At the Movies

by Esther McCarthy

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DISNEY IS BACK TO ITS ROOTS

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (G) starstarstar

THE STARS: Featuring the voices of Anika Noni Rose, John Goodman, Oprah Winfrey.

THE STORY: When the beautiful Tiana (Rose) kisses a prince who has become a frog thanks to a voodoo curse, she too becomes an amphibian. Together, the little green creatures hop through the swamps of New Orleans in the hope of tracking down the baddies and reversing the spell.

GREAT FUN: Kids, especially young girls, will love this charming little movieTHERE'S something very refreshing about animation giants Disney's back-to-basics approach in this latest offering.

Without flashy 3D images, two-tier humour or an adult-orientated script, the folks at the Mouse House are aiming this movie squarely at their core audience - families in general and young children in particular.

While some animated films (Mr Fox, we're looking at you) seemed to almost set out to alienate the kiddies, this is very much their sort of tale.

Disney's gone back to tradition here with a hand-drawn animated movie that's in the same 2D format as classics like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. The co-creators of those movies, Ron Clements and John Musker, certainly know how to tell an engaging story and deliver endearing characters and while it's not quite a classic, there's a lot to enjoy.

Set in New Orleans and with a black woman as its central character, this also thumps along to the jazz and roots influences of the region, delivering a lively soundtrack in the process.

Loosely inspired by the fairy tale The Frog Prince - complete with several twists - the movie centres on Tiana, a beautiful girl who is more interested in opening her own restaurant than meeting a bloke.

But when the handsome Prince Naveen arrives from a distant land, her plans are thrown into disarray.

Charming but just a tad spoilt, his arrival attracts the attention of darkmagic baddie Dr Facilier, who turns the handsome prince into a fat green frog.

Believing Tiana to be a princess, Naveen begs for a kiss to be transformed, only for both of them to become frogs.They need to find some magic to become their original selves before Dr Facilier uses his powers to cause even more harm.

Joining them on their journey are a lovesick firefly named Ray and a jazz-playing alligator, Louis. Undeniably old school, this sticks to a formula and makes for a fun couple of hours, even if it doesn't quite rank as one of their best hits.

THE VERDICT:

While it's not up there with Disney's finest offerings, this is a likeable, lively movie with some great songs that will appeal to family audiences - and little girls, in particular, will adore it.

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