It's hard to believe that it's only been five years since the last Disney 2D animated feature was on the big screen.  With the success of Pixar and Dreamworks, it feels like all major studios have abandoned hand drawn animation in favor of computer animated work since the days of Toy Story.  When I look back on the last handful of Disney hand drawn films, it's easy to see why.  The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis, and Treasure Planet weren't the kind of classic films that made Disney what it is.  With this newest release, they return to the princess motif and I have to admit that they've got the formula down.

The problem is that no matter how beautifully designed the film is, and no matter how catchy the songs are, and no matter how well the whole thing is made, the classic Disney fantasy just isn't too relevant anymore.  Sure, it's fine dream fodder for six year old girls, but it's clear that even the writers have a hard time making sense out of the story of the princess who just needs a prince to make her dreams come true.  Disney actually did this successfully with Enchanted but with this animated feature, the film makers seem to be of two minds.

First, they go heavily against the grain with a princess character who values hard work over wishes, and who is determined to make her dreams come true without a man and without magical intervention.  The film gives her a great foil in a lazy, stuck-up prince who is more interested in partying with many ladies than he is in finding true love or doing anything valiant.  It's not quite a role reversal, but it does have the making of a great modern twist on the Disney fairytale.  But somewhere along the way, the movie just grinds to a stop and switches directions.

By the end, our hero and her prince have fallen in love, and they've both given up their old dreams to simply be together.  She wants him more than her dream, he wants her more than his rich allowance, and so all the hard work in the world isn't going to get her what she'd been working for the whole time.  Once the two finally marry and kiss, they are turned back into humans and everything magically works out.  She gets what she wants, plus a husband, he gets his money back, plus a wife, and somewhere along the way that lesson about hard work has turned into a lesson about wishing on stars, believing in magic, and relying on a man to complete the picture.  

There are some fantastic segments in the movie, and most of the supporting characters are great.  There's a little cajun firefly who steals the show, a horn-playing alligator who is always funny, and a voodoo villain who gives the film some great, creepy, psychadelic moments.  Taken out of context of the story's failure, all of those elements are great.  But when it all comes together, I couldn't help but feel bad for the kids who go into it.  I'm sure they will be entertained and that it'll be another princess to adorn cakes and for kids to dress up as on halloween, but it all feels so unnecessary.  If Disney would let kids enjoy Snow White and Cinderella and put all of that Disney magic into making a story that's fresher and more relevant, maybe we'd all have something really special.