A Children's Favorite

"Winnie the Pooh" (2011).

Winnie-the-Pooh, the character invented by A. A. Milne is a continuing worldwide phenomenon that continues to this day. The success of "Winnie the Pooh" (2011), directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall, helped Walt Disney Animation Studios regain its footing after the near-disastrous 2000s when its only true success was "Lilo & Stich."


While not a smash hit at the box office, "Winnie the Pooh" helped restore peoples' faith in the Disney magic and was virtually assured of selling a ton of home videos for parents eager to entertain their toddlers.

Owl and Tigger.

Picking up the characters from 1977's "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," "Winnie the Pooh" continued the return to hand-drawn animation begun with "The Princess and the Frog" to good effect, winning over critics with its traditional feel which, no doubt, probably reminded many of them of their own childhoods.

John Cleese narrates from the book.

Pooh is out of honey, so he goes out to search for some. Eeyore, though, has lost his tail and needs to find a replacement. Together with Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, and Roo, Pooh decides to do something to help. Christopher Robin holds a contest to see who can replace the tail, the prize being a pot of fresh honey. They try various solutions, such as scarves and cuckoo clocks, but nothing is satisfactory to Eeyore.

Christopher Robin addressing his friends.

When Pooh goes to visit Christopher Robin the next day, he finds a note saying that Robin is out and will be back later. Pooh can't read, so he asks Owl to help, but Owl can't read very well either. He tells Pooh that the note says that Robin has been kidnapped by the evil monster known as the "Backson."


Eager to rescue Robin, Rabbit devises a plan to lure the Backson to a pit, into which they hope he will fall so they can trap him there. Tigger tries to teach Eeyore how to fight, and so dresses up like the Backson, but this scares Eeyore and he runs off and hides in the river.

Pooh and Piglet.

Still looking for honey, Pooh stumbles into the pit meant to trap the Backson. He can't get out, so Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Eeyore try to help him out. They, however, manage to fall into the pit themselves, with the anchor that Eeyore found underwater to replace his tail not helping matters. Piglet then tries to get everyone out, but he sees Tigger dressed as the Backson and flies in terror in a red balloon.


The balloon knocks some of the storybook's letters into the pit. Tigger and Piglet then also wind up in the pit. Pooh finally comes up with a way to use the fallen storybook letters as a ladder for them all to climb out of the pit. Once they get out, they see Christopher Robin, who clarifies that he meant "back soon" and not "Backson."

Christopher Robin and his balloon.

Pooh finds out that Owl accidentally took Eeyore's tail, using it as part of his front door. Realizing that Eeyore needs the tail, Pooh leaves before eating any honey and returns the tail to Eeyore. Christopher Robin rewards Pooh by giving him a pot of fresh honey. After the film ends and the credits have run, it is revealed that the Backson does, indeed, exist. Rather than fearsome and malevolent, he is very nice and collects the lures left to trap him in the pit, intending to return them to their rightful owner, but falls into the pit himself. He waits patiently for rescue, hoping that whoever lost the things will be "back soon."

Kanga and Roo.

There still were Disney veterans from the Pooh shorts of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Bunny Mattinson, and they drew up the characters with an eye toward following in the footsteps of earlier Disney interpretations. The directors, Hall and Anderson, were old pros who had worked on numerous Disney animated feature films of the 2000s. Just as in "The Princess and the Frog," "Winnie the Pooh" uses the Toon Boom Animation Harmony software that enhances hand-drawn animation without replacing it.

Rabbit and Piglet.

It probably isn't necessary to say that "Winnie the Pooh" is very kid-friendly, the younger the better. It features three stories by Milne and is a very faithful adaptation. Short films with similar themes, "The Ballad of Nessie" and "Cubby's Goldfish," were shown with "Winnie the Pooh," making it an enjoyable experience for little children. For what it is, "Winnie the Pooh" delivers just what parents no doubt expect from a Disney Winnie the Pooh film, with a gentle plot and backgrounds painted in soothing watercolor tones assured of calming down even the most rambunctious of toddlers.

Tigger having fun with Pooh.

The soundtrack songs by Robert and Kristen Lopez, score by Henry Jackman, is well-designed for children to enjoy and succeed in that regard. The song "So Long" being nominated for a Grammy, and Zooey Deschanel sings the traditional "Winnie the Pooh" theme song.


