I enjoyed everything about this movie - the plot kept me guessing, the characters were interesting and involving, the look of the animation was beautiful, the songs were incredibly catchy and toe-tapping, the comedy was genuinely funny, and the sum of these parts was a magical return to form for Disney animation. Less modern and, unlike Treasure Planet or Lilo & Stitch with their aliens and technology (although great films both), Princess and the Frog instead kept things traditional. The inter-war, New Orleans setting and the choice of a black lead character (and villain, 'fairy godmother', etc), along with the rich colour-schemes and superb Southern voice cast made the movie appear vibrant and different. At the same time there were Disney 'staples' like a fat, comedy villainous side-kick, a talking animal who wants to be human, and a happy ending, as well as an unexpectedly emotional death for a main character (see Bambi and The Lion King). There has been much publicity about this being Disney's first black 'princess' (although Mulan and Pocahontas were non-white heroines) and it does add an interesting dynamic, particularly when you consider the setting and era in which the movie is set. Without getting preachy about it, and without glossing over history, there are subtle nods to the fact that Tiana lives in a black 'ghetto' of New Orleans, while her mother makes dresses for the rich white man and his spoilt daughter in their massive mansion. This (subtle) social commentary is unusual for a Disney animation, but it's not jarring and just adds an extra dimension for the viewing adult.
The Princess and the Frog is a marked improvement of the last couple of Disney 2D animations, the boring Brother Bear and misfiring Home on the Range, and it lived up to the brief glimpses of 2D seen in Enchanted, so I'm hopeful now that John Lassester will steer the Walt Disney Animation Studios onwards and upwards, and that a new (golden?) era of 2D animation is about to dawn.
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