With the Disney Revival brought about by CG films Meet the Robinsons and Bolt, Disney returned to its traditional 2D animation with The Princess and the Frog in 2009. This was Disney’s first fully 2D animated film since Home on the Range (2004). This film brought to Disney the first African-American princess, who became one of the four non-Caucasian Disney princesses and the second American princess.
The introduction of Tiana jumpstarted a new line of Disney princesses – followed by Tangled, Brave (Pixar, but included in Disney princess line-up), and Frozen – and returned to the notion brought on by such self-saving princesses as Pocahontas and Mulan.
In addition to bringing back to the forefront the Disney princess line after 11 years and…
Building on the stories of the previous princesses, The Princess and the Frog focuses on the idea of a woman who doesn’t have to be independent yet chooses to be anyway. Tiana is in control of herself financially, holding down multiple paying jobs and being realistic when it comes to buying or owning property. This is a woman making her own choices. Tiana is affected by the story, but she moves herself. Lottie, Tiana’s wealthy best friend, is another important step forward for the depth of Disney characters. Lottie is not merely a spoiled rich girl. While she may be somewhat self-absorbed, she shows moments of kindness and thoughtfulness. Lottie displays from the start the truth that The Princess and the Frog will not be about a perfect person. Each and every character written in this film has both flaws and…
Tiana is not isolated in a tower or castle, she is involved in and contributes to the world around her. In doing so, she finds herself so absorbed in getting what she wants that she forgets what she needs – to live, to have fun, to experience relationships – becoming a Disney princess who is hard-working but takes her work to an extreme. The film then introduces an equally extreme complement for Tiana: Prince Naveen. Although not a memorable prince, Naveen provides the opposite end of the spectrum from Tiana; he is charming, conceited, and barely motivated, but his path is incredibly similar to Tiana’s. Naveen, too, is focused on what he wants – a party life with plenty of money and women – and is oblivious to what he actually needs. By forcing each character into an external change by becoming frogs, the characters are forced through an internal change in their pursuit of a return to their normal lives.
The Princess and the Frog brought back princesses, traditional animation, and a continuing sense of female empowerment. Disney brought the audience a world closer to home, a woman with both career and love, and the idea that faith is just as important as hard work. The Princess and the Frog boasts an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, three stars out of four from the Chicago Sun-Times, and Roger Ebert wrote in admiration, “No 3-D! No glasses! No extra ticket charge! No…