The voice actors are all just what you would expect. Travis Oates does Piglet, Tom Kenny is Rabbit, Craig Ferguson gives Owl a Scottish flair, Bud Luckey is Eeyore, and Jack Boulter provides the voice of Christopher Robin. John Cleese narrates in fine fashion, and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who helped her husband with the soundtrack, provides the rare female voice as Kanga.

Pooh, his friends, and the storybook letters.

Some things in life are timeless. It's difficult to think of Winnie the Pooh ever going out of fashion for children in the proper age range. Taken together with "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," "Winnie the Pooh" is a stellar choice for entertaining small children while also teaching them mild lessons about working together and not automatically assuming things about people because of their appearance. The animation of "Winnie the Pooh" is worlds better than that in earlier versions, and the film is a worthy addition to any Pooh library.

A walk into the sunset after another successful day.

2020

A Cajun Tale of Frogs and Princesses

"The Princess and the Frog" (2009) (UK Poster).

The 2006 Disney/Pixar merger was cataclysmic in the world of animation, and it changed a lot of lives. Some of those lives were those of the animators who had been laid off in 2003 when Disney, panicked by the implacable success of Pixar, DreamWorks and the other new Young Turks of the animation field with computer-generated imagery, laid off all its traditional animators. Besides being abrupt and unnecessary, that had been a mistake, because one of Disney's big advantages was its legacy of hand-drawn animation which always lent its films a distinctive and appealing look.


Ironically, it took the influence of the new Pixar people, John Lasseter in particular, to reverse this decision and hire back the skilled animators. The first result of this backtracking was "The Princess and the Frog" (2009), directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, the team that brought Disney some of its greatest successes with "The Great Mouse Detective," "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin" and "Hercules." If you find anybody who has directed four better-animated films in a row than those, well, let us know, because we can't think of anyone.

Tiana, reaching for the stars

The idea for "The Princess and the Frog" came from E.D. Baker's "The Frog Princess." In addition to going back to traditional animation, Musker and Clements also revived the musical format that worked so well in the 1990s. Musker and Clements, incidentally, had retired in 2005, and Lasseter had to ask them (nicely) to come back to once again, as with their 1980s hits, reverse a long Disney losing streak.


The two directors were given carte blanche, and they used it in several different ways, including ignoring critics who argued that setting a fairy tale in New Orleans was an affront to Hurricane Katrina victims. This was one of those situations where getting the right old pros at the right time worked to perfection, because "The Princess and the Frog" indeed reversed the fortunes of Walt Disney Animation Studios to the upside, turning a profit and currying much favor in the Black community.

Tiana cooking.

Tiana lives in New Orleans, where she is a waitress with dreams of owning her own restaurant. She works two shifts in order to raise the money to buy an old sugar mill, which she intends to use as her restaurant. Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff runs the annual Mardi Gras masquerade ball, and his daughter, Tiana's childhood friend Charlotte La Bouff, hires Tiana to provide catering services. Big Daddy wants to use this particular occasion to set up his daughter with the visiting Prince Naveen of Maldonia. With the proceeds from this job, Tiana will be able to buy the sugar mill and fulfill her dream.

Big Daddy, Eudora, and Charlotte.

Prince Naveen, though, has been disinherited and is penniless and jobless, though still accompanied by his faithful servant Lawrence. He wants to marry a wealthy woman to restore his fortunes, but he falls in with a voodoo witch doctor, Dr. Facilier. The witch doctor transforms Naveen into a frog and gives Lawrence a voodoo charm full of Naveen's blood that enables Lawrence to look like Naveen. Facilier is intent on having Lawrence marry the wealthy Charlotte so that, because he controls Lawrence, he will become wealthy.

Tiana and the Frog.

Naveen meets Tiana at the ball, and he asks her to kiss him to reverse Dr. Facilier's curse. She agrees because she thinks she will need more money for her restaurant, but instead of turning Naveen back into a man, the kiss turns Tiana into a frog herself. Together, they escape to the nearby bayou. Lawrence, meanwhile, romances Charlotte, but Dr. Facilier's potion wears off and he reverts to his regular form. In order to keep the charade going, Dr. Facilier tells Lawrence, they will have to get more of Naveen's blood. In order to locate Naveen, Dr. Facilier makes a deal with the voodoo spirits in which he promises to offer up the souls of the people of New Orleans once he gains control. The voodoo spirits agree and dispatch shadow demons to locate Naveen.

Charlotte.

