“The movie, upon release, received a lot of love, so much so, they even released a cooking book, as a way to pay homage to the heavily saturated culinary background of the movie, which I owned. “— jada white (11th grade)
The 2009 BlockBuster, Princess and the Frog debuted as the first Black Disney Princess and first South Asian Prince, bringing in 270 million dollars. The movie, upon release, received a lot of love, so much so, they even released a cooking book, as a way to pay homage to the heavily saturated culinary background of the movie, which I owned. Before we break down our criticisms of the movie, first a brief explanation of the premise and plot. A young lady, with the aspirations of becoming a chef, the same as her late father, turns into a frog along with a disowned prince of Maldonia. The musical takes place in the southern city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Along with the film, the soundtrack embodies the richness of Black culture, and the way music travels through perceived physical realities
The movie starts with its title track, Down in New Orleans. In the film, this song plays in the background whilst Tiana gets on a trolley heading to one of her two full-time jobs. This reflects the beauty of Tiana’s community, as well as gives the audience an insight into Tiana’s character. We see jazz musicians, and even an introduction to the antagonist, the Voo-doo man. Almost There, soon follows with a solo number from the leading actress, Anika Noni Rose, a renowned musical theatre actress, best known for her role in the cinematic re-telling of Dream Girls.This further validates our original thoughts on Tiana’s character, she’s mission orientated, the mission being saving up enough money to start her restaurant. Quickly after, Friends on the Other Side serves as a parallel to Tiana’s song, as the Voo-doo man tricks the naive prince into becoming a frog, wanting to get an all-day pass to his dream life filled with wealth and riches. Now that we mentioned our protagonist and our antagonist, let’s talk about our love interest, Naveen, the prince of Maldonia. His singing voice makes its debut in When We’re Human, a number performed on the back of an alligator in the swamp waters of the Bayou. Someone who is use to a lavish luxurious lifestyle, is having to work to survive, and through that, falls in love with our princess-in-training, Tiana.
When this movie first came out on the big screens, I was six-years-old, and was completely enthralled by the plot, and the music. My mother, feeling the same as me, took me to see it three times in theatres. But my personal feelings should not blind the critiques this movie deserves. Disney has an ongoing problem with making Black characters non-human in the majority of their screen-time. This pattern was made obvious to me by Princess and the Frog, and it’s Black lead predecessor Soul (2020). The first ever Black Princess, was not human for 75-90% of her screen time. The problem with that should be obvious, the little representation we had, was then disrupted by ribbits and frog hunters. But, to this I realize Black culture, and music was represented in other aspects. Like the soul-food Tiana made in the middle of the bayou, or use of vernacular. Still the problem still stands.
Overall, this movie became an integral part of my home. To making benguays, and even starting a collection of Tiana figurines, I am truly thankful for the impact it made on me and other Black girls who finally saw themselves in screen. My rating is a solid 9/10.
The movie starts with its title track, Down in New Orleans. In the film, this song plays in the background whilst Tiana gets on a trolley heading to one of her two full-time jobs. This reflects the beauty of Tiana’s community, as well as gives the audience an insight into Tiana’s character. We see jazz musicians, and even an introduction to the antagonist, the Voo-doo man. Almost There, soon follows with a solo number from the leading actress, Anika Noni Rose, a renowned musical theatre actress, best known for her role in the cinematic re-telling of Dream Girls.This further validates our original thoughts on Tiana’s character, she’s mission orientated, the mission being saving up enough money to start her restaurant. Quickly after, Friends on the Other Side serves as a parallel to Tiana’s song, as the Voo-doo man tricks the naive prince into becoming a frog, wanting to get an all-day pass to his dream life filled with wealth and riches. Now that we mentioned our protagonist and our antagonist, let’s talk about our love interest, Naveen, the prince of Maldonia. His singing voice makes its debut in When We’re Human, a number performed on the back of an alligator in the swamp waters of the Bayou. Someone who is use to a lavish luxurious lifestyle, is having to work to survive, and through that, falls in love with our princess-in-training, Tiana.
When this movie first came out on the big screens, I was six-years-old, and was completely enthralled by the plot, and the music. My mother, feeling the same as me, took me to see it three times in theatres. But my personal feelings should not blind the critiques this movie deserves. Disney has an ongoing problem with making Black characters non-human in the majority of their screen-time. This pattern was made obvious to me by Princess and the Frog, and it’s Black lead predecessor Soul (2020). The first ever Black Princess, was not human for 75-90% of her screen time. The problem with that should be obvious, the little representation we had, was then disrupted by ribbits and frog hunters. But, to this I realize Black culture, and music was represented in other aspects. Like the soul-food Tiana made in the middle of the bayou, or use of vernacular. Still the problem still stands.
Overall, this movie became an integral part of my home. To making benguays, and even starting a collection of Tiana figurines, I am truly thankful for the impact it made on me and other Black girls who finally saw themselves in screen. My rating is a solid 9/10.
