The Princess and the Frog - not quite a review

I liked The Princess and the Frog; unfortunately, there are several things that caused me not to love it.

Anika Noni Rose - loved her as Tiana.

Loved the beginning of the film, establishing Tiana's background, especially her relationship with her father.

Loved a couple of the songs.

Loved Louis the alligator.

Loved Loved LOVED Ray the lightning bug. For me, Ray's love for Evangeline saved the movie for me.

However...

Didn't like the majority of Randy Newman's songs. They sounded like his previous efforts from the Toy Story movies, Parenthood, etc. For me, Randy Newman seems incapable (or unwilling) to immerse himself into a film's source material and producing music that enhances it. Quincy Jones can - kinda wished that Disney asked Quincy to lend a hand to this enterprise.

Also, there was a lack of commitment to the story, or rather, the story never seemed to get off the ground. The dialogue between Tiana and Naveen was typical romantic comedy banter, which is not a compliment. I think that Tiana deserved better, in terms of a love interest. The writers did very little to flesh out the Naveen character. He was just handsome and fun-loving - allegedly.

But the biggest crime, IMO, is that despite the animation medium, the writers, producers and TPTB still shrank from depicting interracial romance in an authentic way. Yes, this film took place in the early 20th century Louisiana where miscegnation was illegal, but Disney decided to skim over that historical fact and pressed ahead with a Tiana/Naveen romance. And yes, this is a G-rated movie, but still - where was the heat? Where was the chemistry? Where was the intimacy and mutual understanding? In Up, there was precious little time to establish Ellie and Carl's bond, but it was accomplished rather brilliantly. You mean to tell me that Disney, a studio that reverted back to the time-consuming hand-drawn process, didn't have the time to flesh out these characters' connection?

Again, it's awesome that Disney finally got off the stick regarding representing people of color, but they still have a long way to go. Good story is good story and seriously, being afraid to depict sparks between characters of color is becoming a played out excuse.

Mind you, the film is absolutely gorgeous to look at and that alone makes the film worth seeing.