Disney’s latest release, ‘The Princess and the Frog’ signalled the studios return to what it does best; making beautiful, magical films that children and adults alike simply cannot help falling in love with. This film is destined to become another classic. The princes, princesses, and of course the frogs that you would expect to see are there in all their glory, but the traditional fairy story has been given a new, vibrant lease of life. This incarnation takes place in 20s New Orleans with a voodoo shadow man, an alligator that plays jazz better than most people and a lovesick Cajun firefly. What more could you ask for?

Actually, I’m not sure how they could have made this film any better. So much love has gone into the making of it; the return to the original method of hand drawn animation was a stroke of genius, the colours were wonderfully bright and vivid, and the quality of light was striking. They had managed to bestow upon the film the same kind of enchanting quintessence present in Disney’s greatest films. We all know what to expect from a Disney film; love, adventure, and a happy ending. It isn’t the most complex formula in the world. There were, of course, the all-singing, all-dancing moral messages (‘money ain’t got not soul’, ‘you gotta dig a little deeper’) but they were such fun you didn’t even notice that you were learning a lesson.

Sitting in the cinema, clutching my Haagen-Daaz, I felt like my seven year old self again, trusting Disney with my imagination. And judging from the chorus of giggles and ‘awws’ from the people surrounding me, all of whom were well on their way into their twenties, I wasn’t the only one. We had all regressed. When the lights came back on and we came back to ourselves, everyone seemed lit up with great, big smiles on their faces. It was really something to go to watch a film and be utterly charmed by it. The guy I was sitting next to immediately turned to me and said ‘I want to see it again’, and to be honest, I know how he feels.

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