Tiana goes to the Mardi Gras parade only to find "Naveen" marrying Charlotte. Tiana escapes to a graveyard to be alone, while Ray and Louis are able to rescue the real Naveen and steal the charm. Ray finds Tiana and gives her the charm and attempts to hold off the demons so she can escape, but Dr. Facilier mortally wounds him. Facilier confronts Tiana and offers to make her restaurant dream come true in exchange for the charm. Realizing she would rather be with Naveen, Tiana refuses and snatches the charm from Facilier and destroys it. The angered spirits claim Facilier himself as payment for his debts and drag him into their world forever.

Naveen is explaining the situation to a bewildered Charlotte when Tiana finds them both. Tiana reveals that she loves Naveen and would spend the rest of her days as a frog to be with him. Moved by this, Charlotte says she will kiss Naveen anyway so he and Tiana can be together. But the clock strikes midnight before she can kiss him. Louis then meets up with the frogs, holding a dying Ray in his hands. Despite what happened, Ray shows happiness for the two before he dies. A funeral is held for Ray, after which another star shines brightly next to "Evangeline."

Contented to live together as frogs, Tiana and Naveen are wed by Mama Odie. As they kiss, they are turned into humans, because through their marriage, Tiana is now a princess. The two return to New Orleans where everyone celebrates the wedding and Tiana and Naveen finally buy the restaurant. “Tiana's Palace” holds a gala opening, underneath the two shining Evening Stars.

Cast

 * Anika Noni Rose as Tiana/ "Tia", a 19 year old waitress and aspiring chef who dreams of owning her own restaurant one day. She is viewed as a smart, hard working, and independent woman. She is the protagonist of the film and is notable as Disney's first black princess. Originally, Tiana was supposed to be called "Maddy."
 * Elizabeth Dampier voices Tiana as a child.
 * Bruno Campos as Prince Naveen, the 20-year-old prince of Maldonia who comes to the French Quarter for the jazz scene and with whom Tiana and Charlotte both fall in love.
 * Jennifer Cody as Charlotte "Lottie" La Bouff, a southern débutante and Tiana's childhood friend. Her father is extremely wealthy so she mostly gets everything she wants. She is very loyal to her friend Tiana and will help her when she needs to, even letting Tiana have Naveen since she can tell that Tiana and Naveen belong with each other.
 * Breanna Brooks voices Charlotte as a child.
 * Keith David as Doctor Facilier, aka "The Shadow Man", the main antagonist of the film. Supervising Animator Bruce W. Smith cited Facilier as the lovechild of his two favorite Disney Villains; Captain Hook from Peter Pan, and Cruella De Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
 * Jennifer Lewis as Mama Odie, a blind voodoo priestess who serves as the film's Fairy Godmother.
 * Jim Cummings as Ray, a lovesick Cajun firefly who knows Mama Odie and offers to help the frogs get to her. He is later killed in the film when Facilier hits him to the ground and then crushes him. He was reunited with Evangeline at the end and turned into a second evening star.
 * Michael-Leon Wooley as Louis, a trumpet-playing alligator whose dream is to become human so he can join a jazz band.
 * Emeril Lagasse as Marlon, an alligator.
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Ian, an alligator.
 * Peter Bartlet] as Lawrence, Prince Naveen's valet, who is turned into Dr. Facilier's henchman.
 * John Goodman as Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff, a wealthy Southern sugar mill owner and father of Charlotte La Bouff.
 * Oprah Winfrey as Eudora, Tiana's mother.
 * Terrence Howard] as James, Tiana's late father, who instills work ethics in Tiana.
 * Don Hall as Darnell, a frog hunter.
 * Jerry Kernion as Mr. Henry Fenner
 * Corey Burton as Mr. Harvey Fenner
 * Randy Newman (who also composed the songs and score) as Cousin Randy

Animation
Disney had once announced that Home on the Range would be the studio's last 2D animated film entry to their animated features canon, but after the company's acquisition of Pixar in early 2006, it was reported that Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, new leaders of the animation department, had decided to re-open the door to Disney's tradition of handdrawn animation. Many animators who had either been fired or had left the studio after the 2004 closure were located and re-hired for the project.

The Princess and the Frog was written and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, whose earlier works included The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules. The story for the film was developed by merging two other projects in development at the time. One of the projects was based on E. D. Baker's The Frog Princess, in which the story's heroine kisses a frog in hopes of becoming a princess, only to become a frog herself.

The film returns to the Broadway-style musical in the style of the successful Disney films like Walt's classics, and the Disney Renaissance of the late-1980s and all of the 1990s. Rhett Wickham also reported that John Lasseter had personally asked Ron Clements and John Musker to direct and write the film, and had let them choose in what form (either traditional animation or CGI) they wanted the film to be made. Toon Boom Animation's Toon Boom Harmony software was used in the digital processing of the film, as the old CAPS system Disney developed with Pixar in the 1980s is now outdated.

While the Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater experimented with paperless animation, the artists on The Princess and the Frog used traditional pencil and paper that is scanned into the computers. Although a new pipeline for hand-drawn animation using Toon Boom Harmony has been developed at the studio, the actual animation process remains the same. The visual effects, as well as many of the backgrounds, were created digitally using tools such as Wacom Cintiq tablet displays. 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 former trend in Disney's hand-drawn features where the characters 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...". He also mentions that Lasseter is aiming for the Disney sculptural and dimensional look of the 1950s. He quoted "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."

Clements and Musker had agreed from very early on that the style they were aiming for was primarily that of Lady and the Tramp, a film which they and John Lasseter feel represents the "peak of a certain kind of animation of the classic Disney animation style". Lady and the Tramp also heavily informed the style of the New Orleans scenes, while Bambi, The Rescuers, and The Fox and the Hound served as the template for the bayou scenes.

