As usual, Disney is 50 years late in updating its sociopolitical worldviews.
Still, despite being late to the party, Disney Animation Studios has produced a movie that deals with racial issues past and present in ways that are remarkably accessible to kids. “The Princess and the Frog” (2009, Ron Clements and John Musker) attempts to tell a quintessential American fairy tale. It would have been utterly presumptuous to make an African tale the “first black princess movie” in the Disney lineup, because the niceties of those African fables would certainly have been lost. This is first and foremost a children’s film, and more so a “girls” film, and I would assume that black girls in America (certainly the target audience for this film) will respond more effectively to a story about a young black American than a distant story from another continent.
Disney knew they couldn’t ignore the race issue as soon as they cracked its lead story. We are transported back in time to the 1920s in New Orleans. Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose), a young waitress, has worked long hours and under difficult conditions (such as not being able to go out on the town with her friends) to save enough money to buy property to convert into the fancy restaurant. that his father always wanted. Of course, there’s the usual problem of a romantic love interest getting in the way. When Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) arrives in town, presumably ready to fornicate, he finds himself in a bad situation with local voodoo man Dr. Facilier (Keith David) and turns into a frog. Mistaking her condition, Naveen kisses Tiana at a masquerade ball hoping to turn him back into a prince and get on with her life, but he ends up turning her into a frog instead. A series of escapades through the Louisiana bayou with a wacky cast of characters ultimately leads them back to the conclusion that (you guessed it) they are head over heels in love and should live happily ever after, no matter what they look like. As the first Disney Animation Studios production to deal with an African-American main character, it’s a story that could easily have fallen flat on its face and angered a lot of people.
John Musker and Ron Clements (the directors) handled the subject in a very interesting way. Think about it: you have to create a story that gives children the wise wisdom that we are all beautiful on the inside, without necessarily being able to ignore the contradictions inherent in the racial and economic divisions of American society. Musker and Clements certainly aren’t ducking the race here by any means, as you can tell by the look on lead character Tiana’s face when New Orleans realtors The Ferner Bros. sarcastically uses the double entendre “a woman of your origin” to describe it. What they are doing is creating a story about appearances and backgrounds where racism is more inferred than brought to light, a story for little girls who will one day have to face these issues head on. And the trick in a children’s movie is not to hit children over the head with harsh realities, but to subtly create in their minds the spirit that color doesn’t matter. Like I said, Disney is about 50 years behind on this bandwagon, but this entire country has been behind in many ways when it comes to issues of race, gender, and economics.
I am by no means an expert on the experience of being a 4-year-old black girl. However, I know that kids that age, regardless of skin color and economic divide, are remarkably devoid of the concepts and notions we create about racism, sexism, and the like. I can certainly see how many would play Tiana as a frog for most of the movie as openly racist. However, in a film whose mainstream audience will one day be faced with issues of color and appearance, what better, more subtle way to exemplify a lack of commitment to appearance? No doubt young children often look at themselves this way, thinking they are ugly or unwanted. It’s not Franz Fanon, but for kids, it’s a subtle hint that race shouldn’t matter. And the film also doesn’t ask black children to “give up their blackness,” another dangerous danger that racial themes can fall into. Rather, the characters (especially Tiana) are defined by what they do and how they do it, not by what they were born with. Children’s movies, and for the same reason all children’s myths and fairy tales, are not meant to confront children with harsh realities, they are meant to give children those foundational philosophies to help them realize what is “really important.”
I think if anyone is going to attack this film on hot topics, it should be the film’s contradictions in its critique of capitalism. It is said over and over again throughout the film, “more powerful than magic is money.” And of course, wisely, Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis) tells everyone that “money won’t make you happy.” And yet, in the end, even though she finds true happiness in love, Tiana still gets everything she wants by marrying for money. So much hard work and sacrifice! If anything, this movie teaches kids that if you work hard for a long time, you’ll fall in love with a prince, but you’ll still need his money to get the things you want.
All of that said, there are some downright hysterical cartoons. There are plenty of family stereotypes to spotlight, from the alligator Louis Armstrong to the “gumbo-loving, hard-working” dad. And Raymond (Jim Cummings), the Cajun firefly, is the best “cute animal sidekick” Disney has ever put in a movie. But this is one of those Disney princess movies that falls into the “wacky ensemble piece” sub-sub-genre, where the full development of the main love story isn’t nearly as important (or entertaining) as the shenanigans it receives. set. in. In that sense, this film strives more for the illicit entertainment of the specific characters (in this case, cartoons) from a very specific location in time and space: 1920s New Orleans. Like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “A Confederacy of Dunces,” or “Oh Brother, Where Are You?”, this movie is more about exploring and enjoying the eccentricity of a very specific type of American culture than any kind of racial stereotype. for the sake of being too racist. I heard many people complain that this movie was racist in its portrayal of the characters, but Disney is still doing business in a country that elected Barack Obama to office. It would seem far-fetched for anyone to believe that they would go so far as to expect an overtly racist film to make money at this point, especially since outside of the United States, no one will be able to make sense of this. history.
From a technical art point of view, the animation is beautiful. It’s a return to form of those great Disney musicals that people like me remember from our childhoods, which seem to have disappeared in this age of CGI (ironically, or perhaps appropriately, it was John Lasseter, head of Pixar Animation Studios). , who approached Disney and convinced them to go ahead with a traditionally animated musical). Although there is a moment when Prince Naveen is chopping mushrooms and does not move the index finger that is holding the mushroom. When his thumb inexplicably disappears behind the knife and ends up in the same spot on top of the mushroom, he couldn’t help but wince. If someone actually did this in real life while shopping for any vegetables, he would cut his finger. Some key animator should have picked up on that. But that’s an incredibly minor issue in a movie that’s filled with great cartoon, fluid motion, and spectacular color compositions.
And the soundtrack is great. With the exception of a few songs meant to update us on where we are in history, every song here is a testament to New Orleans music, even though it’s obviously a “Disney-ed Up” version. But I’d rather have a Jazz, gospel, bayou and zydeco inspired Disney soundtrack than anything else. It’s a Disney soundtrack that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen blasting out of my car stereo.
“The Princess and the Frog” also has plenty of inside jokes and homages for animation fans to look for. It’s a celebration of a seemingly dying art form (or rather, a “studio production method”) and an update in more ways than just the skin tone of Disney’s fairy tale story (we can’t ask you anymore). to a star getting what we want, we are also called, in a more realistic sense, to work hard for it). I’m not saying it’s not free of flaws, racial and otherwise, but analysis of this movie requires something a little deeper than “what a bunch of racist stereotypes.” Plus, it’s just fun, fun, FUN to the very end. When you go to see him, try to imagine yourself as a young girl of the skin tone you like, and try not to get carried away by the good times and toe tunes.