When I started this who guest strip bru-ha-ha, Brandon J. Carr (formerly of The Kenmore and Weird Adventures of Unemployment) told me that inspiration had struck and he had an idea for a three-comic arc that parodied Avatar. He asked if that was okay. How could I say no? I have a diapers to change! A baby to burp! I haven't slept in...! -SNNNNRRRZZKKKK! - Huh? What?! I'm awake!!
Yeah, man. Three comics. Sounds great.
So, anyway, buckle up, guys. Brandon is bringing the funny three times this week and it's going to be infused with Avatar-goodness. Big thanks to Brandon for majorly stepping up to the plate. I don't know about you, but I'm really excited to see what he comes up with!
I'll probably talk more about Avatar later in the week. But for right now... HOLY LEGS!
Despite having a baby a little more than a week and a half ago, Cami and I actually were able to see a movie on Saturday. My in-laws watched Pearl for the afternoon as we took Henry see The Princess and The Frog.
We've been on quite the roll lately since we took Henry to his first movie - The Polar Express - about a month ago. At this point, we might end up seeing Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel!
I'm just kidding. That will NEVER happen. We're trying to cultivate a child with taste, people!
We probably started talking up The Princess and The Frog to Henry about two months ago. Cami had it in her mind that this should be Henry's first movie because A.) It's Disney and B.) It was their return to hand-drawn animation for the first time since... man, I can't remember their last hand-drawn movie? Was it Home on the Range?
Anyway, it was hard to argue with her.
Our only problem is that we thought the movie was coming out much sooner than it actually was. When we realized it was coming out the weekend after the date we scheduled for Cami's C-section, we improvised and went with The Polar Express, instead.
Things worked out fine on that front. Henry enjoyed The Polar Express a great deal and we felt like super parents. But as the release date for The Princess and The Frog drew closer, Henry would see commercials for it on TV and say "We're going to go see that!"
How could we NOT take him now?
Long story short, Pearl arrived a week early, Cami was feeling better and we had willing baby sitters. So we decided to take Henry to the movie.
Of course, 30 minutes before we were about to load up the car and take him to the theater, Henry asked his grandma "Is it going to be dark in the theater?" To which she naturally replied, "Yes" and, at this point, Henry decided he didn't want to see the movie anymore. After weeks of anticipation and him talking about the movie, we basically had to cajole him into seeing the film before we tossed him in his car seat and say "YOU'RE GOING!"
Things were fine once we got to the theater. Even though he got a little bit antsy near the end of the movie, he actually does a pretty good job sitting still and paying attention for a certain length of time. The fact that the theater was dark didn't even enter his mind once we were seated.
As for the movie itself, the whole family loved it. Cami loved the songs penned by Randy Newman and gave high praise to Tiana - Disney's first African American Princess. "She has the best singing voice of any of the princesses," she said. "And she's the best-looking!"
Well, okay. It's a cartoon, dear. But I see what you're saying.
Henry and I both loved Ray the lightning bug. Based off the trailers, I thought Ray looked like a crude stereotype of a redneck, or something. But the character is much, much more.
I also really enjoyed the villain, Dr. Facilier - who I thought had the most style and the best musical number in the movie. I'm sorry - but Disney villains are infinitely more interesting to me than the protagonists.
I don't know if anyone here is on the fence about The Princess and The Frog or not, but I strongly encourage you to check it out. After years of making cookie-cutter animated films that felt like they were designed to sell toys first and tell a story second, Disney is in grand form with this one. To me, the whole film just felt right. It didn't hit one sour note.
Maybe I'm in a haze just because I'm glad to see Disney do what it does best with the hand-drawn stuff. Maybe I'm overlooking something. But if I am, I kind of don't care. Bottom line, they could have hit us with another Atlantis: The Lost Empire or Treasure Planet. But, instead, they did the right thing and gave us a movie with both heart and soul.
Did anyone else see The Princess and The Frog this weekend? If so, what did you think? Who was your favorite character? What was your favorite song? Are any of you thinking about passing on this film? If so, why?
Leave your comments below!
