The Princess and the Frog: A Pleasant Surprise

As a member of the generation that grew up with the Disney Renaissance, I can honestly say that it was one of the high points,m if not the highest point of the iconic studio’s long history. During that ten year period between The Little Mermaid and Tarzan, some of Disney’s most technically innovative, beautifully drawn, and overall greatest films came to their fruition. From masterpieces such as Beauty and the Beast to household names like The Lion King, Disney was batting a thousand, and nothing could take them down. This period saw them lifted from not only one of their greatest slumps, but a large one for animation as a whole, and triumph in ways that they had never done so before. They were able to recapture that old magic that had supposedly passed with the company’s creator, and orchestrated films with great music, stellar animation, involving stories, and wondrous characters. To say the least, it was a wonderful time to be a child in that era, but not so wonderful when transitioning into this past decade. This past decade has seen Disney implode upon itself, shelling out mediocre film after mediocre film while leeching off the success of their Pixar CGI extravaganzas. I thought that the old magic Walt Disney was known for and vanished, until I saw The Princess and the Frog. I admit, I didn’t expect much from this film, but after having seen it, I was not only happily surprised but I was actually impressed by just how wondrous this film was.

A modern rendition of the classic fairy tale, The Princess and the Frog is set in 1920s New Orleans and focuses on the hard-working waitress Tiana (Anika Rose), who focuses her endless perseverance and hard work towards achieving her dead father’s dream: owning their own restaurant. After providing her cooking skills for a ball hosted by her energetically wealthy friend Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), Tiana happens upon a talking frog that begs for her assistance. This frog is actually the newly arrived Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) who was transformed into a frog by the witch doctor, Shadow Man (Keith David), and must be transformed back via a kiss from a princess. Tiana reluctantly agrees to assist him in exchange for his financial support in starting her restaurant, but ironically the kiss fails, and she transforms into a frog as well. Seeking a cure from the spell that they are under, Tiana and Naveen journey together and eventually run into the trumpet playing alligator Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) and the cajun firefly Ray (Jim Cummings). Together, the foursome must find a way to cure Naveen and Tiana while also stopping the evil plot of the Shadow Man to gain Charlotte’s fortune and rule the souls of all of New Orleans.

Right from the onset, it is clear that this film is in many ways a predictable one, as it follows the same formula as Disney’s most successful works. The general story itself is the same, the romance is as punctuated as ever, and the characters themselves fit neatly into their categorical archetypes. Whereas this would be a problem in other films, The Princess and the Frog is able to avoid the dullness and cliches usually associated with these formulas because of one thing: its execution. Yes, the general Disney Princess story with romance, bumbling sidekicks, and a spell-casting antagonist are all here in spades, but the film presents all of it fantastically and with a great deal of fun. Firstly, there is not a single bad character in this film, as all of them are very well-explored, excellently acted, and very fun to watch and hang around. The two best characters in particular that exemplify this are Ray and The Shadow Man. While the former is a very humorous but emotionally-touching sidekick character, the latter is a near-perfect villain, voiced superbly by Keith David and ultimately standing as one of the best villains Disney has ever offered. Secondly, this story is tinged quite wonderfully with great humor and lighthearted moments that are sure to make every audience member, infantile to mature, bust a gut. All of it is innocent and family friendly, but quite funny nonetheless and is actually placed quite nicely throughout the storyline so as to balance and offset the darker, more somber notes to the plot.

