BACKGROUND
Every decade or so, Disney Animation either grabs the public and the critics’ attentions, or it does the opposite. In the 1990s, Disney Animation potentially had its most fruitful decade of them all, churning out hit after hit for a number of years, from The Little Mermaid in 1989, to The Lion King in 1994, and ending on Tarzan in 1999.
In the 2000s, Disney went away from making its fairy-tale or musical movie and went full force into making non-musical comedy movies. Some of these worked and others did not. And after the box-office failure of Treasure Planet in 2002, Disney swore off making any more 2D hand-drawn animated movies and went straight into computer animation in a bid to compete with other studios like Pixar and DreamWorks.
After a change of management, and the acquisition of Pixar in 2006, finally in 2009, we got a proper fairy-tale animated musical from Disney. The Princess and the Frog was meant to herald a much-anticipated return to Disney’s typical 2D hand-drawn animation style, after the box-office bomb in 2004 of its “final” 2D animation film Home on the Range, and a run of disappointing CGI-reliant movies.
Sadly, The Princess and the Frog didn’t quite do enough to cement the future of hand-drawn animation and after the remake of Winnie the Pooh in 2011, the Walt Disney Company have not yet returned to this medium for a full-length feature film. Though The Princess and the Frog made a decent profit at the box-office, it wasn’t anything compared to the big Disney hits of the 1990s and it also drew a fair amount of criticism.
I personally love The Princess and the Frog, and went back to the cinema to see Disney films again from this point. My family had watched Brother Bear in 2003, skipped Home on the Range in 2004, saw Chicken Little in 2005, and then missed the remainder. When we heard that Disney were ditching their recent CGI format and returning to a hand-drawn animated fairy tale, emulating the hits of the “Disney Renaissance” period in the 1990s, we were all on board – and we weren’t disappointed.
But apparently, we were in the minority and in some way, The Princess and the Frog has been somewhat under-appreciated by many, being compared less favourably to the Disney hit animated films that came after it, such as Tangled (2010) and Frozen (2013), which went back to the musical fairy-tale format, but only used computers.
However, thanks to its catchy soundtrack and lovable characters, plus the reveal of Disney’s first Black princess, The Princess and the Frog has still managed to claim a place in Disney Animation history, and continues to be referenced within the Disney theme parks, something that many of Disney’s earlier animated films have actually not managed to do.
PLOT
The Princess and the Frog follows the story of Tiana, who we first see as she sits in a beautiful pink bedroom with her mother, Eudora, and her friend, Charlotte, or Lottie. Eudora is making Charlotte a brand-new dress as she reads the story The Frog Prince to them. This is Charlotte’s house, well, her father’s mansion. “Big Daddy” La Bouff dotes over his daughter, and Eudora is hired to make her princess dresses. Then, it’s time for Tiana and Eudora to go home, where Tiana’s father, James, has got home from work. Him and Tiana get to work on making gumbo for dinner and decide to share it with all their neighbours. Tiana and her father want to own a restaurant together so they can always make food for others and share their gift. But Eudora and James both tell Tiana that wishing on stars is great, but that it can only take her part of the way, and that hard work will make that dream come true. Tiana wishes on the evening star – and then sees a frog and runs away terrified!
Many years later, Tiana is now all grown up, but her father has since died, and Tiana is working flat out to save up enough money to buy her restaurant so she can see the dream through that her father now unfortunately cannot be a part of. This means that she has forgone all the normalities of a teenage life, like going out with friends, or flirting with boys. Charlotte barrels into the diner that Tiana works out and tells her father that at their ball that evening, she wants to try to convince Prince Naveen of Maldonia, a prince visiting New Orleans to find a rich bride, to marry her because she’s always wanted to be a princess. Lottie wants to pay Tiana to supply them with plenty of her “man-catching beignets”, and now Tiana finally has enough money for a deposit to buy the old mill where she plans to set up her restaurant. She plans to sign the papers with the Fenner Brothers, real estate agents, at Lottie’s ball that evening.
However, just as she is ready to sign the paperwork, she finds she was outbid for the property. Devasted, and after a mishap at the buffet table that sees her costume ruined, Tiana finds herself in Lottie’s room in one of Lottie’s ballgowns feeling absolutely lost. Desperate, she finds herself wishing on the evening star to make things turn out right. At this point, she sees a frog next to her. It wasn’t her wish at all, so Tiana jokingly asks it if it wants a kiss – as per the story of The Frog Prince – but shockingly, he answers her, saying “kissing would be nice”. Again, Tiana runs away afraid and starts throwing things at the talking frog, who claims to be the visiting Prince Naveen of Maldonia. Tiana doesn’t think that can be true as she just saw Lottie dancing with the human Prince Naveen. The frog can’t explain that but says, in exchange for a kiss, he can give her untold riches, whatever she wants. Tiana then decides to kiss him out of desperation, but as she is not a princess, just dressed as one, the spell backfires and Tiana becomes a frog too.
