By: Kaitlyn Boisvert
Posted In: Entertainment
Photo credit: Disney Enterprises, Inc./MCT
Walt Disney Pictures introduces its first African-American princess, Tiana, in “The Princess and the Frog.” Pictured are characters Frog Naveen, left, and Princess Tiana.
Most Salve students can admit to having childhoods consisted of watching Disney Princess films within a cozy living room. It’s true; Disney highly dominated the 1990s. It is almost impossible for me personally to reminisce growing up in Bristol, R.I. without “Aladdin’s” “A Whole New World” echoing in my head.
I am not at all bitter though. I am just very much fascinated. There is something about Disney films, this certain type of magic that they convey, through their creative characters, interesting story plots as well as their beautiful songs that enchant and mesmerize numerous audiences, especially children. Not many other children’s film companies succeed in this type of charisma.
Snow White was officially the first Disney princess introduced to the world. Her movie was released in the year 1937, and met great success with audiences. Snow White herself especially appealed to young girls, with her beauty, sweetness and eventual discovery of true love. Due to Snow White’s popularity, more Disney princess films were released over the span of sixty-one years, and more princesses were introduced to the world: Cinderella, Princess Aurora (from Sleeping Beauty), Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Jasmine (Aladdin), Pocahontas, and Mulan (yes, she is officially considered as a princess, by the Disney Princess company itself).
Disney Princess franchise was not officially released until the year 2000. Andy Mooney, a former Nike executive, had attended his first “Disney on Ice” show in Phoenix, Ariz. While standing in a line, he noticed a flock of little girls dressed as Disney princesses. The costumes were of their own creations and displayed their idolization of the Disney princesses. Such a sight spurned an idea within Mooney, and soon the Disney franchise “Princess” was introduced to the world, selling products featuring all of Disney’s eight princesses. “Princess” made a grand entrance, earning $3 billion yearly and winning the affections of young girls worldwide. According to Peggy Orenstein’s article “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” written for the New York Times, “Princess” is the fastest-growing brand the company ever created and may be on its way of becoming the largest girl’s franchise on the planet.
We all know of the wide obsession with Disney princesses: most of the young girls within our country own a vast collection of “Princess” products and can recite most Disney princess songs perfectly from memory. Such devotion can illicit worry and doubt among older patrons, causing them to speculate whether the “Princess” franchise poses a threat upon the views of young girls regarding beauty and the role of women. Everyone, of course, is entitled to their own opinion. The Disney princess craze amongst young girls is really just an innocent and temporary obsession, and should not at all be considered dangerous.
The franchise “Princess” shall soon have a new addition to its collection; her name is Princess Tiana, the star of the recently released Disney film “The Princess and the Frog.” The name Tiana descends from Greece and literally means “Princess”, so literally her name is ‘Princess Princess.’ This double princess shall be Disney’s very first African American princess, and even before its release, her movie has spawned a lot of controversy.
Disney introduced Tiana as her former name, Maddy, and gave her the job as a chambermaid in “The Frog Princess.” People however, disapproved of the African American princess having a “stereotypically lower class name” and the degrading job as a chamber maid. As a result, modifications were made. The name of the protagonist’s name was switched to Tiana. Her job as a chamber maid was changed to waitress and the movie title moved from “The Frog Princess” to “The Princess and the Frog.” The film has also caused complaints with small details that have not been edited out of the final project, such as the setting taking place in New Orleans and the supposed stereotyping of its voodoo practicing characters.
Despite its controversy, “The Princess and the Frog” earned the top spot at the box office, earning more than $24 million on its first weekend. Numerous promotional ads in the media cite it as the number one movie in America. Although such a title may be a bit exaggerated, “The Princess and the Frog” has earned wide acclaim, earning almost $3 million since the weekend of its release. On Yahoo movies, the average critics grade is a B+, while the average Yahoo users rating is an A-. Already the film has earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film, among fifteen other prestigious nominations.
To give a quick synopsis, “The Princess and the Frog” revolves around Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose), a beautiful hard-working waitress who dreams not of attending enchanting balls with handsome princes, but of one day becoming a chef and running a nightclub restaurant in honor of her late father. Tiana soon crosses paths with the humorous, smooth-talking and slightly conceited Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos). Their first encounter is not a very romantic interlude, due to Naveen being a frog on account of a voodoo curse cast by a malicious magician. The only cure, he avers, is a single kiss from a princess. Believing that Tiana is of royalty, he begs her to do the honor, and she complies. However, because she is not actually a princess, the kiss causes her to transform into a frog as well. And so, the two amphibians embark on a journey to find someone who can break the spell, and along the way they encounter numerous lovable characters such as a trumpet-playing alligator, a Cajun firefly, a southern belle and an old wise blind woman (voiced by the talents of Michael-Leon Wooley, Jim Cunnings, Jennifer Cody, and Jenifer Lewis, respectively). The adventure helps Tiana and Naveen achieve personal enrichment, and strengthens the relationship between the two.
The film’s use of old-fashioned hand-drawn 2D animation, a style that was used in all previous Disney princess films, shall elicit a nostalgic feel. The film’s music, composed by Academy Award winning Randy Newman, will make the film an enjoyable experience.
Princess Tiana surely has some big glass slippers to fill. Disney’s last princess was Mulan, the bold and courageous young woman who broke the common princess mold of “damsel in distress” and enlisted in the army disguised as a man and even rescued her “prince” from peril twice.
In the occasion of the release of a new Disney Princess film, my suite mates and I deliberated over who our favorite Disney Princess and Prince were. Laugh if you would like, but such a question can actually cause a bit of a heated debate (and it isn’t just us-there are numerous fan sites on the web that argue and discuss which two should earn the top spots). What do YOU think? Post a comment telling who your favorite prince and princess are! Saying why they have earned your favoritism would be appreciated, but isn’t required.
