I’ve said it before, but there is too much CGI in modern kids entertainment.
In itself I don’t object to CGI animation. In fact some of the finest films of all time were computer generated – specifically every single film produced by Pixar: Up, Wall-E, Incredibles, Monster’s Inc, Finding Nemo, the Toy Story franchise, etc etc.
But there is an art and beauty to other forms of animation that is at risk of being neglected. Would Wallace and Grommet be as charming if they were made of pixels rather than plasticine? No, they wouldn’t.
Similarly cell animation has gradually been lost from our cinema screens, which is a crying shame. And what’s worse is that it’s becoming increasingly rare on our TV screens too. It’s not on the endangered list quite yet (Look at the magnificent Phineas and Ferb for an example of exceptionally high quality cell animated contemporary kids cartoons).
In 2009 Disney released The Princess and the Frog, their first cell animated movie since 2004′s Home on the Range (a film I still haven’t seen). I imagine that Disney intended it to be a sort of experiment to see if audiences still had a taste for traditional looking animation.
It wasn’t an overwhelming success, but did make a profit once worldwide revenues were taken into account and lead to reports of Disney deciding on a policy of releasing one hand drawn movie every two years. However I’ve seen no talk of any upcoming traditionally animated releases, so we should perhaps take those reports with a pinch of salt.
So is The Princess and the Frog any good? Well yes it is.
Here’s a plot synopsis shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia:
The film’s plot concerns a prince named Naveen from the land of Maldonia, who is transformed into a frog by the evil scheming voodoo magician Dr. Facilier . The frog prince mistakes a girl named Tiana 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, while befriending a trumpet-playing alligator Louis and a hopelessly romantic Cajun firefly named Ray along the way.
The Princess and the Frog is set in New Orleans, and sports a suitably jazzy soundtrack by Randy Newman. I’m a big fan of Newman and have a real fondness for both Cajun music and New Orleans style jazz and so, despite my usual distaste for musicals, it managed to get my toe tapping and head nodding throughout many of the numbers. Additionally Prince Naveen played a pretty mean ukulele throughout the film, and as we all know there is nothing that can’t be improved with a good bit of uke.
The characters are strong and humorous. Of particular note is Tiana who, as well as being Disney’s first black lead heroine, was an incredibly positive female role model. I also was a big fan of Ray the firefly, played by Jim Cummings. I can’t remember where it was, but I recently heard someone talking about how animation studios should rely more on specialized voice actors rather than celebrities to provide voices for their movies, and this movie certainly bears this theory out. Aside from John Goodman and Anika Noni Rose there were no well know names in the cast (oh and a Oprah Winfrey cameo too).
The animation is stunning, and there are a number of scenes that are almost breathtaking. And they are all the more enjoyable for the nostalgia that the animation provokes. It all looks pretty damn special on Blu-Ray too, as crisp and vibrant as I’ve come to expect from the format. In fact I’d argue that animation is just about the perfect genre for blu-ray as get the picture quality without having to stare at the actors pores and pimples.
So any bad bits? Well, not specifically, but The Princess and the Frog doesn’t feel like it has as much, I dunno, heart as some of the older traditionally animated movies from Disney. Nor does it have that multi age range appeal that the Pixar films do. I’d think nothing of sticking Toy Story or Wall-E on the blu-ray player when the kids weren’t home, but I’d feel a bit wet doing that with The Princess and the Frog. That’s hardly a fair criticism though, as it’s not many films on this earth that can compare to a Pixar one anyhow.
So in summery, The Princess and the Frog is a welcome return to traditional animation by Disney, and one that is very worthy of joining their very impressive stable. The music is great, the animation wonderful, and the characters and plot engaging and humorous. Plus it has ukuleles in it, you don’t get much better than that.
Rating: 
If you would like to buy The Princess and the Frog then you can do so on blu-ray here
and on DVD here
.
Disclaimer
I received a copy of The Princess and the Frog on blu-ray to review. I also got given a blu-ray player by Disney around a year ago in order to review their releases. However the opinions expressed in this review are honest and I have felt no pressure from Disney to provide a positive review.
Also if you buy it from one of the links I’ve given I get an extremely small kickback from Amazon
Originally posted at allthatcomeswithit.com and used with permission
What is it with Ghostbusters and classic cartoon revivals? First there was Bill Murray in Garfield, and now Dan Aykroyd in Yogi Bear. What’s next? Harold Ramis as Penelope Pitstop?
and 
and 
in the UK on the 20th of September, but is already available on 
and 
in the US.
for about £15 on amazon.co.uk. Amazon also do a pretty good range of 
as well should you fancy one.![Image of High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Deluxe Extended Edition + Digital Copy + DVD and BD Live) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514wTYjGjEL._SL160_.jpg "High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Deluxe Extended Edition + Digital Copy + DVD and BD Live) [Blu-ray]")
A Lament to Stop Motion
The history of children’s TV is pretty much littered with poor quality cartoons. Bland, badly animated, derivative pap churned out in factory like conditions by an industry that doesn’t respect it’s consumers.
I’m sure some will denounce me for a heretic, but Hanna Barbara was the worst for this. Oh yes, we all get a nostalgic twinge whenever we see Scooby-Doo or Stop the Pigeon. But if you take off those rose tinted glasses and hold them up to the harsh light of adult perspective then you’ll most likely see them for the crud that they unfortunately are.
Hannah Barbara redeemed themselves somewhat in the 90′s, with clever, stylish, and witty shows like Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, and The Powerpuff Girls. But other companies took over the mantle of injecting cheap mass produced shit directly into our kid’s brains.
I’ve been noticing a very alarming trend recently. Shows aimed at pre-schoolers that I have previously respected such as Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine are slowly taking a nose dive into mediocracy.
The problem isn’t in the writing. Fireman Sam’s is still pretty good – a hefty dollop of fire safety combined with a couple of stock comedy characters. Thomas the Tank Engine is rather more dubious, but then again it always has been (see this post by Dad Who Writes for an intelligent take on problems with Thomas)
What has changed with these two programs is that they have switched from being lovingly crafted using beautifully made models and painstaking stop motion animation to being churned out in box standard, mundane, noticeably cheap CGI.
Bah.
My siblings and I were once given a personal tour of Cosgrove Hall Studios by a friend of my father’s who worked there. To be honest it was one of the most memorable days of my childhood. We talked to a chap who was in the middle of drawing a Count Duckula episode, got to handle the models from Cholton and the Wheelies, and saw a lot of original cells from Jamie and the Magic Torch.
But the thing that looms largest in my memory was seeing the sets and the models for Wind in the Willows. I remember being struck almost dumb but how intricate and beautiful they were. The model makers and animators involved with those shows were true artists, in the purest sense of the term.
Now compare and contrast with Chuggington. Or Underground Ernie. Or the very worst culprit, Noddy. You see the difference?
As I say – bland badly animated derivative pap churned out in factory like conditions by an industry that doesn’t respect it’s consumers.
I’m not saying computer animation can’t be art. Just look at Pixar. We recently got UP and Toy Story 1 & 2 to review on Blu-Ray, and all three are wonderful. Up in particular was stunning, and arguably the best film of 2009, animation or not. I’m going to review them properly at a later date – but all three movies show that CGI animation can be high quality and full of artistic merit.
But that’s not the case with Fireman Sam and Thomas. They are complete pants. Which makes me sad, because they used to be full to the brim with quality animation.
Originally posted at allthatcomeswithit.com and used with permission