The Frog Prince: Part 1
- Episode aired Nov 4, 1987
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
20
YOUR RATING
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Shigeru Chiba
- Frog Prince
- (voice)
Yoshino Takamori
- Princess
- (voice)
Sanji Hase
- Heinrich
- (voice)
Daisuke Gomi
- Soldier
- (voice)
Mitsuko Horie
- Narrator
- (voice)
- …
Theodore Lehmann
- Narrator
- (English version)
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- ConnectionsVersion of The Frog Prince (1954)
Featured review
The Frog Prince Part 1
Have always loved fairy-tales and have done so from an early age. Particularly those of Hans Christian Anderson and Brothers Grimm, as cliched as that sounds as they are the most famous. Also love those of Charles Perrault, who was important in laying the foundations of them. 'The Frog Prince' has never been among my favourites, others are more emotionally involving and have more interesting characters from personal opinion, but all fairy tales have a lot of charm and 'The Frog Prince' is not an exception.
Despite seeing few versions of the story, all of which of the ones seen doing quite well adapting it and making it as charming as possible. If suffering from trying to over-stretch what is a quite slight story that lends itself better to a short television episode or short film rather than feature length. Of the ones seen, again few, my favourite is the 'Faerie Tale Theatre' version. This 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater' adaptation, the first of the longer episodes of the series, is in detail the most faithful, even when putting its own touches into it which did not feel too much like they were padding out the story too much. Did have my issues with it, but mostly it does a nice job.
The music for me has always been a consistent problem on 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater'. The charming credits songs aside, the music is very of the time, doesn't fit with the action or atmosphere and like it was initially intended for something else entirely. Very repetitive as well. Generally, 'The Frog Prince' boasts some of the better voice acting of the series, but did find the prince in frog form too bolshy and stern and Leonora on the shrill side.
Speaking of Leonora, found her too much of a brat and very annoying on the most part, the princess is not exactly likeable in the story either but not like this and her treatment of the frog made it further difficult to endear to her. Did find that the episode revealed the frog's true identity far too early, while appreciating him getting more development.
On the other hand, the animation was nice. It's atmospheric, mostly smooth and expressive and a nice job is done with the attention to detail in the backgrounds. The theme songs are pleasant and accompanied by well designed intros/outros.
Furthermore, the writing avoids over-simplicity or being too complicated. It's easy to understand for younger audiences while having something for people older but wanting some childhood nostalgia. Expectedly for this series, the story is treated seriously and with respect and yet it includes some very interesting touches that give this story freshness. This is one of the series' consistently biggest strengths. The titular character is engaging enough, while it was great for the episode to give more development to what are fairly thin characters in the story. To have the king as one of the most interesting and most sympathetic characters was great. As said, the voice acting is some of the best of the series, in a series where the voice acting standard is variable. The standout is the narrator, also loved how the narration was written and it was used appropriately.
In conclusion, good effort. 7/10
Despite seeing few versions of the story, all of which of the ones seen doing quite well adapting it and making it as charming as possible. If suffering from trying to over-stretch what is a quite slight story that lends itself better to a short television episode or short film rather than feature length. Of the ones seen, again few, my favourite is the 'Faerie Tale Theatre' version. This 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater' adaptation, the first of the longer episodes of the series, is in detail the most faithful, even when putting its own touches into it which did not feel too much like they were padding out the story too much. Did have my issues with it, but mostly it does a nice job.
The music for me has always been a consistent problem on 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater'. The charming credits songs aside, the music is very of the time, doesn't fit with the action or atmosphere and like it was initially intended for something else entirely. Very repetitive as well. Generally, 'The Frog Prince' boasts some of the better voice acting of the series, but did find the prince in frog form too bolshy and stern and Leonora on the shrill side.
Speaking of Leonora, found her too much of a brat and very annoying on the most part, the princess is not exactly likeable in the story either but not like this and her treatment of the frog made it further difficult to endear to her. Did find that the episode revealed the frog's true identity far too early, while appreciating him getting more development.
On the other hand, the animation was nice. It's atmospheric, mostly smooth and expressive and a nice job is done with the attention to detail in the backgrounds. The theme songs are pleasant and accompanied by well designed intros/outros.
Furthermore, the writing avoids over-simplicity or being too complicated. It's easy to understand for younger audiences while having something for people older but wanting some childhood nostalgia. Expectedly for this series, the story is treated seriously and with respect and yet it includes some very interesting touches that give this story freshness. This is one of the series' consistently biggest strengths. The titular character is engaging enough, while it was great for the episode to give more development to what are fairly thin characters in the story. To have the king as one of the most interesting and most sympathetic characters was great. As said, the voice acting is some of the best of the series, in a series where the voice acting standard is variable. The standout is the narrator, also loved how the narration was written and it was used appropriately.
In conclusion, good effort. 7/10
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- TheLittleSongbird
- Apr 28, 2019
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