Music Review: The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this isn't your average Disney
fairy tale soundtrack, and that's a good thing. Ths music,
produced by Randy Newman, is fresh and jazzed-up New Orleans
style. There's a song about tarot cards, voodoo, and "friends
from the other side" that might be confusing to little ones,
but overall the music is fun and colorful, and a great ode to
bayou country and a new spunky princess that's joining the
ranks of Ariel, Belle, and Cinderella.
Move over Cinderella, swim away Ariel -- there's a new princess coming to town, well, to the Big Easy. Princess Tiana is the heroine of Disney's latest installment to the princess franchise, The Princess and the Frog. It's a modern-day twist on the classic fairy tale about a hard-working princess and an unlucky frog. Produced by the incomparable Randy Newman ( Toy Story) and set in the colorful city of New Orleans, the music is jazzy and fun with performances by Anika Nona Rose ( Dreamgirls), Ne-Yo, Keith David, and Jenifer Lewis.
Tiana is not your ordinary Disney princess -- she doesn't need a man to save her -- and THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG SOUNDTRACK isn't the usual Disney-fied fairy tale music. The songs are a lesson in New Orleans jazz, magical and playful, spicy and fun, with lots of horns, piano, and attitude. "Down in New Orleans" boasts, "if you wanna do some livin' before you die, do it in New Orleans." "Friends on the Other Side" takes listeners through the squares and bayous of the city, bringing to life the mystery of voodoo and magic. Anika Nona Rose (Princess Tiana) is sensational in "Almost There," and "Dig a Little Deeper" lets Jenifer Lewis (Mama Odie) belt out the heart and soul of what this movie is about. Although there may not be a stand-out single to match the ranks of past Disney anthems, (Ne-Yo's "Never Knew I Needed" is sweet, but clashes with the rest of the songs), the music from The Princess and the Frog holds up to the colorful world of the Big Easy, and might even have you singin' "Laissez les bons temps roulez!" all the way down Bourbon Street.
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