Directed by: Ron Clements and John Musker
Starring: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Jennifer Cody, Jenifer Lewis, Jim Cummings, Michael-Leon Wooley
Rating: G

Five years ago the Walt Disney Company announced it was closing up its venerated traditional animation unit. The age of CGI had arrived, and audiences seemed to have lost interest in hand-drawn animation. Three years ago, Pixar head and CGI master John Lasseter took over Disney animation and immediately re-opened the traditional studio. The first full-length result is The Princess and the Frog, and it’s an absolute delight. Directors Ron Clements and John Musker had already revitalized the studio 20 years earlier when they took the helm of The Little Mermaid. They’ve worked wonders once again, marrying the best of classic Disney with a more contemporary Pixar sensibility. The beautiful images may be charmingly old-fashioned, but the tone and characters are downright daring. That’s something very, very new for Disney animation.

In post-World War I New Orleans, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) labors day and night as a waitress, saving up money to open a restaurant like the one she and her late father used to dream about. She barely even notices when the dashing, self-absorbed Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) arrives in New Orleans looking for a bride. Naveen is tricked by the evil Dr. Facilier (Keith David) and turned into a frog. During a costume ball at the home of Tiana’s best friend Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), Naveen mistakes Tiana for a princess and convinces her to kiss him. That simply turns them both into frogs. Now they must journey through the bayou in search of Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), in hopes she can turn them back. Their only help comes from an easily frightened, trumpet-playing alligator named Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) and a woozy, incurably romantic firefly named Ray (Jim Cummings). Along the way Tiana and Naveen slowly learn that the things they want may not be what they need.

It’s a good, solid moral, and Clements and Musker (who also co-wrote) play it out through a variety of enjoyable scenes. Often those scenes don’t fit together too smoothly—the script could have used one more polish. And considering the jazz-fueled rhythms, even the best moments don’t have the impeccable timing of some of their predecessors. There isn’t a sequence I’d call an instant classic, nor are any of Randy Newman’s songs especially memorable. Yet the movie as a whole is hugely enjoyable, and deserves to be compared to the Disney greats. I think it comes down to two main things: first is the art direction, from the stylish characters to the incredible backgrounds. Second is the relationship between Tiana and Naveen. These are not the standard Disney ingenues. Tiana is smart and resourceful and has no interest in being a princess. To her, being a chef is a far better dream. If she were forced to hang out with Cinderella, Belle, and the rest of the princess stable, I suspect she’d whip together some of her famous beignets and make everyone eat. Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) plays her just right. Naveen is a hilarious cross between Ricardo Montalban and Pepe the Prawn. He’s a refreshingly colorful antidote to the blandly cocky heroes of so many of these films, and Bruno Campos does a fantastic job. In fact, the entire voice cast is first class, and Disney deserves credit for casting the right actor over the big name celebrity. Sure, Oprah Winfrey and Terence Howard pitch in as Tiana’s parents, and do well. But otherwise the cast is hardly a selling point. Yet kids and adults will remember Louis and Ray among the great Disney supporting players—perhaps the best since Timon and Pumbaa.

Now comes some tough reality. Disney has produced what is easily its best animated film in at least a decade, yet it isn’t drawing a big audience. Is it the admittedly poor trailers, which accentuate the flirtatious banter between the frog Naveen and human Tiana, while ignoring the marvelous supporting characters? Maybe word of the frightening finale has gotten around—it is pretty intense for younger kids. Maybe the traditional animation really does keep people away, or maybe it is that the cast is predominantly black. It seems foolish to think this might be the case, but you have to wonder. If so, it’s a terrible shame. The Princess and the Frog couldn’t be more universal in its storytelling, even while holding true to the character and setting. I hope word of mouth draws hesitant viewers to the theaters. The Princess and the Frog has capped off a very special year of family movies, and dearly deserves to be seen.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard readers for many years.