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War films are inherently incompatible with Disney princess movies-"Mulan" review
This is the ninth article in the Disney Princess movie series review
The movie to be reviewed today is not only the last 2D movie in the Disney Princess series, but also the only movie featuring a black woman as the protagonist-"The Princess and the Frog". Despite the overall quality, this film is considered the leader of the princess series before the 3D era: completely different from the previous princess movies, its own style of jazz soundtrack, exquisite 2D animation, and the highly restored New Orleans. Urban landscape, groundbreaking black princess, touching story ... However, for various reasons, it eventually became the martyr of Disney’s 2D animation, and was consigned to "re-show the unique 2D animation to the world in the era of rampant 3D animation." Although the "charm" high hope film finally maintained the basic set of the princess series for more than ten years and ended with a global box office of 271 million US dollars, this achievement obviously means that the 2D hand-painted animation, a valuable legacy passed down by Disney for decades, has been passed down. It is difficult to get the market recognition of the same size as that year, and even more talk about the expansion of the audience that is needed for business growth.
The deepest darkness: believe me, film quality is definitely not the main reason
The box office loss of this film has many factors, but most of them are not related to the actual quality of the film itself:
1. Naming problem
Since this film is the only movie among all Disney princess movies that nakedly put the word "princess" in the title, there will be "this is just a movie for little girls" among passers-by who don’t know the truth. "Animation to watch" ignores its film attributes suitable for all ages and some aspects of the subject matter that are even more adult-oriented, thus avoiding the film when making movie viewing choices. Before the film was released, Disney’s marketing department actually warned the studio management about this, but the management insisted that the film’s excellent quality and exquisite 2D hand-drawn animation could finally attract audiences of all ages. As far as the results are concerned, the management’s arbitrariness at the beginning was obviously too optimistic. In a series of market research and focus group interviews conducted by Disney after the release, the 2D animation that the film is proud of was regarded by the audience as “no longer. It belongs to the style of this era".
2. Schedule issues
If the mistake in naming is still a man-made disaster, then the failure in the schedule is completely a natural disaster. The film’s release date was December 11, 2009. Just a week later, James was able to forcefully kill the "Avatar" which set off a huge uproar in the entire world movie history. In the face of the 3D movie revolution set off by "Avatar", the "Princess and the Frog" who insists on 2D hand-drawn animation is more like an outlier, and it is not surprising that the box office has been completely crushed.
3. Music style
The soundtrack of this film was given to Randy Newman, who has always made the soundtrack to Pixar Studios' films (the masterpiece: "You've Got a Friend in Me" in "Toy Story"). In order to match the background setting of New Orleans in the film, all the songs in the film adopt the jazz style, so that the film is permeated with the breath of New Orleans wetland all the time. But the problem that follows is that the jazz-style soundtrack that is far from popular is naturally indifferent to the behavior of "concocting film and television songs similar to "A Whole New World" and "Let It Go". As a result, the high-quality soundtrack itself blocked another way of promoting the reputation of the film through the popularity of the soundtrack due to the high and low style of the music.
4. Princess image
The problem of setting the image of the princess in this article is similar to that of the soundtrack. Even as a princess of color, from a personal point of view, Princess Tiana’s appearance is indistinguishable from that of many white princesses (such as Merida, Bell, etc.), and she is also a princess of color. Pocahontas and Mulan. It's a pity that such a princess has just staged the "Frog Princess" drama. In this film, the princess is shown in the image of a frog for nearly two-thirds of the film length. After watching the movie, compared to the human image of the princess, the audience may still be more impressed by the frog couple who used their flexible tongues along the way to pass through the generals and finally cultivated the fruit. Although the setting of "The Princess Turns into a Frog" is a plot requirement, and it must be said that this setting also adds a lot to the plot of the film, but this setting will undoubtedly damage the impression of the princess in the audiences. Therefore, "watching two frogs jumping for an hour in a movie theater" is also very likely to offset the positive communication effect of the film itself, which should be produced by the exquisite hand-drawn animation of the film itself.
Complex taste: a trio of peel, pulp and core
Aside from the final market failure and the disapproval in Disney, it is an indisputable fact that the film has excellent quality. The princess series started by "Pocahontas" has been in a weak period for more than ten years. This film is just a film that can make people feel "Ah, the opportunity is coming." In the series, it can be considered as "before dawn." The Ultimate Dark" works . The reason for this evaluation is not the post-mortem remarks I made after seeing the follow-up "Tangled" and "Frozen" fires in the eyes of future generations. It's because, in this movie, people can vaguely feel in many ways: "Wow, it's really different from before."
In terms of fruit, "the princess and the frog" is definitely a very strange fruit. If we simply and roughly divide this kind of fruit called a movie into three parts : peel, pulp and core , the sweetness of the different parts of the fruit represents the age level that can be understood (sweet-children If it’s sour-adult-oriented) , then the usual children’s movies are often like strawberries: peel (sweet)-pulp (sweet)-pit (sweet) ; while Pixar studio movies are like pears : Peel (sweet)-pulp (sweet and sour)-pit (sour) ; but the structure of this film is difficult to find similar contrasts in real life: peel (sweet)-pulp (sour)- Pit (sweet) .
(The following paragraphs may contain serious spoilers about the plot of the film, please read carefully)
Peel: It looks like a 2D animation exclusively for a little girl
Just like the first impression given to the audience by the title of the film mentioned above, the film looks like a cartoon for a little girl: Princess ? Used for dreaming little girls. Frog ? fairy tales. 2D animation ? out-of-date. The many "features" that the producer is proud of have made this film misunderstood by most people, making people who could appreciate the true charm of the film stop in front of the theater, but cannot further bite the skin. This is a rare sight. The unique flavor of the fruit at first sight is contained in the pulp.
Flesh: The most adult-oriented content in the Disney princess movies of all generations
Even as of the latest (2019.02.25) "Pocahontas", "The Princess and the Frog" can still be regarded as the most adult movie of all Disney princess movies.
The adultization of the film is first reflected in the subject matter involved in the film: confronting class differences -the heroine Tiana is just the daughter of a maid, and she has a lower social status than her friend Charlotte in her childhood. etc; caused by money problems contradictions through the whole process - Tijana to open a restaurant of their own hard work double shifts for the money, the male is satisfied Wen Wangzai come to get married for the money, even the scheming villain Tossing Chase is also for the money and power of Charlotte's father.
Another adult feature that sets the film completely apart from other Disney princess movies is that in "The Princess and the Frog," the main supporting role is actually killed directly by the villain in front of the audience . This is too unconventional to play cards! The presentation of such shots is not common in any Disney movies, let alone princess movies-the princess movie series has developed to the present, and the description of sacrifices is limited to the side description of the sacrifices of extremely innocent supporting actors, such as "Mulan" The sacrifice of Li Xiang's father; if the main character is faced with this kind of sacrifice, he will surely be healed by "Heavenly Power" ("Beauty and the Beast", "Tangled"). As a result, before the end, I kept wondering whether there would be a consistent "spiritual power" to resurrect him and usher in the final Happy End with the protagonist and his group. But I obviously underestimated the determination of the production team to force the children watching the movie to face the issue of death- saying that sacrifice is a real sacrifice. At most two dying thoughts will be given, and they will turn into a star after death to fulfill their dreams before death. , Other than that, nothing is muddled .
Fruit core: a topic that will never be finished-"True love is supreme"
Although there are so many adult content on the road to the "fruit core", it seems that this film is about to discuss some more adult and deeper social issues-for example, discussing class differences and even racial discrimination. But in the end, the core of the film returned to the usual Disney princess movie "True Love First" -true love finally defeated the curse of voodoo, turning Prince Nawen of Tiana back into a human being.
In addition, this film also discusses a little bit about the "self-recognition" problem that was also slightly involved in the Disney princess movie before- what you want is not what you really need , Tiana thinks what she needs is a career After her success, she finally realized that love from family is also important to her. A similar topic of "desire" has also been discussed in "Aladdin". Interested readers can review my previous evaluation of "Aladdin" (the legend of the magic lamp is false in the end, and sticking to yourself becomes true-"Ah "Latin" evaluation ). But in this film, this topic is not explored too deeply (contrary to the title of the song "Dig a Little Deeper" that discusses this topic). Therefore, the main story of this film is a story that touches you and me with true love.
Although in the 21st century after Pixar gradually emerged, people's requirements for the depth of thought of cartoons began to expand unprecedentedly, so that they began to criticize some of Disney's movies. But I personally think that there is a sequence of learning about the truth, and a specialization in the art industry. Even when Disney is able to make one or two of Pixar-style movies ("Invincible Destruction King", "Crazy Zoo City") today, the discussion on true love And the films that make people truly touched by the true love in the story are still needed by people. Such a film that can tell a good story about true love deserves the respect and support it deserves .
Therefore, under such a structure fruit, "Princess and the Frog" Although constantly faced with one-sided evaluation can not really understand the whole picture of the man made - "cliché, nothing new" , or they "forced political correctness, pace It’s too big to get involved" . But I personally still believe that Disney has inherited all the legacy it should inherit from its predecessors in this film- 2D animation, adherence to the theme of "True Love First", and did what it could do under the circumstances at the time. All innovations -the introduction of adult content, a slightly controversial princess candidate. Guided by this movie's muddy road staggering in the New Orleans swamps, the success of the three successive Disney princess movies after it is definitely not accidental .
If I can go back ten years ago, I would like to say something to Disney at that time:
Disney, You're Almost There
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