The Princess and the Frog gets DVD Release Date

Mark your calendars for March 16 as Disney’s newest princess makes her DVD debut and joins the other classic Disney princesses on a shelf near you. The Princess and the Frog not only marked Disney’s return to hand drawn animation, it marked the return of the musical adventure. If you saw it in theaters, then you’re probably still humming along with the great songs. If not, you will be shortly.

As Disney has been wont to do recently, you can own The Princess and The Frog in either a Blu-ray / DVD combo pack with a digital copy or as a single-disc DVD. Both are available for pre-order now.

The full press release and DVD details are below the jump:

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
Critically-Acclaimed Animated Feature Premieres March 16, 2010
on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD

Tiana, the ninth and newest enchanting addition to the legendary lineage of Disney Princesses, makes her home entertainment debut in a rollicking Big Easy-style fairy tale when The Princess and the Frog arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD on March 16, 2010 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

A timeless heroine in the tradition of Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine and the rest of the beloved royal sisterhood, Tiana comes to life with classic hand-drawn Disney animation from the revered team of John Musker and Ron Clements (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid) and a jazz-infused musical score from Academy Award® winning composer Randy Newman (Best Original Song, Monsters, Inc., 2001). A royal procession of exclusive bonus features, including games and specially- created featurettes, take viewers on a once-in-a-lifetime tour of the storied French Quarter of New Orleans and into the magic-steeped bayou for hours of can’t-miss family entertainment.

The Princess and the Frog transports audiences to glorious, glamorous New Orleans as Tiana, the first African American Disney princess meets her frog prince and gives him the fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical, magical bayous of Louisiana. The Princess and the Frog’s colorful cast of one-of-a-kind new characters joyfully raises the roof, with voice performances from stars including Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose (Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, 2004,“Caroline, or Change”), Keith David (Crash), Jenifer Lewis (“Strong Medicine”), Jim Cummings (“Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”), Michael- Leon Wooley (Ghost Town), Bruno Campos (“Nip/Tuck”), Peter Bartlett (The Producers), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Jennifer Cody (Broadway’s “Shrek: The Musical”), Oprah Winfrey and John Goodman (Monsters, Inc.).

Bonus Features

The single disc DVD comes with these exciting bonus features:

• Deleted Scenes

• Audio Commentary by John Musker and Ron Clements (co-writers and directors) and Peter Del Vecho (producer)

• “Never Knew I Needed”- Music video by Ne-Yo

Games and Activities

• What Do You See: Princess Portraits — A bayou-style quiz tests viewers’ knowledge of all of Disney’s beautiful princesses. Ray’s firefly family creates twinkling portraits of each princess and if the player correctly identifies her, they can enjoy a tongue-cheek mini re-telling of that character’s story.

The Blu-ray Combo Pack edition comes with additional bonus features, including:

Backstage Disney
• Magic In The Bayou: The Making of A Princess — Co-writers and directors John Musker and Ron Clements take a freewheeling, behind-the-scenes look at the making of Disney’s newest animated film as it grows from an initial concept to a lavish animated film set in the enchanting world of New Orleans and the surrounding bayous.

• The Return To Hand Drawn Animation
• The Disney Legacy
• Disney’s Newest Princess
• The Princess and the Animator
• Conjuring The Villain
• A Return To The Animated Musical
• Bringing Life to Animation with an introduction by John Musker and Ron Clements.
• Deleted Scenes introduced by the filmmakers
• Art Galleries — A collection of storyboard art traces the visual development of The Princess and the Frog’s rich gallery of
characters and settings.

With extravagant musical numbers, stunningly realized settings and gorgeously rendered costumes, The Princess and the Frog serves up an experience Richard Corliss of Time calls “A start-to-finish delight.”

Magic, music and romance are waiting around every corner of the legendary Big Easy as Disney’s newest princess sets out on an exciting adventure through a magical new world. Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) is a beautiful and hardworking young woman determined to fulfil her father’s dream of owning an elegant New Orleans supper club. When Naveen (Bruno Campos), a handsome prince arrives in town looking for romance, the evil Dr. Facilier (Keith David) hatches a nefarious plot and turns Naveen into a frog. A kiss from Tiana should return him to his true form, but in a hilarious twist on the classic story, she is instead transformed into a frog herself! The pair must travel into the heart of the mysterious Louisiana bayou with only a trumpet-playing alligator and a love-struck firefly as guides to find the priestess who can reverse the curse in order to find their “happily ever after.”

About Disney’s Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + DisneyFile in a single package):
To provide consumers with unprecedented quality, value and portability of their favorite Disney movies, in 2008 Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE) pioneered the Combo Pack – a Blu-ray Disc™ plus a DVD and a DisneyFile digital copy of the film in a single package. Current WDSHE branded titles available as Combo Packs include, Bolt, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Up.

STREET DATE: March 16, 2010
Pricing: Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack: $44.99 (US), $51.99 (Canada)
Single Disc DVD: $29.99 SRP (US); $35.99 SRP (Canada)
Feature run time: 97 minutes
Rated: G
FastPlay™: FastPlay enabled
Technical specifications may only apply to feature.

Blu-ray Disc
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Sound: English 5.1 DTS-HD
Languages: English SDH, French and Spanish Subtitles

Single Disc DVD:
Aspect ratio: Widescreen (2.35)
Sound: 5.1 Dolby
Languages: English SDH, French and Spanish Subtitles