Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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20 UCW DEC. 30, 2009 - JAN. 5, 2010 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Disney tries to be progressive. They try to give young girls good role models (Mulan) while delivering good stories and fun music (Beauty and the Beast). The Princess and the Frog (97 minutes) is certainly an example of Disney putting its best foot forward to address racial inequality in its animated fair (though some might say they are getting into the game a little late in the day). Once upon a time Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) and her mother were at Charlotte La Bouff 's (Jennifer Cody) house. Tiana's mother, Eudora (Oprah Winfrey) is mak- ing a dress for Charlotte (whose voice grates on my soul like bro- ken glass) and telling the girls a story. Once finished, Eudora takes her daughter home to Daddy (Terence Howard). The scene shifts to an older Tiana, working two jobs to save money to buy a restaurant. Charlotte and her father (John Goodman) are still around, and why they haven't offered her a small business loan at a reason- able interest rate is best left to the audience to work out. Charlotte announces the arrival of Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), and her plans to marry him. Prince Naveen has arrived in the city with his butler Lawrence (Peter Barlett) in order to marry a rich girl and enjoy jazz. Along the way they meet Doctor Facilier (Keith David) with obvious consequences. As shown in the trailers, the frog Naveen and the frog Tiana end up in the Bayou, where they meet Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) and Ray (Jim Cummings). Their new friends take them to see Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis). Once Mama Odie tells them how to fix their problem, the quartet hops onto a riverboat and get to Mardi Gras just in time for the bad guys to win, good to fail and city of New Orleans to get taken over by the evil Doctor Facilier and the shadow spirits from the movie Ghost. Just kidding. They all live happily ever after. Overall, this is a cute movie that kids will enjoy and adult won't find too painful to sit through. It contains Broadway style music and splendor, although I can't help but think that Alan Menken would have done better with the songs than Randy Newman. There are flaws though. In the grand Disney tradition, the heroine of Princess and the Frog serves as an unattainable ideal to young girls who watch the movie. Granted, it is animation and it is meant to idealize the human form. Even so, every single Disney princess ever has an impos- sibly slender form, perfect hair and gorgeous make-up. Shouldn't Disney be striving for a more realistic depiction, at least in terms of body image? I grew up on Disney movies and played with Barbie dolls, and I am not psychologically damaged. However, the omnipresent Disney princess cer- tainly shapes the self image and aspirations of all children, however subtly. You would be hard pressed to find a classic Disney princess who has a job, so in that sense heroines like Mulan and Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) are progressive. But how progressive is Tiana, when her career aspirations are confined to the feminine realm of cooking in her own restaurant? This is not really a complaint, or even a caveat. Since the film is set in New Orleans, and food is such a part of the story, to make Tiana an aspir- ing cook fits the flavor of the fairy tale. But why not make her an aspiring doctor saving money for medical school? As in so many areas related to race, class, and gender, Disney shows progress, but not perfection. Short, Sweet and Exactly What You Expect The Princess and the Frog (Rated G) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com "RAGG "OULEVARD &AYETTEVILLE .# 910-323-1791 YOUR BASKETBALL HEADQUARTERS FOR COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL AND RECREATION TEAMS YOUR BASKETBALL HEADQUARTERS FOR COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL AND RECREATION TEAMS Visit our Hope Mills Location, 5613 Rockfish Road. 910.609.1791 YOUR BASKETBALL HEADQUARTERS FOR COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL AND RECREATION TEAMS YOUR BASKETBALL HEADQUARTERS FOR COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL AND RECREATION TEAMS 8FEOJHIUQSJDFCPUUMFPGXJOFt5VFTOJHIUNBSUJOJT )BJM'BSFXFMMTt$BMMGPS3FTFSWBUJPOTt8F$BUFS )BZ4U )JTUPSJD%PXOUPXO 678-8885 3BNTFZ4U /FYUUP.FUIPEJTU6OJWFSTJUZ 822-3590 0XOFS 0QFSBUFE Voted Fayetteville's Best Overall Restaurant Voted Fayetteville's Best Overall Restaurant Authentic Italian Cuisine Brick Fired NY Pizza Pierro's Late Night Patio Fri & Sat 10:30pm to 2:30 am