Princess & The Frog (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

It only took a couple of huge misses like Valiant and Pixar bringing in all the money and critical acclaim to get Disney back on the right track. That's not to say I'm one of those people who is anti-CG and thinks anything hand-drawn is good just because of how it's animated, but face it, Disney's own CG animated movies are best forgotten. And most of their 2D animated movies after Lilo and Stitch were a joke. I finally watched The Princess and the Frog tonight, after hearing my 3 year old daughter rave about it and how cool the Shadow Man is. And you know what? This IS a pretty damn good movie. To me, it seems like this could've come out in the early 90s along with Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Rescuers Down Under and fit right in. There really isn't much I can say as far as the negatives go with this movie aside from that I wanted it to be a little longer, and that I wish Shadow Man would've gotten more screen time.The story is pretty basic, but still fun. Tiana is a lower class girl trying to save up enough money to buy a building and turn it into a restaurant, which was a dream her father had. She's working two jobs as a waitress, and saves every cent she can, filling a bunch of coffee cans with tips. One day, Prince Naveen comes to town in search of a rich princess to marry since his parents cut him off, and it's either that or get a job. Tiana's friend Charlotte just happens to fit the bill, but before he can do anything, he takes a chance at getting rich an easier way thanks to the sinister Shadow Man. Long story short, Naveen turns into a frog and Tiana turns into a frog as well when she tries to turn him back with a kiss just like the old fairy tale. The two set off to find a way to turn human again before it's permanent, and before someone else marries Charlotte.I really did love everything about this movie. Most of the songs are memorable, especially Almost There and Friends on the Other Side. Though if you think about it, the animation during the latter is an awful lot like the Genie's song in Aladdin- A Friend Like Me. Regardless, the Shadow Man is one of the coolest Disney villains, animated or live action, to appear in a long time. He's kind of a cross between Ursula and Jafar, and the fact that he uses his shadow to control other people via their shadows is just plain rad. I was just disappointed that he got little screen time compared to other Disney greats like Scar, Ursula, Jafar and even lesser ones like Clayton. The animation, while it did have a lot of CG bits here and there (magazine covers and cards stood out like a sore thumb), was beautiful, and the character designs are a lot like those in the early/mid 90s, before Disney started to get weird like they did with Mulan and Hercules. The cast of characters is great, and characters I thought were just going to be comic relief ended up having some truly heart warming moments. What can I say? This is a great movie, and anyone who had doubts about Disney's future needs to check it out.Both the audio and picture quality on the blu-ray are perfect. 'not much else needs to be said here. As for the extras, well, go look at the list of them, 'cause there's a lot and I don't have enough room to talk about them all. But each extra covers nearly every aspect of making the film, though most of them are a bit on the short side. It's good to see that a newer film like this is getting the same treatment as the Platinum and Diamond editions of Snow White and others. If a special edition of this comes out in a few years, I really have no idea what extras they can throw in aside from a retrospective or something. And hey, you're also getting the dvd and digital copy here too, so you can keep the blu-ray at home to enjoy on a nice tv/sound system, bring the dvd in the car for trips, and have an extra copy on your computer or portable media player. This is a great deal.Do yourself a favor and get this movie, if not for your kids, for yourself if you're a fan of animation and good jazz music. I've seen a lot of reviews talking about how kids were scared by the Shadow Man, but really, it depends on what your kids like. My daughter loves 'scary' things like the Nightmare Before Christmas, Skelanimals and Dia de los Muertos style art, and she's only 3. Needless to say, when another kid would say that he's scary when watching the movie with her, she'd go "no, he's cool!". But aside from that, there's not much here that should be questionable for anyone. Thanks for making this movie Disney, now keep up the good work with the next few and we'll see if you can get back on the road to greatness that you once were.

It's a well-known term that you have to miss something to really appreciate what it means to you. That's also the case with hand drawn animation from Disney. Between the years of absence of a hand drawn flick (2004 to 2009), I re-discovered and re-appreciated Disney classic hand drawn features again. While 2007's "Enchanted" had some animated parts (which were wonderfully animated), it was a sign of relief when I heard about Disney planning to make a full-length hand drawn feature again. And hardcore Disney fans have no reason to worry; "The Princess and the Frog" is definitively worth a watch and it's more compelling than Disney's recent hand drawn features, which were "Brother Bear" and "Home on the Range" (in spite of enjoying the latter movie a lot)This movie may not be one of Disney's very best features, but it's still a watchable and enjoyable feature which is worth to recommend to every Disney fan. Just don't expect a sweeping, grand adventure - this is after all John Musker and Ron Clements', which were behind "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin" and "Hercules", work. If you're going in for a lighthearted, fun adventure, then you'll be certainly pleased."The Princess and the Frog" does certainly have the feel of a Classic Disney Movie (at least those from the 90's), although the segments on the Bayou does bring back memories to a Don Bluth movie as well, without that being a disadvantage. Although the beginning is a little slow, the screenplay is mostly quite solid, bringing humor, adventure, romance and emotion into a cohesive unit. Since this after all a Disney movie, there ought to be a moral and a nice one as well, although you would wonder how a Disney could possibly work without a moral.The characters are quite passable and the directors have made them appealing to the youngsters, but they've also made Prince Naveen the strongest Disney male in a long time and Facilier one of the most charismatic villains ever. Although the supporting characters may not be the most memorable ones in Disney history, they still appear as acceptable and evocative. They share great chemistry together, especially the two lovebirds.With the exception of some badly drawn townspeople, the animation is top-notch, both scenery and character design. As other Disney fans, I worried about Randy Newman's music, since I've never found his work for Pixar particularly noteworthy or memorable. But fortunately that isn't the case by "The Princess and the Frog", the songs are listenable and fun and flow nicely with the movie.BONUS FEATURESThis review is based on the Combo Pack Edition, which is definitively recommendable for fans who want the film on both blu ray and DVD - and an extra disc with a digital copy. But for those who want to check out more special features, should definitively go with the Blu ray edition, since most of the extras lie there.Both the DVD and the blu ray edition include an Audio Commentary by directors John Musker and Ron Clemens, along with producer Peter Del Vecho. The trio provides an informative and listenable commentary, full with details of the production, story and character insights and animation. Not the very best Audio Commentary I've heard in my life, but neither far from the worst and it's the most recommendable of the features on the whole Combo Pack Edition.Next up are a few deleted scenes, the music video from Ne-Yo's "Never Knew I Needed" (which by the way doesn't includes clips from the movie) and a game called "What Do You See: Princess Portraits", which is fun on its own merits, but nothing memorable.On the blu ray is where the most interesting stuff lies. Or is it? Well, at lest you can play the movie in two versions; one regular one and the other with "Work in Progress". The latter is quite interesting, if you're a hardcore fan of the movie."Bringing Life to Animation" is some life-footage references of two of the scenes in the movie; The Proposal and the musical sequence "Dig A Little Deeper", along with the director's commentary. It's quite informative and interesting to look at.Next up is "Magic in the Bayou: The Making of a Princess" (22:11), which looks at the production as a whole. Although some parts of the production are interesting, the whole featurette comes off as a mild disappointment. Not that it's a bad featurette, but compared to other "Making of"-featurettes from Disney DVD's, "Making of a Princess" feels rather slight in many ways and could've been more informative in some parts.The other featurettes comes off as bigger disappointments, since the blu ray includes several videos that have already been released on the Internet. Some of them are a little informative, while others are pure promotional. But still, they've already been released on the Internet and in this new YouTube-era, those featurettes would be easy to find on YouTube and just exists as to refill the blu ray-edition. With a heavily promoted and successful movie (although it took a while for it cross 100 $), couldn't Disney have made more interesting featurettes?OVERALL REVIEW"The Princess and the Frog" proves that Disney is still capable of making enchanting and captivating features. Although this isn't Disney's very best film, it's still a entertaining and heartfelt movie for families to enjoy. Although both the DVD and blu ray edition are surprisingly light on bonus material, I still give the Combo Pack Edition four of five stars, mostly because of the movie itself.Now my only wish is that Disney will continue making good-quality hand drawn animation again.

I liked the price. 2 discs; blu ray & dvd. I used them to watch the film though they could be used as frisbees or bird scarers.

I'm reviewing the dvd "Princess and the Frog - Villains edition". I only bought this one to complete my old set. (just remove the Villains slipcover and you see the old style numbering on the side). I'm very happy with this dvd, thank you Amazon!

We have not had a "proper" Disney animation for a while. Nothing against PIxar, I love them, but they lacked a certain charm compared to this style of animation.As for the movie, it is adorably hilarious from start to finish.

Perfect!!! Does what it says on the tin. :)Packaged well, fast delivery

Perfect quality and my whole family loved the film from beginning to end. Especially the adults! Definitely be purchasing more products soon.