Finally (and deserving of the most praise) is the visual experience of the film, which is simply magical. The animation, while keeping that same cartoon simplicity that Disney is known for, is quite breathtaking and moves with a fluidity not often seen outside of a Miyazaki film. Every character moves and acts with a life all of their own, and are so detailed to the point that the audience is almost convinced that they are real, living, stylized beings. This can best be seen in the sequences with The Shadow Man, whose own possessed shadow has a life of its own; moving independently of its master. Although it is only two-dimensional in the universe of the film (as well as our own) it moves with such vitality and energy, that I could have sworn that that shadow was as living and breathing as I was. Such animation is reminiscent of the great animation of Disney’s previous works and truly make the film a great one to look at with awe and astonishment. It makes you as the audience completely forget all the mistakes that Disney has made, or all the corners that they have cut with other, weaker animated ventures in the past. Instead, it makes you remember how excited you were the first time you saw the antelope stampede in Lion King, or how intimidating it was to see the giant Monstro in Pinocchio.

Originally, I thought this film was going to be simply decent. I didn’t think that anything that Disney could produce outside of Pixar would hold a candle to the old school Disney films, especially from the Renaissance. No way, no how. And while I admit after seeing it that it is not as good as Disney’s greatest masterpieces, it is of the same level as some of Disney’s brightest stars and deserves to be viewed. It doesn’t matter whether you are a kid or a senior citizen, you are going to like this film. It is as simple as that.

Box Office Predictions: July 30th, 2010

Hey guys! It’s that time of the week again, so let’s sit back and take a peek at what Hollywood is dangling in front of our eyes and wallets this time around. Up on the menu for this weekend is a triple feature free-for-all between some of our big contenders: Warner Bros., Universal, and Paramount. From one end, we have a sequel to the 2001 hit Cats and Dogs which possess the notability of having a nine year separation between itself and its predecessor. Next is Charlie St. Cloud, which is the newest attempt to prove Zac Efron’s capability as an acting force despite somewhat of a reliance on his pretty-boy looks. And finally, we have yet another comedy this year with the ever hilarious Steve Carell at the front lines for promotion and marketing. Will an attempt at franchise be able to defeat comedy and romance? Do these leading man have enough box office draw, or will their films completely fall into the dust of this financial footrace? Well, let’s find out.

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Budget: $85 Million

Box Office Prediction: $15 Million

As I already stated above, Cats and Dogs; The Revenge of Kitty Galore is a sequel to the 2001 family action comedy Cats and Dogs and will already suffer financially simply because of the near impassable difference between the two. Now granted, the original film was a huge box office hit and managed to gross a sizable $200 million during its run, but the difference between the two is simply too much to truly count on producing revenue through earlier fans of the first film. This sequel contains none of the original cast members, appears to have little obvious connection with the original 2001 film, and is just now being released after the first one came out nine years ago. The kids who watched the first film and liked it are most likely in high school or college now, so chances are they may not like it or even remember it enough to bother giving this more than a passing glance.

Also affecting this film is the marketing campaign, which has been completely shoddy and underdeveloped from the very beginning. This film was announced months ago and has been an occupier on upcoming films lists since at least last year. Despite that however, the film has received little to no coverage within film circles outside of its recent polarizing reviews, released no commercials or updates, and only just recently distributed the initial trailer for the film. I don’t know what Warner Bros. is thinking, but they should know better than to think that a property is going to generate box office receipts just by dropping a name alone. It needs to have coverage, expansion, and some enlightenment on what the product actually is if we as the audience are to be expected to buy into it.

Frankly, I don’t think this film stands much of a chance even without all that I listed above. It’s just another “cute live action animal” film just like the hundreds of others we have received in recent years. If Marmaduke was any sign, the audience is not interested any longer in those types of films, so Hollywood needs to quit making them. Because of this and the film’s relative lack of attention, I predict an opening upwards of $15 million. For a film like this, that opening is disappointing and weak, but it is optimistic as I can get with a film like that.

