The Frog Prince (1988)

Children's musical based on Grimm's fairy tale of The Frog-King. A young girl learns how to be a good friend and princess with the help of a "tall frog."

Director:

Jackson Hunsicker

Writer:

Jackson Hunsicker (screenplay)

Stars:

Aileen Quinn, John Paragon, Helen Hunt

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aileen Quinn	...	Princess Zora
John Paragon	...	Frog Prince
Helen Hunt	...	Henrietta
Clive Revill	...	The King
Seagull Cohen	...	Dulcey
Jeff Gerner	...	Emissary (as Jeff Gurner)
Eli Gorenstein	...	Cook
Shmuel Atzmon	...	Baron Von Whobble
Aaron Kaplan	...	Page
Moshe Ish-Kassit	...	Sleeping Guard (as Moshe Ish Cassit)
Rony Blitz	...	Advisor (as Roni Blitz)
Ya'acov Booch	...	Advisor
Yasha Einstein	...	Advisor
Ya'akov Alperin	...	Advisor (as Ya'akov Halperin)
Hahman Leor	...	Advisor

Storyline

Children's musical based on Grimm's fairy tale of The Frog-King. A young girl learns how to be a good friend and princess with the help of a "tall frog."

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Plot Keywords:

fairy tale | princess | frog | prince | independent film | 

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Taglines:

Cannon Movie Tales:Lavish, Feature length new versions of the world's best loved storybook classics.

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA Israel

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Frog Prince

Filming Locations:

Tel Aviv, Israel

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cannon Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cannon Films reused many of same sets. For example the set for the princess's bedroom is the same as nursery from "Rumpelstiltskin" with the murals removed from the walls.

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Quotes

Princess Henrietta: What are you so worried about? I'm the one who's going to be crowned princess.
Dulcey: Well maybe you won't. Maybe Zora will get back.
Princess Henrietta: She's not coming back. She'll never find him - never.
Dulcey: [angry] Well I hope she does. Because you're cruel, Henrietta. You don't deserve it. I much rather be friends with Zora than you!
[Dulcey leaves]
Princess Henrietta: Good!
[Dulcey shuts the door behind her]
Princess Henrietta: [shouts angrily] When I'm princess, I'll remember that!

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Connections

Version of The Frog King (1981)

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Soundtracks

Lucky Day
Written by Kenn Long
Performed by Aileen Quinn

User Reviews

Even with its debits, The Frog Prince is still a solid Cannon Movie Tale film

Ranking the Cannon Movie Tale films, The Frog Prince is around top middle, with Hansel and Gretel being the best and The Emperor's New Clothes being the worst.

The Frog Prince does suffer from budget limitations. The photography is nice, but some scenes are a little too dimly lit, the castle interiors and garden are rather ordinary and almost grim, the costumes are cheap-looking with the sole exception of Zora's blue dress at the end and Ribbit's make-up is somewhat unintentionally creepy. The film also suffers from stretching a particularly slight story that generally too thin to adapt for a feature length 90 minutes, actually it does do a surprisingly decent job expanding it but the story does feel too thin and stretched at times, pacing sometimes drags and a few scenes go on longer than they need to. Some of the dialogue is also stiff, like a lot of the dialogue at the start until Ribbit is introduced and with Henrietta.

However, as said it is nicely photographed, The Cannon Movie Tale films were low-budget in production values (particularly in the costumes) but it never showed in the photography. The Frog Prince has a charming, whimsical and magically orchestrated score, that also has a little tension in some of the latter half, and the songs are surprisingly very pleasant (Friendship and the Music Box Waltz being particularly good). Not all the dialogue works, but Ribbit does have some adorably funny lines and the emotional moments are moving without being too corny or cloying. The execution of the story is similarly flawed, but it makes a clear effort to make much of little and it shows in a charming and sometimes poignant Beauty and the Beast-like take on the story, and there is a very sweet and tender between Zora and Ribbit.

Aileen Quinn is immensely appealing as Zora, a more subtle and sympathetic performance than in her still great star-making turn in the title role of Annie (which is still one of my personal favourites), her singing has also come on a long way, here it's softer and more controlled and that she's older might have a lot to do with it. Clive Revill is a funny, occasionally stern and towards the end kindly king, and Helen Hunt makes the most of her visually pretty but actually very mean older sister role. John Paragon steals the show though, bringing to Ribbit a masculine charm, a warm and witty sense of humour, affecting melancholy and remarkable athleticism (especially when we are first introduced to him).

In conclusion, has flaws but a solid attempt at adapting the story. 7/10 Bethany Cox