After finding out that The Princess and the Frog was still playing at one of the theaters in Tempe, Haily and I took the kids out for a night on the town. Unfortunately, money's been tight for some time, so we haven't been to the movies much in the past year - in fact, we only saw Up and the 3D Toy Story double feature.
My daughter, for the first time, sat through the movie without needing to climb up on Mommy or Daddy's lap. My son's prior movie experiences have left either me or my wife leaving the the theater to tend to him. He was a little rambunctious, but watched the movie - sometimes in his seat, sometimes in Mommy's lap - but we didn't need to move from our seats to calm him down.
The presentation was a great twist. Rather than a straight telling of the Frog Prince fairy tale, the film takes the premise and creates a world where the characters are aware of the story and take matters into their own, er, flippers.
About halfway through the movie I found myself doing something I haven't caught myself doing in a long time. I had a silly grin going from ear to ear. Beginning with the introduction of Louis, a trumpet playing alligator . . .
. . . and continuing with the addition of Ray, a cajun lightning bug . . .
. . . I found myself completely caught up in the movie. It's been years since I found myself so fully enveloped by a film. I'll admit, I'm too much of a geek to lose myself in movies. I have to know how a particular effect was created, or try to comprehend a particular character's motivation. For example, early in the film, the style changes from the romantic animated form to an art deco tapestry, and in the midst of the scene found myself wondering if any previous animated films have had such a drastic change in style.
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