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Some day her prince may come, but what Tiana really longs for is a restaurant of her own.
That was her daddy's dream and now it is hers, and she's wishing on a star for that -- not an invitation to the ball or a kiss that will break a deep sleep or legs that will allow her to live on land.
Even as a girl, Tiana made scrumptious gumbo, but her father reminded her that wishing could only get her part of the way there (she needed to work hard) and she should never lose sight of what's really important.
Which leads to the requisite romance in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog," with a meet-cute in which girl meets frog, girl kisses frog and -- yikes -- girl turns into frog.
- Starring: Voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David.
- Rating: G.
- Web site: disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/
"The Princess and the Frog" is a fairy tale set in 1920s New Orleans and the first featuring an African-American princess. That doesn't seem newsworthy at a time when the Obamas occupy the White House, but it is for girls or their mothers or grandmothers who grew up watching blond princesses or flame-haired mermaids.
Tiana (voice of Anika Noni Rose) is a heroine for her time or ours. The daughter of a seamstress mother and blue-collar father, Tiana works double shifts to earn enough money to open a restaurant.
Her pals play and her wealthy childhood friend Charlotte, a typical Disney character with golden hair and a single father, is preening for a masquerade ball with the visiting Prince Naveen. But the prince's encounter with a voodoo practitioner named Dr. Facilier leaves him green, literally, and a frog.
Once Tiana turns into a talking frog, too, they head into the bayou where they encounter an alligator named Louis who plays a mean trumpet, a Cajun firefly who burns brightly with a crush of his own and a 197-year-old toothless seer named Mama Odie.
"The Princess and the Frog" isn't notable just for its African-American princess but its return to traditional, hand-drawn animation. A half-dozen years ago, after movies such as "Treasure Planet" and "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" failed to catch fire, many thought the old-fashioned approach was all but dead.
But some observers suggested it wasn't the computer animation that made the difference but the richness of the story. The animation here is playful but beautiful in its painterly detail; too often in recent years it has been second rate and this is anything but.
"Up," with the original balloon boys, is grand fun but there is a warmth to this style, from the moss-draped trees and low-hanging flowers in the bayou to a corkscrew of fireflies or slithery shadows that creep into a cemetery.
Speaking of which, Dr. Facilier is pretty scary for a G-rated movie. He has voodoo dolls and black-magic masks and summons spirits from the other side. I know children like to be scared, but I thought those scenes were a little too spine-chilling for very young moviegoers.
Keith David lends his deep, devilishly distinctive voice to the sorcerer while Bruno Campos is the prince. Terrence Howard and Oprah Winfrey speak for Tiana's parents, John Goodman is Charlotte's father, Michael-Leon Wooley is the gator, Jim Cummings (a Youngstown, Ohio, native) is Ray the firefly, Jenifer Lewis is Mama Odie and Jennifer Cody the grown-up Charlotte.
Randy Newman's music is spirited and seamlessly woven into the story with "Almost There," the tune you may be humming on the way out the door. Newman cooks up a gumbo of jazz, blues, Gospel, Dixieland and zydeco, while Ne-Yo sings the closing tune, "Never Knew I Needed."
Directors John Musker and Ron Clements (who wrote the screenplay with Rob Edwards) sprinkle in references to Disney tales past and present.
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Tiana says at one point, while wishing on a star is how "Pinocchio" opened, thanks to Jiminy Cricket.
Tiana's transformation from waitress and cook to potential belle of the ball harkens back to "Cinderella," as does a hollowed out pumpkin that doubles as a cooking cauldron. The magical power of a kiss has long been a favorite in fairy tales and Disney movies.
This time, girls will learn about kissing frogs before finding their prince, about wishing, working hard and squeezing in a little fun, and how a girl doesn't need to be Snow White or snowy white to be a princess.
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