Response to Princess and the Frog

Princess and the Frog (2009)

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The racial differences are evident from the first scene. The rich Charolette lives in a huge house in a wealthy neighborhood. She has tons of dresses, a cat, and a puppy. Tiana’s mom is the girl’s dress maker, and Tiana and her mom live in a smaller house in a poorer community.

When Tiana and Charlotte grow up, the differences only grow. Tiana works two jobs and doesn’t have time to have fun or go out with her friends. She has a dream of opening her own restaurant. On the other hand, Charlotte does not work and only wants to marry someone.

Tiana’s mom wants Tiana to meet her prince and have a happily ever after. However, Tiana wants to focus on her career and doesn’t have time to focus on anything else. She seems like the first career oriented princess. That’s cool! In this way, The Princess and the Frog is more progressive and feminist than Aladdin and Pocahontas.

Additionally, unlike Aladdin, the main protagonist does not have a traditional American accent and does not look European like Aladdin.  

The white men who are in charge of giving her the restaurant thought that “a little woman of your background would have had her hands full trying to run a big business like that.” They justify not giving her the restaurant because it took her so long to save up. It is also implied that they don’t give her the restaurant because of her race and gender. After encountering this discrimination, Tiana does not give up on her dream and continues to wish for her dream.

This movie is also less racist and ethnocentric than Aladdin and Pocahontas. It celebrates New Orleans culture and includes applauds traditionally New Orleans cultural norms like jazz, gumbo, and Mardi Gras.

The villain is a Voodoo Shadow Man. Voodoo originated in West Africa but came to Haiti and New Orleans during the slave trade. Although the Shadow Man gives Voodoo a bad reputation, Mama Odie serves to show a Voodoo in a more positive light. However, it does seem as if Disney simplified and stereotyped a rich and complicated religion.

A major reoccurring theme in this movie is that the only way to get what you want in the world is through hard work, not through wishing on a star. It seems like Disney is trying to make up for past movies that led children to believe if they simply wish for something it will happen, like in Cinderella.

I love Louis the alligator and Raymond the firefly! They are so cute and funny!

Similar to how Aladdin outwitted Jafar, Tiana and Prince Naveen outsmarted the frog hunters. All Disney protagonists seem to trick antagonists at some point in the movie.

“You gotta dig a little deeper to find out what you need.” I like how Mama Odie doesn’t simply fix their problem for them. Instead, she encourages Tiana and Prince Naveen to think of what they need themselves and how they can fix it for themselves.

In the end, Tiana buys the restaurant and accomplishes her dream. Her restaurant is extremely successful and she and Naveen fall in love. She also realizes that love and family are more important than working all of the time.