Charlie St. Cloud

Budget: $44 Million

Box Office Prediction: $9 Million

There is not too much to terribly say about Charlie St. Cloud, and frankly that is the biggest problem with the film. This latest exercise in the Zac Efron school of acting hasn’t been given any attention outside of the poster, which serves only as a reminder of the only selling element that this film has: Zac Efron. Now I have to give that guy credit where credit as do however, because he has actually done a decent job with transitioning himself from the dreamy Disney idol to a credible actor. His appearances in Hairspray and 17 Again were fairly solid, and his role in Orson Welles and Me opposite of Christian McKay was quite a career-high for him. Sure, he has a fanbase dedicated to him solely based on his looks and his involvement in the Disney vomitorium of High School Musical film after High School Musical film, but is becoming something of an acting talent within the industry and is starting to develop a fanbase solely around that.

That aside however, this film doesn’t appear to have much to offer to the box office buffet. Where as Cats and Dogs has family-friendly action and Dinner for Schmucks promises decent comedy, Charlie St. Cloud only promises a stereotypical romance that not even Nicholas Sparks could spew out of his pores. It’s nothing new, nothing we haven’t seen before, and something that movie-goers are starting to get tired of if box office figures are any indications. Now to be fair, this type of film does have its audience and I am sure that those people (along with the Zac Efron fangirls) will try to venture out and view this film. However, I simply don’t foresee this film making anything more than single digit numbers. It has had no advertisement, nothing to set it apart, and relies too much on the starpower of Zac Efron to truly draw people on that alone.

Dinner for Schmucks

Budget: $62.7 Million

Box Office Prediction: $25 Million

Right off the bat this film has some things going for it that the other two films opening this week do not, the biggest of which is star power. Now I did mention before for Charlie St. Cloud that they were relying too heavily on the star power of Zac Efron and yet that would bring in some (if only a little bit of) money for the project, however here is the difference: Steve Carell. In just this year alone with Despicable Me, Date Night, and the newest season of The Office, Steve Carell has proven himself to be a draw for audiences within the realm of comedy. He is a talent that people recognize as consistently funny, consistently witty, and consistently known for appearing in comedy that works. Just with advertising his name at the forefront, the film has done itself a big favor and guaranteed at least a little boosting within its box office gross. Couple that with the fact that the director of the film did both Meet The Parents and the Austin Powers films, and this movie is covered on the resume angle with a cast-iron tush.

Also bolstering this film is the marketing, which has been quite extensive and fairly relentless over recent weeks. Granted, the film has generated this buzz only fairly recently, as the film’s trailers did not really appear until a few months ago, and even then seemed enveloped within the slew of summer releases that have haunted us so far. However, the film kept itself out there over the past few weeks and has refused to allow itself to be forgotten. It may suffer from a lack of general plot (according to the trailer anyway) and not really making so much sense, but it has stayed in our attention spans for at least a little while, and that is more than can be said for the other films being released for this weekend. Considering that and my previous acknowledgments of the film, I predict an opening of around $25 million. It is not going to be anything spectacular, but it will be a solid opening, particularly in comparison to the two potential train wrecks being released alongside it.

Well that’s it for this week guys! Until next time, stay gold.

Box Office Predictions: July 23rd, 2010

All right guys, it’s that time of the week again as we look at what’s coming out and try and figure out much it’s going to make for its opening. Unlike previous weeks though, this one is cut-and-dry, set in stone, and overwhelmingly one-sided in favor of a certain action movie featuring a certain female mega superstar. Which could that be? The name of the star seems to have slipped my mind. Oh yeah, now I remember who it is. It’s Joey King, the female child actress set to appear in Ramona and Beezus: a quiet little family film with a budget of $15 million. Yeah, there is no possible chance that it would be overshadowed by a major action film starring Angelina Jolie and costing $130 million just in creation costs alone. It’s just not natural or even possible. But anyway, without further ado, here are out two films for the week.

Ramona and Beezus

Budget: $15 Million

Box Office Prediction: $8 Million

I honestly feel bad for this film; I emote with pity and sympathy towards it even though it’s a movie I know nearly nothing about. What I do know however is that when the biggest actor in your film lists the most notable item on their resume as Barney and Friends, then you know you’re in some deep trouble. All joking aside though, this film doesn’t stand a cold chance in hell of coming out on top of the box office this weekend or any. Granted, it has gotten some positive reviews and it is based on a series form books from famous children’s author Beverly Cleary, but at the end of the day none of that matters.

