THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (2009) Blu-Ray Review

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Set in the 1920’s in New Orleans, a girl kisses a frog, thinking it will turn into a prince. Instead, she turns into a frog. The two set out in New Orleans to break the spell.

Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jennifer Cody, Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard and John Goodman supply the voices.

WHO MADE IT?

Writers / directors Ron Clements and John Musker previously wrote and directed THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, THE LITTLE MERMAID, ALADDIN, HERCULES, and TREASURE PLANET.

IS IT ANY GOOD?

It is quite refreshing to see an old school Disney animated film. Nothing against Pixar, they have made some of the greatest films of recent years, but it seems that everyone has gone the computer animated route.

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG looks great, with its New Orleans settings.  The score by Randy Newman is nicely done, if not memorable on first listening.

While it may not be an instant classic along the lines of THE LITTLE MERMAID or ALADDIN, it is more reminiscent of the mid level Disney features, such as THE RESCUERS.

As a kid, THE RESCUERS was a favorite of mine. It may not be considered a classic by today's standards, to those that saw it then, they will always like it. I think that THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG will have its own fans, especially among younger audiences.

I checked in with my niece who saw the film theatrically.

Her review

“It was great!”

WHAT IS ON THE BLU-RAY?



The Blu-Ray is a three disc set.  It contains the Blu-Ray, the standard DVD, as well as a digital file to download to an iPod.

Both the Blu-Ray and DVD contain:

An audio commentary with the filmmakers.

DELETED SCENES - The filmmakers introduce a selection of deleted scenes, in rough animation form.

MUSIC VIDEO - “Never Knew I Needed” by Ne-Yo.

There are also a few games played with the remote control.

The Blu-Ray contains the following features exclusively.

BRINGING LIFE TO ANIMATION (8:08) - A comparison of the live action footage shot as models for the animators to use to the final film.

MAGIC IN THE BAYOU: THE MAKING OF A PRINCESS (22:11) - Making of documentary focusing on everything from the locations to the music.

THE RETURN TO HAND DRAWN ANIMATION (2:43) - The filmmakers talk about their love of hand drawn animation.

THE DISNEY LEGACY (2:31) - A brief overview of Disney animation.

DISNEY’S NEWEST PRINCESS (2:51) - Introducing Tiana.

THE PRINCESS AND THE ANIMATOR (2:26) - Designing Tiana.

CONJURING THE VILLAIN (1:50) - Designing Dr. Facilier.

A RETURN TO THE ANIMATED MUSICAL (3:13) - A look at the music in the film.

ART GALLERIES

SHOULD I BUY IT?

A return to old school Disney animation. Fans should be happy with this Blu-Ray.


THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 16, 2010.

Stanley Kubrick's Boxes (2008)

The Sundance Channel recently aired a 2008 documentary entitled STANLEY KUBRICK'S BOXES. I don't know if it will be airing again (it isn't on the schedule for the next two weeks) but keep an eye out for it. If you are a Kubrick fan, this is a must see.

The film follows a filmmaker as he wades through Stanely Kubrick's archives at his home in England. Since the release of 2001, Kubrick began to keep all of his research material and other information in boxes, carefully numbered and organized. At the time of his passing, there were 1,000 of them.

Kubrick was so particular about the boxes that he even had many of them designed to his own specifications, wanting the lids to fit a certain way.

Among the revelations in the hour long documentary.

• Kubrick spent two years in pre-production on a Holocaust film, WARTIME LIES. In those same two years, Steven Spielberg went through pre-production, shot, edited, and released SCHINDLER'S LIST which caused Kubrick to abandoned the film.

• He would have readers in various parts of the US reading novels and screenplays and sending coverage to an assistant of his so that they didn't know they were reading for Kubrick. Among the films that were passed on, THE KILLING FIELDS.

• He kept every fan letter that was sent to him, and filed them away by the city of the writer (in case he ever needed someone to check out a theatre in the area showing one of his films or in case someone tried to harm him). Each letter was annotated if it was positive, negative, or a crank letter. Some of the crank letter writers are even tracked down in the documentary to talk about why they wrote him.  One writer mentioned he got really drunk after a film he wrote was butchered and wrote the letter to Kubrick.

• Kubrick wasn't a recluse, just very shy. One of his favorite activities was to go to the stationery store. If he liked a type of paper or notebook, he would buy up boxes of it in case it ever went out of style. He often joked about opening up a stationery museum.

• He loved his cats and wrote to animal groups for finding the proper collars, with bells, that would break away if the cat ever got caught on something.

• While he had all of the outtakes to his films destroyed, there were several film canisters found among his archives. It turned out to be 18 hours worth of behind the scenes footage, shot by his daughter, of the making of FULL METAL JACKET. Some great footage is shown, especially of Kubrick directing the hand gestures in the "This is my rifle, this is my gun" sequence. (On FULL METAL JACKET, he also has all of the audition tapes sent by the thousands of actors who wanted to be in the film).

• Kubrick spent a lot of time in the 1970's trying to sue the makers of the TV show SPACE: 1999 thinking that it was a rip off of 2001.

This is a fascinating look at Kubrick.  My only problem, I wish it were longer.  Writer / director / star Jon Ronsom (who wrote the book that THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS is based on) does a very good job, but he only scratches the surface.

The film ends with the boxes being sent out to be stored at a University in London where they can be accessed by film students.

Sadly, this film is not on DVD. It is well worth seeking out.

FORGOTTEN TV: M.Y.O.B. (2000)

In 1998, writer / director Don Roos made a very funny film called THE OPPOSITE OF SEX. The film starred Christina Ricci as a snarky teenager, telling her story quite often in voiceover. The film was acclaimed by critics.

That film was essentially reworked by Roos into a very short lived sitcom called M.Y.O.B. It aired on NBC in June of 2000.

Katherine Towne took over what was essentially the Ricci role as Riley, a runaway searching for her mother. She goes to stay with her aunt Opal, who works at a high school. Opal was played by Lauren Graham.

The show was very funny, with Towne, whose character also provides a very snarky commentary on each episode, giving a star making performance. Critics loved the show. Sadly, not enough people were watching and it aired for only four episodes.

I first heard of the cancellation of the show when I read that Graham had signed on to a new show on the WB. It would be a little show called THE GILMORE GIRLS. As much as I would go on to love GILMORE, which made me a Lauren Graham fan for life, I was more disappointed that there wasn’t going to be more of M.Y.O.B.

As for Towne (who is the daughter of CHINATOWN screenwriter Robert Towne and granddaughter of STELLA DALLAS star Anne Shirley) she is one of those actresses I keep waiting to have a break through role. She is still out there but hasn’t been in anything as good as M.Y.O.B. since.

Someone posted episode four on Youtube



Part 1



Part 2



Part 3