'The Princess and the Frog' a great return to classic Disney animation

Directors: Ron Clements/John Musker

Cast (Voices): Ophra Winfrey, Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, John Goodman

Cert: G

Three cheers for Disney who have returned to traditional animation and throw in another three for coming up with this funny, charming, tuneful story with all the right messages about being true to yourself, working hard, honouring your family and making a go of things.

What's more, they doing it with exactly the right level: truthful, observant and not preachy.

Certainly the remarkable development of computer animation has brought us a string of excellent films but somehow this is what we think of when we think of animation: beautifully executed artwork.

The story, which brings us animation’s first Afro-American heroine in Tiana (Rose), revolves around a young girl’s dream of owning her own restaurant, to be achieved through hard work, and who meets a Prince turned into a frog (Campos) by the evil Dr Fasilier.

The switch here is that the frog isn’t rescued by kissing the Princess but that she is turned into a frog herself.

The two go on a journey – to New Orleans – to find the answer to their problems. And what a delightful, beautiful journey it is … with quite a lot of scary moments to get the hair jumping to attention.

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful … animation is back!

Star Rating: 5/5