Tiana and Naveen meet trumpet-playing alligator Louis in the bayou, who leads them to Mama Odie, a voodoo priestess, and Ray, a friendly firefly. Ray is in love with Evangeline, the Evening Star. Mama Odie tells Naveen that he must kiss a true princess to reverse the curse, and the best choice would be Charlotte, because Big Daddy is the king of Mardi Gras, meaning Charlotte is (sort of) a princess. That opportunity, though, will expire at midnight, when Mardi Gras ends, so time is an issue. Before Naveen can act upon this suggestion, though, he is captured by the shadow demons and brought before Dr. Facilier. Ray intervenes and frees Naveen, and they also steal the charm with Naveen's blood and give it to Tiana, but Ray is killed in the struggle.

Dr. Facilier.

Desperate to get the voodoo charm back, Dr. Facilier changes Tiana back to human form and offers to fulfill her restaurant dream if she will give it to him. She refuses, but one of the shadow demons steals the charm anyway. Dr. Facilier then changes Tiana back into a frog, but she uses her frog tongue to steal the voodoo charm back, destroying it in the process. The voodoo spirits angered at Dr. Facilier's incompetence, then abduct him for his own soul.

Keith David, who does a great job, and his character.

Tiana and Naveen, meanwhile, have fallen in love, and they explain the situation to Charlotte. She is touched and kisses Naveen in order to transform the pair back into human form, but it is too late - Mardi Gras is over. The two lovers decide to remain as frogs, content just to be together and are married as such. Once the ceremony is concluded, though, Tiana herself becomes a princess and her own kiss reverses the spell. Louis then helps them to purchase the sugar mill, and the happy couple lives happily ever after.

The DVD is very attractive, as usual with Disney.

"The Princess and the Frog" is an amiable take on the old fairy tale, and the voice actors are all relatively little-known with the exception of John Goodman as Big Daddy and Oprah Winfrey (who has to get into every high-profile Black-centric production, it seems, and before you get upset at me over that, consider there might just be other black actresses that need the jobs more than her) as Eudora, Tiana's mother. Anika Noni Ross plays Tiana, Bruno Campos is Naveen, Michael-Leon Wooley is Louis, Jennifer Cody is Charlotte, and Keith David plays Doctor Facilier.


Among many other things, "The Princess and the Frog" is a return to the days when voice actors weren't just celebrities brought on board as a marketing gimmick. None of the voice actors of "The Princess and the Frog" became major stars as a result (Noni Ross had been in "Dreamgirls," but she is no Jennifer Hudson), so their contributions are relatively unique to the film and make their characters distinctive.

Kissing the frog.

A special animation process, Toon Boom Harmony, was used in place of the old Disney CAPS system. Traditional pen and pencil drawings were scanned into the computer system, where digital effects such as smoke and shading were added. One sequence, the "Almost There" dream sequence, uses an Art Deco style (the film is set in the 1920s, though that makes little difference to the plot), which helps give the whole project character.

The film poster is one of Disney's best.

Modern commercial software products such as Adobe Photoshop were used to add special effects. In a further ironic twist to all the reversions, Disney decided to stop trying to make hand-drawn animation look like the computer-generated kind, marking a complete break with modern technological advances in the field. Many people enjoy not having to wear the 3-D glasses that have become standard at animated feature films for, to be truthful, little or no advantage. It also is nice not to have to pay the premium such as film demand.

Prince Naveen and Tiana.

Being set in New Orleans, there were plenty of musical influences from which to draw. Randy Newman and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band combined on "Down in New Orleans" sung by Dr. John, while Newman did the rest of the score in a jazz/blues style. Probably the biggest draw of "The Princess and the Frog," though, is that the characters are representative of the African-American community and helped Disney to expand its audience in that demographic.


Critics can no longer slam Disney as not having any Black princesses, and the fact that the script is clever and witty helps make "The Princess and the Frog" an enjoyable experience for everyone. However, there was one major marketing problem with the film that Disney was careful never to repeat: the use of the word "Princess" in the title. When the story of Rapunzel came around, it turned into "Tangled," and "The Ice Queen" became "Frozen." Those films did better, and the odds of "Princess" or something similar appearing in another Disney title any time soon is between slim and none.

Louis and the happy couple.

"The Princess and the Frog" does not belong in the true pantheon of Disney classics simply because it is fairly low-key, without major stars or hammy, show-stopping performances such as by Robin Williams in "Aladdin." The music is distinctive and fun but does not have the sweeping, popular impact of the songs from the great Disney animated musicals of the 1990s. For what it is, though, an affectionate politically correct look at a unique community, "The Princess and the Frog" is well worth your time and is an enjoyable way to spend an evening.


2020