The Princess and the Frog

Gorgeous. A well received return to Disney's traditional roots. Beautiful animation, memorable characters, catchy songs and music. The voice work is pitch perfect. The leads are great but it's the side characters that bring that Disney magic. I always love Keith Davids distinctive voice and here he brings such delightful menace to Dr Facilier. Michael-Lee Wooley's Louis the Aligator is so spirited and Jim Cummings Ray the Firefly is heart warming. Jenifer Lewis brings Mama Odie to life and she is gold! The Princess and the Frog is funny and it's sad. It's charged and it's touching. It's New Orleans. Random side note: I took my son to see the exhibition Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney's Classic Fairy Tales in Melbourne, Australia in April 2011 which ended with PatF (and Tangled, also another joy to watch) and they had the character maquettes. It was quite a spin to walk among these great characters with a third dimension and see the fine attention to detail. Totally Ninja!

Beautifully summarised. Not surprisingly so, this film has earned its place as my favourite Disney feature. Being partial to cooking and very much a fan of New Orleans Blues and Jazz, the plot and soundtrack made the best of first impressions. The film and soundtrack are now a permanent fixture in my iphone.