A few words about...™ The Princess and the Frog -- in Blu-ray

I believe the add I saw for the DVD used the term "Instant classic". I'll leave it to others to figure out exactly what that means.

Doug

I thought the film was very good.  Not great, but very good.  It lags behind predecessors like "Lion King" "Little Mermaid" etc, but it also has one of the most memorable animated sequences of any film I've ever watched in the first twenty minutes, during the big song number.. that transition (I'm trying to not post huge spoilers) is an incredible bit, and it is unlike anything I've ever seen in Disney animation.

 

This is a solid, good story with a really great look.  No, it's not what I'd call "tier-1" Disney at it's best, but this is still a solid "B" to "B+" effort and should be in every animation fan's collection

It's an oxymoron.

Are you referring to "Almost  There"?  I like that sequence very much too.  Good song  and  I love the animation.

Robert:

1) I think a movie classified as a classic should be at least 10 years out
2) Something that is a restoration be reserved for those films that have had to be restored from what was once a a masterpiece of film that has deteriorated to the point that it needs to be restored to be watchable.

Oh, I agree that the Blu-ray of this movie looks great.

Surely you didn't take Mr. Harris' comments about 18 and 24 months literally!  It was definitely tongue-in-cheek.

Yes.  That song and sequence is some really great stuff.  Music on par with past greats, great animation.. that number really works.  The rest of the film has a lot of up & down.  That's not bad, while I love most Disney animated films, I've always considered an "upper" and "lower" class of films.  I'd say this would be in the same camp as say.. The Rescuers, etc. but not in the same league as say, Lion King or Cinderella.  ;)

I'd rank this a little higher than The Rescuers. It's a solid Disney renaissance effort comparable to The Great Mouse Detective, which I consider to be the beginnings of the rebirth that led to The Little Mermaid.

Movies made by the Walt Disney Animation Studios are generally referred to as the 'Classics'. It's just a term, nothing less. Sure, a lot of them are really classics in the general meaning of the word (among them the titles Mr. Harris already mentioned) but in this case, saying that 'The Princess and the Frog is a classic' is the same as 'they're all made by WDAS'.

I thought this movie was *terrific*!!  The first 45 minutes was solid "A+" material; the last 45 minutes wasn't quite as strong, but remained highly entertaining.  (This is from an adult's perspective; my 13 year old daughter was in absolute tears at the end.  When I asked her what she gave the movie, she mumbled "Four Stars" while reaching for another tissue.)  The Blu-ray disc transfer was consistently fantastic in all areas.   I've never seen Disney animation look quite this good!!

Our family has already viewed the BD twice!   

I'm ashamed to admit now that we made no effort whatsoever to view this movie during its theatrical exhibition.


 

I missed this in the theaters last year, but just saw the BD over the weekend. It was great - best (non-Pixar) Disney movie in 15 years or so. I thought the music was terrific fun, and loved the jazz/blues/soul/zydeco soundtrack - very different for a Disney musical, most of which take their cues from Broadway.

I'll certainly be putting this alongside the Disney "classics" on the shelf.

My daughter loved this when I took her to see it some months ago and I look forward to watching it again with her (and hearing the music without the chattering of youngsters in the room--my daughter knows how to keep quiet during movies).

My family was visiting friends in North Carolina who have a four year old son.  He had not seen the movie before, so I watched it again with him.  He gave the ultimate four year-old positive review.  With two or three minutes left in the movie, he started begging his parents relentessly to let him watch it again. :)

I wish I could do that again.  I do watch favorite movies multiple times, but not back-to-back.   I wish I could do that again[sigh].