The Princess and the Frog (1999)

If The Princess and the Frog was made 10 years earlier.
Directed By: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
==Plot==
In New Orleans during the Roaring Twenties, Tiana is devoted to opening her own restaurant, a dream she shared with her late father. She works two waitress jobs to save enough money for her own restaurant, leaving her no time for a social life. In early 1926, Naveen, the arrogant prince of Maldonia, arrives in New Orleans. His parents have cut him off from the family fortune, so he intends to marry Charlotte La Bouff, Tiana's best friend. In order to convince her to marry Naveen, Charlotte's father, wealthy Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff, hosts a masquerade ball in Naveen's honor, for which Charlotte hires Tiana to make beignets, paying her enough to buy a dilapidated mill to convert into her dream restaurant. Naveen and his valet, Lawrence, encounter Dr. Facilier, an evil and powerful voodoo witch doctor who plans to rule New Orleans. Facilier transforms Naveen into a frog and transforms Lawrence into Naveen's doppelganger, using a voodoo talisman containing Naveen's blood. Facilier intends for the disguised Lawrence to marry Charlotte, then to kill her father with a voodoo doll so he can gain the La Bouff fortune.
At the ball, Tiana learns she has been outbid for the mill; she becomes despondent. Tiana then meets Naveen in frog form. Believing Tiana is a princess, Naveen asks for her to kiss him to break Facilier's spell. Tiana reluctantly agrees after Naveen promises to finance her restaurant. However, because Tiana is not a princess, she is transformed into a frog as well. The two are chased into a nearby bayou, where they meet an alligator named Louis. After informing Louis they are actually humans under a voodoo spell, he tells them of Mama Odie, another voodoo practitioner who lives in the bayou. Naveen manipulates Louis into taking him and Tiana to see Mama Odie.
However, Louis does not know the way to Mama Odie; a Cajun firefly named Ray, who knows Mama Odie, helps the three. During the journey, Tiana and Naveen begin developing feelings for each other, especially after Naveen learns to be more responsible. Meanwhile, the talisman disguising Lawrence as Naveen begins faltering; it needs a steady supply of Naveen's blood to function. Facilier asks his "friends on the other side" (a legion of voodoo spirits) to help retrieve Naveen, and they grant him an army of shadow demons to do his bidding. The demons discover Tiana and her group in the bayou; Mama Odie rescues the group.
Mama Odie tells Naveen the spell can only be broken with a princess's kiss. Tiana realizes that since Big Daddy has been crowned Mardi Gras king, Charlotte will be a princess until midnight. The group hitches a ride on a paddle steamer back to New Orleans, during which Naveen tells Ray about his love for Tiana and plans to propose marriage to her. After talking to Tiana, Naveen selflessly decides against proposing, since transforming him and Tiana into humans and financing Tiana's restaurant is contingent on him kissing and marrying Charlotte. The shadow demons capture Naveen and bring him to Facilier, who uses his blood to replenish the talisman. After Ray tells Tiana of Naveen's love for her, Tiana heads to the Mardi Gras parade to find Naveen, only to see the disguised Lawrence marrying Charlotte. Heartbroken, Tiana flees the scene.
Ray rescues the real Naveen and steals the talisman, which he gives to Tiana before Facilier mortally wounds him. Facilier offers to make Tiana's dream come true in exchange for the talisman. Realizing that she would be dishonoring her father by accepting, Tiana destroys the talisman. With Facilier's plan foiled, the voodoo spirits drag him into their world for failing to pay back his debt. After Lawrence is arrested, Tiana reveals her love to Naveen. Charlotte is moved by this and agrees to kiss Naveen so he and Tiana can be human together, but as the clock strikes midnight, Charlotte is no longer a princess, so Tiana and Naveen remain frogs. Ray dies shortly thereafter and is reincarnated as a star. Tiana and Naveen are married by Mama Odie, and since doing so makes Tiana a princess, both are restored to human form. They later return to New Orleans to legally marry and open Tiana's restaurant.
==Cast==
*Whitney Houston as Tiana, an African American 19-year-old waitress and aspiring chef / restaurateur. She is an intelligent, hardworking, and independent young woman but works so hard that she often forgets about other things in life such as love, fun, and family.
*Benicio Del Toro as Prince Naveen, the prince of Maldonia. Naveen is a 20-year-old musician and playboy who has been cut off from his family's riches until he learns the value of responsibility. Randy Haycock served as the supervising animator of Naveen in both human and frog form.
*Samuel L. Jackson as Dr. Facilier, also known as the Shadow Man, a voodoo bokor (witch doctor) who plans to rule New Orleans with help from his "friends on the other side" and the major antagonist of the film.
*Ken Page as Louis, a friendly yet neurotic trumpet-playing alligator whose dream is to join a jazz band.
*Patricia Arquette as Charlotte "Lottie" La Bouff, a 19-year-old wealthy European-American débutante and Tiana's best friend since childhood who dreams of marrying a prince. Though she is initially spoiled and self-centered, she has a heart of gold and cares deeply for Tiana's well-being, going as far as giving up her chance to be a princess when she sees that Prince Naveen and Tiana are truly in love.
*Jim Varney as Ray, a middle aged Cajun firefly. He and his vast family are close friends with Mama Odie, so he offers to help the frogs get to her. Ray has an unrequited love for the Evening Star, which he believes is another firefly named "Evangeline" (a reference to the 19th-century Longfellow poem).
*David Ogden Stiers as Lawrence, Prince Naveen's valet, whom Dr. Facilier recruits as a partner in his scheme by transforming him to look like Naveen using a blood charm.
*Eartha Kitt as Mama Odie, a blind, 197-year-old voodoo priestess, who serves as the film's "Fairy Godmother figure".
*Diahann Carroll as Eudora, Tiana's mother, who wants to see her happy and worries that Tiana focuses too much on her dream of owning a restaurant.
*Wesley Snipes as James, Tiana's father, who helped instill a strong work ethic in Tiana
*Ned Beatty as Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff, a very wealthy Southern sugar mill owner and father of Charlotte La Bouff. While he spoils Charlotte with everything she asks for, he is a loving and generous man and loves Tiana's cooking.
*Ritchie Montgomery, Joe Ranft, and John DiMaggio as Reggie, Darnell, and Two-Fingers, three bumbling frog hunters who try to catch Tiana and Naveen as frogs.
*Corey Burton and Jeff Bennett as the Fenner Brothers, two antagonistic real estate agents who eventually sell Tiana the sugar mill under duress after initially refusing because someone else was offering to pay for it in cash and because they believed Tiana could not manage it because of her "background".
*Kevin Michael Richardson and Emeril Lagasse as Ian and Marlon, two of a congregation of wild and hot-tempered alligators who try to eat Tiana and Naveen as frogs
==Rating==
Rated G.
Category:Another Decade
Category:The Princess and the Frog
Category:1999 Films
Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios films
Category:Musicals
Category:Fantasy films
Category:Comedy-Drama