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Disney’s 2D animated musicals never wore out their welcome. Some studio buffoon just figured that maybe kids didn’t want singing in their animated films any more. And then that studio buffoon decided that because 3D animated films were succeeding and a recent string of 2D films had flopped that no one wanted hand-drawn animated movies any more. This is why the last Disney 2D animated musical was Mulan in 1998. 11 years later and Disney, with the support of Pixar chief John Lasseter, has brought back hand-drawn musical movies with The Princess and the Frog. But this isn’t a return of Disney animation; it’s a rebirth.

Set in 1920s New Orleans and playing on the fairy tale of the princess kissing a frog to turn him into a prince, the film centers on Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) who doesn’t have time for princes or frogs or kisses as she works non-stop so she can afford to open her own restaurant. Unfortunately, she ends up kissing Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) because he’s a talking frog prince and, mistaking her for a princess, asks her to make him human again. This would be fine (and a very short movie) except the popular fairy tale fails to mention that if you’re not a princess and you kiss a cursed frog-prince, you’ll turn into a frog too. It’s that damned magical legalese. The two are forced to travel across the bayou together to find voodoo priestess Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis) in the hopes that she can turn them human again. The proceedings are decorated with fun music and amusing supporting characters. This is the Disney animated movie you know and love, but even better.

Before you smite me for blasphemy, let me explain that I will always love the animated Disney films I grew up with: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. But within the first twenty minutes of The Princess and the Frog, I knew I was entering a whole new era due to the advances in animation, creative freedom for animators, and a positive message which is both universally empowering and socially responsible. It’s no slam against the older Disney movies, and I’m not saying they’ve aged poorly or that they’re secretly bigoted (although I’m pretty sure that Pumba was an anti-semite). It’s just that The Princess and the Frog has the benefit of progress combined with filling the 2D animated musical void of the past eleven years.

DOWNLOAD THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG