Dog Day Afternoon

Happy New Year online readers! I would like to start this year off with a series of amazing films that star one of the most powerful actors in the industry, Al Pacino. Unlike how I usually just do a Friday review, there will be a review every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this month of his movies. Let’s kick this month off with the 1975 classic, “Dog Day Afternoon.”

This movie is Sidney Lumet’s most accurate, most showy New York movie – that consistently crucial and energetic Lumet genre which also has “The Pawnbroker” and “Serpico” and exists completely surrounded by (but always separate from) the rest of his work. Lumet’s New York movies include many features of the city’s life as they are stories of the city’s life.

“Dog Day Afternoon” is a melodrama, based on an actual event, about a tragically bad planned Brooklyn bank robbery, and it’s wonderfully acted by actors who appear to have grown on the city’s sidewalks in the heat and depression of an endless midsummer.

Vincent Canby advised, “If you can let yourself laugh at desperation that has turned seriously lunatic, the film is funny, but mostly it's reportorially efficient and vivid, in the understated way of news writing that avoids easy speculation.”

Each of the many major lives it touches has been grotesquely bent out of shape. The director and Frank Pierson, who wrote the great screenplay, don’t try to give reasons. The movie only says what happened and no more. This strictly limits the film’s emotional part, but not its seriousness or its fascinations. Canby describes this movie as “a gaudy street-carnival of a movie that rudely invites laughs at inappropriate moments, which is in keeping with the city's concrete sensibility.”

Since I wasn’t around for the actual event, I will let Canby tell you about it: “The incident on which the film is based was the attempt to rob a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank on Aug. 22, 1972. The two bandits, one of whom was seeking money for a sex-change operation for a boyfriend, failed miserably, after they held the bank's employes hostage for 14 hours, appeared live on television, became the center of an impromptu neighborhood Mardi Gras, and negotiated for a jet plane to fly them out of the country.”

Lumet’s film is mainly concerned with the robbery attempt and the time it took. Only briefly does the camera view outside and away from the lower-middle-class neighborhood of apartments over pizza parlors, barber shops and barrooms. Once in a while we see the neighborhood in a high, cloudy long-shot, the tar-paper shingles shining in the reflected heat.

Mostly the film takes place inside the bank. This concentration in space and time is responsible for a good majority of the film’s dramatic strength.

Also are the brilliant characterizations by the actors in this large cast, including Pacino, who Canby says is “as the (probably) more than a bit mad mini-mind of the holdup, a man with bravura style when he plays to the crowds outside the bank but apparently quite demented in his personal relationships.”

He promises his love for his wife (Susan Peretz) and children and even his boyfriend, who he “married” in a drag wedding a few months earlier with his mother (Judith Malina) as a witness. On the other hand, his boyfriend, played with just the right combination of fear, dignity and absurdity by Chris Sarandon (Susan Sarandon’s ex-husband), shows that his would-be supporter has tried to kill him many times.

The other actors that everyone who has seen this movie remembers are Penny Allen as the bank’s professional head teller, Estelle Omens as a woman teller at that age who is against profanity especially under stress (“My ears aren’t garbage cans”), John Cazale as Pacino’s sidekick in the robbery, a man who doesn’t smoke because “the body is the temple of the Lord,” and James Broderick (Matthew Broderick’s dad) and Charles Dunning as the main officers of the law. Of certain interest is Peretz as Pacino’s wife, who we see the twist of city pain, anger, charm and violence, which is one of the things that “Dog Day Afternoon” is all about.

What everyone remembers about this movie is Pacino out in the street yelling, “Attica! Attica! Attica!” This has become one of the most memorable quotes ever in film history. If you haven’t seen this movie, what are you waiting for? If you’re a Pacino fan, watch it and you’ll like it. This is one of my favorites.

Look out for more excitement next week for “Al Pacino Month.”

Big Hero 6

We have now come to the finale of this year’s “Disney Month,” where I will take a look at the studio’s latest installment, “Big Hero 6,” which came out last month. My brother and I went and saw this in the theaters, and it didn't disappoint. It was No. 1 in theaters I believe on its opening weekend, and many of you have probably already seen it. If not, you must see it if it’s still playing in theaters near you because you do not want to miss out on this action-packed adventure that is meant for both children and adults.

Angie Campbell said in her review, “"Big Hero 6" is based on an obscure Marvel comic book of which I personally had no previous knowledge, so I can't compare the two.” I have to agree with her because I have never read a comic book either…except for maybe like two comics. Taking place in the fictional city of San Fransokyo, which does look like a combination of Tokyo and San Francisco, the story is about a teenage troublemaker Hiro Hamada, a 14-year-old genius who graduated high school early, voiced by Ryan Potter. His older brother Tadashi, voiced by Daniel Henney, advises Hiro to attend college at the same University Tadashi attends, a “nerd school” where these ingenious minds make new technology to improve humanity.

Tadashi’s project is Baymax, an inflatable robot who is also a doctor that loves asking, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?” voiced by Scott Adsit. After meeting Baymax’s and Tadashi’s classmates (T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, comedian Damon Waynes Jr, and Génesis Rodríguez), Hiro decides that he wants to invent his own creation in order to get admission into this college, but after sharing it at the college’s convention, Tadashi dies in the college fire, leaving Hiro grief-stricken and secluded. Baymax senses Hiro’s pain, both physical and emotional, and comes to his aid, wanting to help heal this young kid, even as Hiro changes himself, the robot and the four classmates become six superheroes, just what the title reveals.

“Big Hero 6” is clearly meant for boys just like “Frozen” was meant for little girls, a huge hit that will have a line of merchandise, and it succeeds very well as one of the best kids’ superhero flicks. Action-packed with lots of legitimate laughs, “Big Hero 6” also gives some deep philosophical questions and issues. It’s main themes deals with grief and loss, and how children learn to cope in the middle of their emotions. Best part of it all, of course, is Baymax. He looks like he’s related to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man but he’s big, huggable and downright funny, but also tough when he needs to be. He’s a true friend and a great role model for kids, especially compared to some of the superheroes that appeared in theaters recently. Baymax’s main mission is to heal, not harm.

Campbell said in her review, “What surprised me most about "Big Hero 6" was the audience in the theater with me. It was mostly male between the ages of 15 and 25, with a few families thrown into the mix. Best I could tell, no one left the theater unhappy.”

Doesn’t matter because should parents know before taking their kids to see this film?

The biggest problem parents might have with this movie (spoilers) is that Hiro has to go through losing a loved one, not once but twice, and each loss feels so weighted, it will pull on your heartstrings with anyone who at least feels. There are also scenes early on of misbehavior with gambling, sneaking out, throwing a cat up the stairs and even being locked up in prison. Not to mention when Hiro practices revenge, he risks his own life and the lives of his friends. In the end, he learns a valuable lesson about letting go of these hurtful emotions, thanks to Baymax.

Campbell ended her review by saying, “Overall, the PG-rated "Big Hero 6" won't cause much concern for parents and offers a clean, fun and emotional outing to the theater that every member of the family will likely enjoy. It's easily one of the best-for-all-ages movies I've seen in a long time.”

I would have to agree with her completely because this is Disney’s first take on a superhero movie, and for their first attempt, they succeeded. This is easily one of my favorite superhero movies, and one of my favorite Disney movies. I like the path that Disney has been taking recently with their movies. The princesses in their movies are not the typical damsel in distresses like before, but are now hardworking women that also know how to defend themselves. Also, they are making some sci-fi, action-packed, adventurous movies that are meant for the whole family to see. Let’s see how they will do in the future with their next films that will be made.

Well, thank you for joining in on my first year of “Disney Month.” Have a nice New Year’s Eve, and I’ll see you all next year for more exciting reviews. Take care.

Frozen

Alright everyone, the wait is finally over. It’s time to look at “Frozen,” released in 2013, the Disney movie that people are still talking about and making cover songs to their music to this day. Unless you forget among all the noise made by Marvel Studios and “Star Wars” rumors, Disney still does big business in princesses, and they’re aiming to prove it with this great movie for the holidays. This is apparently very loosely adapted from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale, "The Snow Queen," it’s the story of a vaguely Nordic kingdom and the two sisters, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell), are in charge of ruling it while they’re parents (Jennifer Lee and a great voice actor Maurice LaMarche who has done voice work for “Futurama,” The Brain in “Pinky and the Brain” and “Animaniacs,” two of my favorite cartoons, and Egon Spengler from the Ghostbusters cartoons) leave and apparently die. The spunky heroine and isolated castle hearken back to Disney's recent hit “Tangled.” The sisterly conflict feels like “The Little Mermaid.” The knowing fairy tales riffs are just like “Enchanted.” This is exact Disney hit-making at its best, but with enough charm to get away with it.

Way before Elsa’s powers of making ice and snow from her fingertips goes out of control, the animation is guided by directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee is spectacular – Elsa and Anna’s parents die in a single shot of a devastating storm out at sea, and the stony cliffs surrounding the village of Arrendel are dramatic even before covered in ice. Elsa reveals in her powers as a child, but after a close call with Anna and a poorly shot bolt of ice, she’s clear to hide her powers and withdraw from their close sisterly bond. The passing of the king and queen means Elsa must rule, but the stress of her coronation (and Anna’s love-rush decision to get married to a prince she just met, which will have a scene later that resembles the one in "Enchanted") makes her lose control. Elsa runs up into the mountains, leaving ice castles and blizzards in her path and restraining the power ballad Let it Go. Katey Rich said in her review, “Especially as sung by Menzel it's a shameless riff on Wicked's "Defying Gravity"; that hasn't kept it from sticking in my head for weeks now, and good luck shaking it out of yours.”

Anna’s heroic journey is, which is a relief for this film, not about a boy or even about herself – she travels to the mountains to convince Elsa to come back, and partners up with rugged ice salesman Kristof, voiced by Jonathan Groff, to get there. Kristof and Anna are going to fall in love with one another eventually, of course, and she’ll get rid of her prince fiancé Hans, voiced by Santino Fontana, but the focus stays firmly on Anna and Elsa, as Lee’s screenplay repeatedly challenges fairy tale tropes to make them about sisterly, not romantic, love. The music of the story and the songs can feel little factory-made – funny sidekicks in the shape of mountain trolls show up at the exact right time for a laugh, and the old man villains are made directly from Gaston’s mob in “Beauty and the Beast.” However, “Frozen” has all the right modern touches too, without falling into obvious territory.

It also pulls off a great luck in Olaf, the snowman you saw in every poster and voiced by Josh Gad from “Book of Mormon.” Rich stated, “The goofy sidekick is usually an exasperating pander to younger kids who might get restless after too much story, and even in the brilliant Mormon Gad tended to overplay his schlubby goofball hand.” However, Olaf is consistently, actually hilarious, and even has the film’s best song with In Summer, dreaming of how great a snowman’s life will be in summer (Anna and Kristof don’t have the strength to tell him the truth). Even Olaf’s origin story helps emphasize the sister’s relationship – “Frozen’s” story may sometimes feel machine-made perfect, but there’s happiness in watching a movie this big stay so determinedly on point.

Entering her serious area after making her name on television, Kristen Bell is a honorably spunky and funny heroine, while Menzel’s skillfully shoulders the film’s heaviest drama (and by far the best princess dresses, to be seen on Halloween’s shelves everywhere every year). Both girls are heroines are on the level as Belle, Jasmine or Ariel, and do them one better by choosing family over the usual romance – a nice contrast to say, Bella from “Twilight.” Big animated movies are under ridiculous pressure to teach kids the “right” lessons, but “Frozen” uses that pressure lightly, putting the deserved focus on its beautiful animation, its crazily catchy songs and its well-earned emotional strengths. Especially as Disney attempts to restore older princesses like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella for live-action dramas, it’s nice to see the studio go back to what they’ve always done well and prove they still can do this.

I will have to admit that when this movie was released, I didn’t notice the countless covers made online on Let it Go. It was only after I saw Nostalgia Critic’s “Let it Go Videos” that I noticed it, but you will hum or sing that song after you watch this movie. But that’s not a bad thing since this movie will leave you with a good feeling after you have seen it. I haven’t seen a movie like this get talked about so much since maybe one of the Disney movies in the 90s. I will say it’s nice to see a Disney movie get talked about, which will be talked about forever. The soundtrack is right up there with some of Disney’s best, and this movie is one of my favorite Disney films, hands down, as is "The Princess and the Frog," “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph.” See "Frozen" if you haven’t because you are missing out.

My brother, sister and mother went and saw this movie without me. They asked what time my class was, and when I told them, they knew they wouldn't be able to drop me off at my college before my class started. So I had to wait until the DVD was released. I had told them that I had the movie on hold at the library, so I felt sad that they went and saw it without me. However, after seeing it when I got it from the library, I didn't feel left out anymore.

Wow, I actually feel great after reviewing this film. Wouldn’t you if you were reviewing this great film? This is not a surprise at all. What will I be reviewing tomorrow for the finale of “Disney Month?” Well, you will have to see for yourself. You might be able to guess, you might not, but all will be revealed tomorrow.

Wreck-It Ralph

Disney has been really riding great these last few years, haven’t they? To prove this, let’s take a look at “Wreck-It Ralph,” released in 2012. The film begins with a creative brainstorm: The movie takes place mostly inside the worlds of a handful of arcade-style video games, giving an excuse for the backgrounds, ground rules and characters to constantly reinvent themselves. The title is inspired by the protagonist, one of those clumsy, misunderstood giants who only wants to be loved.

For Wreck-It Ralph, this will never happen in the game he’s in, the Fix-It Felix Jr. video game, which is like the Donkey Kong arcade game. Shown in animation only a generation ahead from Pac-Man, Ralph is a strong villain who only has one function, using his fists and feet to smash holes in a high-rise apartment building. Then there’s Fix-It Felix Jr., a handyman with unlimited skills, to fix everything. Being the renowned hero of the Nicelanders, the residents of the building, Felix is regularly invited to their high-class parties, while Ralph is spending every night in the town junk yard.

Ralph’s depression is invaluably expressed by the voice over of the beloved John C. Reilly, who can sound bothered by his very nature. Felix, voiced by Jack McBrayer from “30 Rock,” is happy, excited and helpful, even if trapped in the identity of the Good Man, like Mario.

After years of being the villain, Ralph wants to escape, and that’s the excuse for the movie to break free from the resemblance of its game. Ralph goes through power cables and a surge protector to a place called Grand Game Central, where characters can visit. Warning: Even though the rules let them to die carelessly and frequently inside their designated video games, if they die outside, that’s it.

Ralph hears a game called “Hero’s Duty” (a mix between Call of Duty and Halo), where soldiers are led by a sergeant, voiced by Sue Sylvester from “Glee,” Jane Lynch, to shoot down the Cybugs that are the plague of all games. He wins a big gold medal and hopes it will make him look good to the Nicelanders. Ralph’s next game he goes into is a small racing game named Sugar Rush Land (looking very much like “Mario Kart”), that looks like it’s painted entirely in the colors of the cheap bright candies sold on Valentine’s Day (think about the pink and yellow hearts that say “I Love You”).

The main person here is Vanellope von Schweetz, voiced by a comedian I really hate, Sarah Silverman, who is a glitch and isn’t too skilled at handling game’s race cars, but she wants to be a racer. She’s stopped by the stuck-up, snobby King Candy, voiced by Alan Tudyk. Then there’s a final battle which has groups of Cybugs.

More than in a good majority of animated films, the art design and color palette of “Wreck-It Ralph” has unlimited sets, costumes and rules, giving the movie determined originality and different behavior in every different gaming world. Wreck-It Ralph, who looks not a million miles different from Shrek, makes a lovable guide through this arcade universe.

Roger Ebert said in his review, “I have a complaint, and it's my usual one: The whole movie comes down to an interminable high-velocity race and chase scene, perhaps timed to match the moment when the kids in the audience have consumed so much pop and candy they're having their own sugar rush. That can get old real fast for the adults, and heaven help those parents whose children insist on viewing the DVD over and over and over and over again. I suppose that goes with the territory.”

My only complaint with this movie is why Sarah Silverman? Couldn’t you have gone with someone better than her? She’s the only distraction for me in this movie because I’m not a fan of her at all. I find her too immature and not even anywhere close to being funny. Actually, I think she’s really annoying, and I’ve seen her a few times in interviews, and she really has gotten under my skin. I just can’t stand her. 

Aside from that, this is actually great for a Disney movie. For anyone who knows, there has never been any good video game adaptation at all. None of the video game adaptations that have been released have been any good and have sucked badly, but this movie is actually really good and great for the whole family to watch. If you haven’t seen it, then you should. You will love it, I promise you.

Well, I think people can guess what I will review tomorrow for “Disney Month.” What will it be? I will not even give a clue to what it is. Just wait until tomorrow so I can keep all of you in suspense.

Winnie the Pooh

Well everyone, I think I’m going to look at another Winnie the Pooh movie, “Winnie the Pooh,” released in 2011. This is a sweet and innocuous children’s movie based on the long-term tale of the events in Hundred Acre Wood, if you remember when I did the first Pooh movie. Even though it’s obvious the targeted audience is for Elementary school students and below, it might be loved by adults who grew up reading the A.A. Milne books and the drawings by E.H. Shepard that are so closely recognized with it. This is that rare book that can hardly be thought of aside from the illustrations.

In a time of the high 3D animation and special effects, the way the film looks is gentle and pleasing. Roger Ebert even admitted, “It was hand-animated, I'm told, and the backgrounds use a subtle and reassuring watercolor style. It's a nightmare-proof experience for even the youngest viewers.”

You probably already know the story. Pooh Bear wants honey, and a handful of adventures are the product of that. A critical subplot has Eeyore the Donkey, voiced by Bud Luckey, who lost his tail. One of the clues can be found in the pin that is stuck where his tail was. Do you think it was pinned on all the time? Because of his loss, Eeyore is sadder and lethargic than he normally is, and definitely in an adult movie, we would speculate clinical depression.

This version, directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall, has a particularly stylistic touch: The movie combines the letters and page design of the book (or an admiration of it) with the animation, so the words do appear on the screen and seem to be as real as the characters, sometimes even appearing in the pile at the bottom of the screen.

Here’s what Ebert said about the songs: “There are some jolly songs, performed fetchingly by Zooey Deschanel, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, one of them involving a not really very scary monster named Backson, who I confess I do not remember from the books, although I have forgotten a great deal since I was 6. (I do, come to think of it, remember Milne's poetry volume Now We Are Six.)”

There is one surprise with the voice cast, Craig Ferguson is Owl. Also, Jim Cummings is voicing Pooh and Tigger (who I think is related to Tony the Tiger). John Cleese is narrating. The voice talents otherwise seem to have been picked for their voices and not their popularity. Don’t worry, there’s no Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, or Johnny Depp. (When you see an animated movie that says Johnny Depp is one of the voices, what does that say to people?)

The film runs by really quick at 69 minutes. It is led by an animated short about Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, who we find out was misplaced from her beloved lake by evil men building a golf course. Never has Nessie been so gentle. The whole movie could make a nice introduction to moviegoing for small children.

I took my nephews and niece to see this movie when it came out, and we all really liked it. I highly suggest everyone go out and see this movie on DVD because it’s a great family film. If you liked any of the Pooh movies, that you will love this one, I promise you. Watch out for more excitement in “Disney Month” tomorrow.

Tangled

It’s now time to look at Disney’s take on the Rapunzel story, “Tangled,” released in 2010. For this to be Disney’s 50^th animated film, the Disney animators have taken a lot of risks and tried everything to be everyone’s favorite animated company. There have been some obstacles down the road, but at the end of the tunnel they are successful.

Whether you like inspiring adventure or sentimental romance, traditional fairy tales or stories of modern families, musicals, or comedies, even blondes or brunettes, “Tangled” has something for you. Using so many animation standards has its risks, but once “Tangled” settles in and accepts the important appeal of its better nature the rewards are evident.

Since this is directed by Nathan Greno and “Bolt” co-director Bryon Howard, one of those rewards is a beautiful computer-animated visual that includes rich landscapes and characters that look fuller and more lifelike than before in the past.

Kenneth Turan stated in his review, “"Tangled" can be forgiven if it takes some time to find its footing. It is after all a story of a lost princess that does a lot to appeal to boys, a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale that (in this country at least) decided it was wiser to avoid the name itself, and a movie with five Alan Menken songs that doesn't call itself a musical.”

The first shakiness is improved by the annoying and overly convincing nature of co-protagonist Flynn Rider, voiced by Zachary Levi, a Satan-may-care bandit who is introduced saying more smart remarks than a regular at a Comedy Club. Like someone in a “Shrek” sequel, Flynn calls Rapunzel “blondie” and says “I don’t do back story” when asked about his past.

This comment aside, it is Flynn who tells us on Rapunzel’s history. She was the daughter of a king and queen (really!), she was stolen as an infant and raised by a tricky woman named Mother Gothel, voiced by theater actress Donna Murphy, who keeps her oblivious about her biological parents and locks her up in a tower because contact with Rapunzel’s magical hair keeps rejuvenating Mother Gothel.

Turan commented, “As envisioned by Disney hair technicians Xinmin Zhao and Kelly Ward (who devoted 10 years of her life and a PhD thesis to pondering how to computer animate hair), that mane is quite the force of nature, 70 feet long and capable of many things, including tying people up and batting them down.”

Rapunzel, voiced by Delaney Rose Stein as a little child, it should be underlined, is hardly clear by her hair. As voiced as an adult by former idol for teenagers Mandy Moore, this is a very modern young woman, going to become 18 and, with only a chameleon named Pascal as her friend, is really anxious to get out of the tower and see the outside world.

What Rapunzel is really eager to see in front of her are a group of floating lanterns lighting up the sky that she’s only seen from a far away distance. It’s the one gift she wants for her 18^th birthday, but for Mother Gothel anything that makes Rapunzel leave the tower is a non-starter.

A guilt-tripping, overprotective, extremely scheming parent who looks like a spawn of Satan, Mother Gothel is given lines like, “skip the drama, stay with momma.” Though she only says this to sugarcoat her cruelty, Mother Gothel demands in a fragile moment, “You’re not leaving this tower, ever.”

However, she’s got nothing to worry about. As Flynn comes riding in on the scene, and circumstances convinces him to agree to take Rapunzel to see the lights. Despite that both are clearly meant for one another, the movie has a good notion not to force that on them, or us.

Once Rapunzel gets out of the tower, Flynn Rider thankfully calms down and the movie, written by Dan Fogelman with song lyrics by Glenn Slater, gets both hilarious and more adventurous by taking on more of Rapunzel’s sunny side of her.

This young animated girl orders a bossy, overzealous army horse named Maximus (the movie’s comic relief) and charms a gang of bloodthirsty gangsters (comedian Brad Garrett (who you might remember from the hilarious sitcom, "Everybody Loves Raymond"), Ron Perlman, Richard Kiel, Paul F. Tompkins, and the beloved Jeffrey Tambor) by asking them about their dreams: A murderous Viking named Hook Hand (Garrett) is, as he admits, a wanna-be pianist who would rather be thought “deadly for my killer show-tune medley.”

Turan goes on in his review to say, “Busy as it is, "Tangled" also finds time to include enough action and adventure sequences, including wild chases, hairbreadth escapes and an enormous flood, to allow even the fussiest small boys to feel it's worth their time.”

It takes a bit of work, but when “Tangled’s” main lovability inserts itself and the film challenges to wear its heart on its sleeve in a climactic scene featuring 46,000 paper lanterns; it’s been worth the wait. Mother Gothel may have a point when she claims that “the world is dark and selfish and cruel,” but that’s why we’re grateful for films like this one.

In the end, I personally say that I loved this film a lot. Sure it may have songs that do appear more pop-like for today’s audience, but it’s relatively lovable for little kids. This is a great step for Disney to be taking, and I’m glad that Disney has really turned the tables and made these kinds of films for kids to love again. Well, look out tomorrow to see what else was thrown at us for “Disney Month.”

The Princess and the Frog

Well, it’s time for a great Disney flick today because we are going to look at “The Princess and the Frog,” released in 2009. This is how Roger Ebert described the opening segment of the movie: “The opening scenes of Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" are like a cool shower after a long and sweaty day.” What he means to say is this is how traditional animation looked like. This is back when there was no 3D, no glasses, no extra charge on your ticket, and no hysterical emotions of mindless action. Goodness gracious, this film has a story, characters, a plot, it’s set in a certain time and place, and it uses amazing hand-drawn animation that moves at a human pace, instead of racing with odd efficiency. Ebert went on to say, “I'm just gonna stand here and let it pour over me.”

This movie is quite an entertainment and doesn’t quite live up to the opening parts. Ebert described, “But it's a demonstration that the Walt Disney Studio still shelters animators who know how to make a movie like that, in an age when too many animated films are like fast food after memories of mom's pot roast. My guess is that afterward the poor kids won't feel quite so battered by input overload.” The film moves on the screen and doesn’t jump into the audience and forces them to like it.

The story is set mostly in an African-American community in New Orleans, America’s most strong city, before and after World War I. We meet a little girl named Tiana (Elizabeth Dampier), who is appreciated by her mother Eudora (Host who now has her own TV Channel, Oprah Winfrey) and father James (Terrence Howard). Her mother is a seamstress while her dad is a hard-working restaurant owner who makes some great gumbo. He gets enlisted in the Army and never returns home. Now that Tiana is an adult, now voiced by Anika Noni Rose, her life is a struggle, but she keeps holding on to her dream of opening a restaurant and serving her dad’s gumbo (with just a touch more red sauce).

Here’s what Ebert said about the music: “This is all shown in flowing, atmospheric animation and acted with fetching voices, but the songs by Randy Newman are -- I dunno, do you think he's getting sort of Randy Newmaned out? And the absence of a couple of terrific musical numbers is noticeable, I think, although younger viewers will probably be drawn into the story.”

You know this story. A princess kisses a frog, and it turns into Prince Charming. How about this for a twist: she turns into a frog after kissing it? (Spoilers: that’s what happens.) Tiana and the Prince Naveen of Malvonia, voiced by Bruno Campos, are now frogs, although, obviously, they keep all of their moral values and do not act the way frogs do other than croaking and eating flies.

They’re under a spell that has been casted by a voodoo villain named Dr. Facilier, voiced by Goliath from the Disney cartoon “Gargoyles,” Keith David. Life in the swamp is the house of two friends, Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), an alligator who plays jazz saxophone, and Ray (Jim Cummings), a firefly who is just like Jiminy Cricket. They look for the occult Mama Odie, voiced by Jenifer Lewis, who might have the ability to counteract Facilier, and whether Tiana and Prince Naveen are turned back into humans and be able to have a happy life eating gumbo, I will let you find out for yourselves.

Ebert noted, “It is notable that this is Disney's first animated feature since "Song of the South" (1946) to feature African-American characters, and if the studio really never is going to release that film on DVD, which seems more innocent by the day, perhaps they could have lifted "Zip-a-dee Doo-Dah" from it and plugged that song in here. Though the principal characters are all black (other than the rich man Big Daddy, voiced by John Goodman, and the Prince, who is of undetermined ethnicity), race is not an issue because Disney adroitly sidesteps all the realities of being a poor girl in New Orleans in the early 1920s. Just as well, I suppose.”

“The Princess and the Frog” brings back those memories of Disney’s Golden Age it doesn’t quite live up to, as I’ve already mentioned, but it’s spritely and high-spirited, and will let kids enjoy it without visually attacking them.

Personally, I think this movie is great for the whole family to watch, especially with the nice twist it has on the classic children's fairy tale. Stay tuned tomorrow for another great movie for "Disney Month."