The Bad:
The prince is fairly revolting, in my opinion. He starts out feeling like a lazy, womanizing, cheat who is looking for a ticket to an easy life. He does acquire a few redeeming qualities as the film progresses, but I ended up feeling like our lovely heroine falls in love with a loser. This movie loses a whole star just for him. My second issue with this movie is the voodoo. Some parents might not have an issue with this – and I don't have a problem with most magic depicted in kid's movies, so I'm not sure why this bothers me so much. Maybe because some people actually practice this as a real art rather than a fantasy type of magic? Maybe because it felt like a nightmare-inducing pact with evil? In any case, it came across as far too creepy & dark for my tastes.
The Good:
The visuals are genuinely lovely. It's a very pretty movie. And it's fantastic to have an African American heroine princess. Yay diversity! I felt that this movie was respectful of a minority group. Our heroine is full of excellent character traits – she's resourceful, hard-working, a good friend, optimistic, and more. The music is a bit jazzy, a bit southern gospel, and not bad at all (although not some of Disney's best).
The Mom view:
Not one of my favorite Disney films, which was so disappointing since I was excited to see Disney return to traditional fairy-tales – and with a non-white princess, no less! But, between the less than stellar prince, the creepy voodoo, and the forgettable story-line, this isn't going to be one I purchase for my kids. I'll have my kids watch this at some point (probably late elementary age), but only as a rental. Overall, this gets a grade of 'not horrible, but not great'.
The prince is fairly revolting, in my opinion. He starts out feeling like a lazy, womanizing, cheat who is looking for a ticket to an easy life. He does acquire a few redeeming qualities as the film progresses, but I ended up feeling like our lovely heroine falls in love with a loser. This movie loses a whole star just for him. My second issue with this movie is the voodoo. Some parents might not have an issue with this – and I don't have a problem with most magic depicted in kid's movies, so I'm not sure why this bothers me so much. Maybe because some people actually practice this as a real art rather than a fantasy type of magic? Maybe because it felt like a nightmare-inducing pact with evil? In any case, it came across as far too creepy & dark for my tastes.
The Good:
The visuals are genuinely lovely. It's a very pretty movie. And it's fantastic to have an African American heroine princess. Yay diversity! I felt that this movie was respectful of a minority group. Our heroine is full of excellent character traits – she's resourceful, hard-working, a good friend, optimistic, and more. The music is a bit jazzy, a bit southern gospel, and not bad at all (although not some of Disney's best).
The Mom view:
Not one of my favorite Disney films, which was so disappointing since I was excited to see Disney return to traditional fairy-tales – and with a non-white princess, no less! But, between the less than stellar prince, the creepy voodoo, and the forgettable story-line, this isn't going to be one I purchase for my kids. I'll have my kids watch this at some point (probably late elementary age), but only as a rental. Overall, this gets a grade of 'not horrible, but not great'.