The two frogs end up in the bayou after causing a stir at the party, and must find their way back so they can get the spell reversed, as Naveen has got himself into this mess by talking to the “shadow man” and getting cursed with his voodoo magic. The “shadow man”, Dr. Facilier, has actually turned Naveen’s valet, Lawrence, into Naveen in a bid to take all of Big Daddy’s fortune, by ensuring the marriage to Lottie goes ahead. And once it has, Dr. Facilier will kill Big Daddy with a voodoo doll. It’s all quite sinister! But as they need Naveen’s blood to ensure the spell continues to hide Lawrence’s true identity, they need that frog back, so Dr. Facilier sends his shadowy “friends on the other side” to go and retrieve him.
Soon, the frogs meet a trumpet-playing alligator called Louis, who means to take them to Mama Odie, the bayou’s voodoo priestess, to get the curse reversed. He also wants to be human so he can play with the bands of New Orleans and hopes Mama Odie can do this for him. But on their way there, the trio meet Ray, a firefly, he tells them they are going the wrong way. Ray takes them to Mama Odie instead, using all of his family and friends’ lights to lead the way in the night. After dodging frog hunters together, and learning about each other’s backgrounds, Naveen and Tiana start to get along. Tiana thought he was just a spoilt brat of a prince who has never had to do anything for himself, and Naveen called Tiana “a stick in the mud”, but they put their differences aside to get to Mama Odie. They also learn about Ray’s true love, Evangeline. She is the Evening Star, but no-one lets on to Ray, who believes she is a firefly that is just very far away.
When they finally reach Mama Odie, who defeats the “friends on the other side” who have found Naveen in the bayou and plan to drag him back to Dr. Facilier, she tries to encourage them to think about what they need, and not what they want, but they don’t really listen, only wanting to not be frogs anymore. Mama Odie informs them that Lottie will be the Princess of Mardi Gras today, but only for the day, so if she can kiss Naveen before midnight, then they will both turn back into humans. Sadly, Mama Odie cannot do anything about Louis’ situation, so he stays an alligator…
They set off back to New Orleans on a riverboat, where Louis gets to play with a local band as they believe he is simply dressed as a gator for Mardi Gras. Despite Naveen’s newfound love for Tiana, and hers for him, he plans to marry Lottie as planned, to get Tiana the money for her restaurant, something she desperately wants. But he is captured on the riverboat by the shadows, and the others cannot find him when they dock in New Orleans. Then, they see him – on top of one of the Mardi Gras parade floats with Lottie, where the two are about to get married. Tiana is heartbroken and runs off. Ray tries to tell her about Naveen’s love for her, but she won’t listen and angrily tells Ray to stop thinking about Evangeline, because she is just a star and the two can never be together. Ray refuses to believe this and goes to figure out what is going on. Ray soon returns to Tiana to explain that he has figured out that Naveen on the float is not the real Naveen at all, and that Naveen is still a frog, hence why Tiana is also still a frog. Ray finds that a talisman is controlling the spell and tries to help Tiana destroy it – but he is squished by Dr. Facilier; one of the worst sounds I’ve ever heard in film…
Despite Facilier almost tricking Tiana into believing he will help her get her restaurant if she returns the talisman to him, Tiana does destroy it, saying that her father may not have got what he wanted, but that he had what he needed – love – and that she won’t sell her soul to get her dream. As the talisman shatters, Dr. Facilier is dragged to the underworld by his “friends on the other side” as payment for his plan failing. He is defeated. Tiana then runs to Naveen who is telling Lottie the full story of how he and Tiana became frogs, as they see Lawrence being arrested for his trickery on Lottie. But the story is a lot to take in, and Lottie wants to check the plan – that she will give Tiana the money for her restaurant, if Naveen agrees to marry her. Tiana comes in to say she’d rather be with Naveen than have her restaurant. Charlotte is so moved by the story that she says she’ll kiss Naveen for Tiana, “no marriage required”. All this has taken too long though, and the clock strikes midnight. Lottie tries to kiss Naveen, but it does not work. Tiana and Naveen don’t mind too much as they have each other. Louis comes over to them to show them that Ray is dying. With his last breath, he says he is glad the two are staying together as frogs. The trio then lay Ray to rest. In one of the most touching moments in any Disney movie, we find that Ray has become a star, a star that appears right next to the love of his life, Evangeline.