What does matter when it comes to this film is how it grabs your attention, how it sucks you in and makes you want to go see it. Things that do that are big names (both acting and directing), an interesting premise, or even just a funny looking trailer. But this film has none of that, considering at first glance it contains all the memorability of a Barney song. It’s opening at a time when Inception is gradually reeling in the curious audiences, and a new Angelina Jolie film that has been marketed to all hell for months now is set to be released. Up against such odds, this film has no chance, although I remain slightly optimistic with an $8 million opening. It’s not much, but it will be a good start to off set its fortunately minimal budget and the good reviews will hopefully be able to attract an audience of that size at least. I’m optimistic, but still doubtful.

Salt

Budget: $130 Million

Box Office Prediction: $37 Million

This movie has the majority of the essentials required to guarantee a higher opening weekend and not just because it is an action film. For one thing, the film has been heavily marketed for the past few months on many television channels and we’ve been aware of its existence via the trailer for even longer than that. For another thing, this film has been receiving a host of positive reviews, particularly from Roger Ebert, who went so far as to give it 4 out of 4 stars. But the biggest reason: Angelina Jolie. From Lara Croft to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, she has always been able to reel in the cash for whatever film she played the lead in. Granted, this is more because of her beauty than her acting, but you cannot die that she is a financial force to be reckoned with regardless of the reason.

Now looking at this week, Salt really does stand out because of these aforementioned, and honestly only stands to have competition from last week’s Inception, as that movie is slowly gaining its audience through word of mouth and stellar reviews. With only that obstacle in its way, I predict a solid opening of $37 million for the film. Granted, that isn’t exactly a strong one but that’s because this film doesn’t have the same interesting premise that some of her other films did. Honestly, we are going to see this film only because we want to see Angelina Jolie kick some ass and blow shit up. That’s the only reason. However, it’s a strong enough reason to get an opening such as that.

Well that’s it for this week. Until next time, stay gold.

Box Office Predictions: June 24th, 2010

Hey guys, we’re near the end of the week again so let’s get on with the box office predictions for the week! Last week was a very easy one, with Pixar draining the other releases of all their money (wink Jonah Hex wink), but this week we have a couple of comedies coming out (a buddy and an action comedy) so we’ll see how we do.

Knight and Day

Budget: $125 Million

Box Office Prediction: $16-20 Million

Looking at this film, you’ll notice right away that it has both a major asset and a major handicap from the get-go in the form of Tom Cruise. On the positive side, Tom Cruise is a consistent box office draw, producing blockbuster hits despite various negative reviews on his films (Mission Impossible III and Valkyrie for example). This, along with his small bolster in popularity due to his role as Les Grossman from Tropic Thunder will provide a certain level of financial draw for the film. At the same time however, Tom Cruise’s popularity is still at a huge low because of his public persona, and those who hate him will not come out to support his movie.

Also against this movie is the fact that the premise itself isn’t all that interested, especially since we as the audience have seen many times before, and done better. No amount of marketing like this film has shelled out for months will make it a box office hit. Couple that with the fact that most people will definitely still go out to support Toy Story 3, and you’ll end up with this movie failing miserably.

Grown-Ups

Budget: $75 Million

Box Office Prediction: $10 Million

At least with Knight and Day, you have some action and a little Tom Cruise to help the draw of that film. With this film, all you have are a bunch of comedians who typically turn out one bad film after another until the occasional decent one comes around. That, and the sheer amount of advertising for this film, is not enough to generate a box office following, especially not with all the tweens saving their money for Twilight: Eclipse next week. This film, with all of that as well as a lack of interest in seeing compared to the other films out, will cause it to fail.

That’s it for this week. I’ll do a follow-up on Monday but until then, stay gold.