Music
On November 15, 2006, it was revealed that Randy Newman, who is responsible for the music of five Pixar films, would be in charge of the music in the film instead of Alan Menken and his new lyricist Glenn Slater. This change was due to John Lasseter not wanting the public to feel Disney being repetitive, as Menken was also working on another Disney fairy tale film, Enchanted.

During the Walt Disney Company's annual shareholder meeting in March 2007, Randy Newman and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band performed a song from the film called "Down in New Orleans", while slides of pre-production art from the film played on a screen. Other songs 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). An end credit song called "Never Knew I Needed" written (and performed) by Ne-Yo.

Voice cast
On December 1, 2006, a detailed casting call was announced for the film at the Manhattan Theatre Source forum. 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, including the leading character, who at that point was to be called Maddy. Disney later officially confirmed this.

In February 2007, it was reported that Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose were top contenders for the voice of the princess, and that Alicia Keys directly contacted Disney's studio chief Dick Cook, telling him that she wanted the role very much. It was later reported that Tyra Banks was considered for the role as well. On April 19, 2007, it was confirmed that Anika Noni Rose would be voicing Princess Tiana. On July 5, 2007, it was reported that Keith David would be doing the voice of Dr. Facilier, the villain of the film.

Promotion and release
On April 20, 2007, E! reported that the title of the film could possibly be changed from The Frog Princess to The Princess and the Frog, and that the lead character Maddy may be getting a name change as well. On May 4, 2007, USA Today published an article that referred to the film as The Princess and the Frog, and to the lead character as "Tiana" rather than Maddy, supporting the earlier reported name-change possibilities. Four days later, BET and other online sites reported that Disney spokeswoman Heidi Trotta stated that some of the original release information was incorrect, and confirmed the USA Today names "Princess Tiana" and The Princess and the Frog to be correct. Trotta stated "Princess Tiana will be a heroine in the great tradition of Disney’s rich animated fairy tale legacy, and all other characters and aspects of the story will be treated with the greatest respect and sensitivity."

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. The film was originally set for release on Christmas Day 2009, but its release date was changed due to the competitive nature of the family film, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, scheduled for release the same day.

Box office
On its limited day release, the film grossed $263,890 at only two theaters and grossed $786,190 its opening weekend. On its opening day in wide release, the film grossed $7,020,000 at 3,434 theaters. It went on to gross $24,208,916 over the opening weekend averaging $7,050 per theater, marking it the highest-grossing start to date for an animated movie in December, while being less auspicious than the animated movies from Walt Disney Pictures' 1990s traditional animation heyday. The film fell just under its budget, grossing $104,400,899 in the US and Canada alone out of its' $105 million budget. However, it had successfully grossed an additional $165 million overseas for a total of $270 million, thus making it a moderate success at the box office.

Home video
The Princess and the Frog was released in North America on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 16, 2010. The film is available in DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray combo-pack editions; the combo pack includes DVD and digital copies of the film, along with the Blu-ray Disc version. The film is due to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia on 16th June, 2010.

Theme Parks
At both the Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort, a live parade and show called "Tiana's Showboat Jubilee!" premiered on October 26, 2009.

In Disneyland Resort, actors in New Orleans Square parading to the Rivers of America and boarding the park's steamboat. From there, the cast, starring Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, Louis the alligator, and Doctor Facilier, would sing songs from the movie, such as "Down in New Orleans," "Almost There," "When We're Human," "Friends on the Other Side," "Dig a Little Deeper," and "Gonna Take You There" 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.

The Walt Disney World Resort's "Tiana's Showboat Jubilee!" ran until January 3, 2010, while the Rivers of America were drained as the tracks were replaced and the Mark Twain riverboat's deck was being refurbished. The show was replaced by an alternative, 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 sing/play/dance to "Down in New Orleans," "Almost There," "When We're Human," "My Belle Evangeline," "Dig a Little Deeper," and "Gonna Take You There". Tiana was also due to appear in Disneyland Paris' New Generation Festival. The song Down in New Orleans was recently added to the audio track on the Mark Twain Riverboat when the boat passes New Orleans Square.

Reception
The film has received largely positive reviews by critics and viewers alike. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 85% of 144 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.3 out of 10. 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 31 reviews and amongst the Rotten Tomatoes' community, the film holds an overall approval rating of 89%, based on a sample of 964 reviews. Saint Bryan of the NBC-TV Seattle went so far calling the film "The Best Disney Movie Since The Lion King". 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." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 0–100 from film critics, has a rating score of 73 based on 29 reviews.

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." 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." 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." 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." 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." Village Voice’s Scott Foundas’s response towards 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 (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame'') or pretty much anything by Pixar." 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." 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!" 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.

Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack album, The Princess and the Frog: Original Songs and Score, contains ten original songs and seven instrumental pieces. The music, a mixture of jazz, zydeco, blues and gospel sounds, was composed, conducted and arranged by Pixar composer Randy Newman. R&B recording artist and producer Ne-Yo made a song exclusively for the film called Never Knew I Needed, an R&B love song referring to the romance between the film's two main characters (Tiana and Naveen). The soundtrack was released on November 23, 2009, the day before the limited release of the film in New York and Los Angeles. The songs are performed by various artists, most of whom lend their voices to the characters in the movie.

Marketing
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. 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. Other planned merchandise includes a cookbook for children and even a wedding gown. Princess Tiana was also featured a few months before the release in the Disney on Ice: Celebrations show.

Awards and nominations
The film has been nominated for eight Annie Awards. The results were announced at the 37th Annie Awards Ceremony on February 6, 2010 and the film won three of them. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Up. Two of the film's songs "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans" were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart.

Video game
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 favorite moments from the film and challenges for Princess Tiana.