the princess and the frog

I only just learned this morning that Disney is releasing a film, The Princess and the Frog, in December that is set in the French Quarter. ~insert obligatory pot shot at nagin here~ This makes me oh so happy. I know that it’s been fashionable at times to disparage Disney, but I could never feel the passion of it. I’m to much of a kid. I still have ~and occasionally play with~ dolls, and I have almost every Pixar film ever made.

I love kid games, and I love kid movies. And I’m especially excited about this one. This neighborhood has inspired so many stories. You can feel them begging to be told when you walk down the street. I want to hear them all.

It’s high time that the lineup of Disney princesses includes a beautiful American with caramel skin. So many of the stories from New Orleans involve black people, and I couldn’t be more proud that Disney’s first black princess comes from New Orleans.

The movie is a re-telling of the classic tale by the same name, but apparently instead of the kiss turning the frog back to a prince, his frogliness is contagious and she becomes a frog instead. I’m guessing fun ensues, at the end of which the girl becomes beautiful again and they live happily ever after.

The artwork that has been released is lovely (see below), and just the trailer (also below) makes me excited to see St. Louis Cathedral and the streetcars used in a popular story. I’ve had the opportunity to take some teenagers from the poorer areas of New Orleans to the French Quarter and when I told them we were going to Jackson Square several of them asked me, “What is Jackson Square?” I kid you not.

John Goodman ~with whom every third person you meet has had a drink in the quarter~ and Oprah Winfrey are in the film, which will be released on December 11. I, for one, will be there with bells on.

These are just my favorites of the lovely images that have been released from this film: