For a few weeks now, both Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California have been advertising The Princess and the Frog in the theme parks with character meet-and-greets, merchandise, and the ever popular live show or parade.
For those that cannot wait for the soundtrack’s official shelf release on Nov. 23, here’s two videos from two different performances of Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee from Disneyland.
Now why did I pick Disneyland to show instead of Walt Disney World? Well, besides the fact that both shows are the same, Disneyland actually features live singers which is more impressive to me. In Florida, the performers lip sync to a track featuring the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, and Keith David. As bad as that sounds, the Florida troop is more animated in their movements than the California team. On top of that, the Mark Twain has better framing of the performers because of that beautiful second deck. Yes, I know, it looks like the opening to The Muppet Show, but it looks so much more organized than the Liberty Belle in Florida.
Those who know how the classic Disney Princess soundtracks are formulated will no doubt find all the tropes. There’s the “I Want” song for Tiana, the happy hook song that everyone will be singing on the way out of the theatre, the villain’s song, and the love song. All of which, from what I understand, sound like they were plucked out from the 90’s when this formula was fool-proof for Disney. That should be a good sign for you.
But what about the song that plays over the credits? If John Lasetter’s ultimate goal was to produce a new Disney Princess movie that felt like it came from the Disney Renaissance responsible for Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, then you need to have that song that plays as people are exiting by a pop singer. Well, this is what they got…
Hey, it could have been worse. They could have hired Kanye West.
I’m going to ignore Ne-yo’s little song for the time being and say that the core songs that will be a part of the film do make me excited. I just hope that all this hype and theme park synergy doesn’t let me down. Then again, Lasetter is supervising this thing, so how could that possible go wrong?
So what do you think about the soundtrack preview? Leave a comment and let me know!
Comment by Ewok Princess on November 15, 2009 at 8:14am
This is going to sound sooo lame.. but having grown up with Disney, and being very aware that the princess's never looked like me, this actually made me cry. Maybe, its because i'm PMSing.. I know TMI.. but i don't care.. I am soo happy! I don't expect this character to represent all black women in America, anymore then Snow White represents ever white woman in America. Her exsitence is enough for me, right now.
Thank you Zeek.. you made my morning.. I'm going to DISNEY WORLD!
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