The Princess and the Frog Preview

Lately, Disney is pretty neutral on the "love it" or "hate it" scale amongst most people. Kids love it. Adults...not so much. Most of this conflict is due to the Disney Channel's rather mediocre quality of shows and movies (I'm lookin' at you, Hannah Montana), versus the fantastic masterpieces that Disney cranks out on the big screen alongside Pixar. From Toy Story to Up, they've all been high enjoyable and held in the most prestigious regards of cinema in general. But, just when it seems Disney is evolving into a new age, they harken back to their haydays with their newest old-school animated installment, "The Princess and the Frog."

You can watch the trailer here.

Basically, it takes the story of the age-old princess kissing the cursed prince who's been turned into a frog so that he returns to human form and they live happily ever after formula and spins it with the teaser: "No one knows what happened after the kiss."

It's reversed!

The princess turns into a frog and hilarity ensues.

But here's the biggest feature of this film: will this princess hold up to the standards of all the other Disney princesses? Can Tiana be as lovably radiant as the likes of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Arielle, or Jasmine? And another kicker...she's Disney's first black princess. Taking place in the French Quarter of New Orleans, this promises to be an original and stylistic approach to the hackneyed story we've all heard, AND its presented in the same old school musical fashion as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid.

Alas! Disney is doing a throwback...and personally, I think it has what it takes. Then again, I did just go to Disney World for the weekend and I had my flame for Disney rekindled after watching the parades and fireworks, but nonetheless, this looks to be a fairly interesting concept that we'll anxiously await for around Christmas time. Not too mention the writers and directors of Aladdin, Hercules, and The Little Mermaid will be heading the project (Ron Clements and John Musker).

Even the villain is different...although not all that different. He's a witch doctor who, apparently, follows the magical villainous vein of someone like Maleficent (with the whole curse thing). And there's even a trumpet-playing alligator...so really, where can this go wrong? Disney's not one to screw things up (unless they're gimmicky) but "The Princess and the Frog" seems to be heading in the right direction considering there's no gimmicky attraction applied to it yet. Its all old-school flare, and it'll be a serious disappointment if it fails to impress. Realistically, its head to head against Disney's recent repertoir like Wall-E or Finding Nemo, and it's in that lullish limbo between Up and Pixar's next humongous endeavor, Toy Story 3. Then again, it's also during holiday season, so its sure to rack up numbers at the box office.

Until then, though, we're left with a very intriguing and nostalgic trailer and a little backstory. Its definitely a contender on my list of most anticipated of 2009, so Disney, don't break my heart.