The Princess and the Frog

A while ago Jane and I went to the dollar theater with some friends to see Disney’s, The Princess and the Frog. A good time was had by all, but after thinking for a short bit about the film this is my initial assessment.

Pros:

-It’s about time we have a black Disney heroine.

-I am happy to say that both parents are alive at the beginning of the film. Partway through the dad does die, but it is at least a change from the typical dead mother.

-Tiana is a strong female role model with a good work ethic and sense of adventure, she has a dream of owning her own restaurant and saves every penny she makes as a waitress to make it happen.

-The New Orleans culture is fun and a good twist on the usual Disney music

Cons:

-Since it was first announced I have questioned the decision to adapt an existing fairytale, plugging in an African American heroine.   Why not make your first black princess be from a real African story?

-Recycled material. Disney movies are all starting to seem eerily similar. The villain was basically Jafar, the sidekick was the guy from Enchanted, the alligator was Little John. They even did the Aladdin twirl and smile and the “do you trust me?”.

-The main guy was useless. Ladies - don’t expect that you can take a lazy, good for nothing, womanizing “prince” and all of a sudden change him into a hardworking, caring, good citizen simply by loving him, it won’t work.

- It seems like they either glossed over the race issues too much or not enough. To my memory all the rich or powerful people were white, “Big Daddy” the real estate agents etc. the African Americans were the laborers, food service and voodoo practitioners.  Either make every class of people mixed or address the fact that they aren’t – it seems to leave kids with the assumption that this is just the way things work.

- This story starts off strong - wish on a star but follow it up with hard work too if you want your dreams to come true.  Excellent advice.  Tiana works really hard taking extra shifts as a waitress, saving every cent and sacrificing time with friends in order to make her dreams of owning a restaurant to come true. Half way through the movie the ‘voodoo woman’ tells her that she is missing the point and achieving your dreams is not about working harder, Tiana WANTS a restaurant, but what she really NEEDS is love. (Mind you, the love she has for her deceased father or her mother won’t suffice – only ‘true love’).

In the end she stays a frog and seems content to live happily with her “frog prince”.  Then, in a gigantic twist (  ;)  ) when they get married (as frogs) and she turns back into a person (did you catch that – only marriage can turn you back into a person), he turns back into a prince and he finally can buy her dream restaurant for her. See girls, you don’t need to work hard for your dreams, just find a guy to bankroll them for you.

-Here is my final complaint – why are such a high percentage of movies for children focused around marriage and falling in love? This is something that should not even be on a five-year-old’s radar screen and yet in a huge amount of movies that is the main thing we are selling.

My advice - watch Mulan. Still the best Disney princess movie yet.