Tiana and Naveen decide to get married, and the ceremony is officiated by none other than Mama Odie. As Tiana becomes a princess by marrying Naveen, their first kiss as a married couple breaks the spell, and they two have a real human wedding back in New Orleans. Using their new friend Louis, the Fenner Brothers then allow Tiana to buy the mill with her original deposit and Tiana and Naveen renovate the whole place. Tiana’s Palace then opens and everyone lives happily ever after down in New Orleans.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Tiana is a hard-working woman, determined to open up a restaurant. Despite the others in town thinking she can’t do it, a restaurant being too much for “a woman of [her] background”, she works harder than anyone can possibly imagine to make sure she gets her dream, for her and her father. Unlike most fairy tales, that tell us that wishing on stars can make all your dreams come true, The Princess and the Frog doesn’t tell us that – and Tiana’s parents are the ones to say that actually wishing is fine, but if not for hard work and determination, then those dreams can’t come true. From this point, Tiana’s sole focus is on getting her restaurant, and making something of herself. Tiana is therefore a very different Disney princess. She is proactive, and is almost cynical about love and magic. Even the 90s princesses of Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine are not like this, although they are more progressive than Disney’s earlier princesses, like Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora. Mark Henn was the supervising animator for Tiana, as he had been for Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine, but it is clear how proud he was to animate such a strong, female character like Tiana, knowing that Disney Princesses were being brought into the modern age. Tiana sets the standard for the Disney movies to come, because, from this point on, all the female lead characters have more on their minds than just love, and are quite independent. Just look at Rapunzel, or Anna, or Elsa, or Moana, or Mirabel. Tiana is also the first Black Disney princess, showing Disney’s attempt at including more diverse representation in their films, and she is the first Disney Princess to have a paying job, and to then become a business owner. She is a great role model for children watching this film, for all kinds of reasons.
Anika Noni Rose was selected to voice Tiana, and she was incredibly enthusiastic about the character, even wanting Tiana to be left-handed, like her. Mark Henn agreed to do this. The animators were very pleased with her voice work, as she brought warmth and humour to the character. Her singing is another highlight of her casting[1]. Anika Noni Rose is perhaps most known for her performance as Lorell in the movie musical Dreamgirls (2006), alongside Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé Knowles. I recently saw this film and it was amazing, all three leads were stunning. Outside of this though, Anika Noni Rose has starred in Broadway productions such as Caroline, or Change from 2003 to 2004, where she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun in 2014, where she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Anika won the Black Reel Award for Best Voice Performance in 2010 for her role as Tiana, and she continues to return to voice the character for Disney.
Then, there’s Naveen, the handsome, charming Prince of Maldonia. Naveen doesn’t have much else on his mind apart from women and music! And that’s why his parents have cut him off and he’s been forced to come to New Orleans to marry Miss Charlotte La Bouff so he can be rich again. Naveen seems to not care about being useful to society, and he has no idea how to look after himself, having had servants do everything for him his whole life. It’s quite sad when he mentions this to Tiana, when they are cooking gumbo in the bayou and Naveen has been given the task of “mincing the mushrooms”. But Tiana helps him learn how to do normal tasks, and he in turn teaches her how to have some fun every once in a while. Naveen is very funny though, and he doesn’t have any idea that he’s not being useful at times. I love the part when Tiana has fashioned them a raft, seemingly out of nothing, to get their frog selves back to New Orleans, and she asks him for a little help, so Naveen decides to just play his twig ukulele a bit louder. He’s one of a kind, and it’s good that Disney have made it so the princess saves the prince, instead of the other way around by making him a bit of a useless figure, who needs saving quite often! He is one of my favourite Disney Princes. Brazilian actor Bruno Campos voices Naveen. He had previously starred in the sitcom Jesse (1998-2000), alongside Christina Applegate, as Diego Vasquez, and in the medical drama Nip/Tuck (2003-10) from 2004 to 2005 as Quentin Costa. Campos also returns to Disney to reprise his voice role as Naveen when required.
Next, there are the two animal sidekicks: trumpet-playing alligator, Louis, and Cajun firefly, Ray. You’re made to love them as the four set off through the bayou to break Tiana and Naveen’s frog spell; they’re just so likeable. Louis has dreams of playing in bands with other humans, and Ray longs to be with his love, Evangeline. They are funny sidekicks, who have some great moments, like Ray having to pick out all those pricker bush spikes out of Louis’ body – nice. They are also confidants to Tiana and Naveen, as they try to figure out their feelings for each other. I like Louis, because he’s bubbly, and a very talented trumpet player. He is voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley. Wooley has continued to do voice work for television shows, like Trolls: TrollsTopia (2020-22) as Lownote Jones, and video games, like Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) and Grand Theft Auto V (2013), as well as reprising the role of Louis when needed. Michael-Leon Wooley also has numerous stage credits, appearing in Broadway shows such as the revival of The Music Man in 2000 as Olin Britt and as the voice of the man-eating plant Audrey II in the 2003 revival of Little Shop of Horrors.
But of these two sidekicks, Ray is my favourite, because he’s so sweet and he’s very loyal to the group. Ray unfortunately has one of the most tragic endings to any sidekick, as he is squished under Dr. Facilier’s foot – deliberately, I might add – and the sound it makes is awful. However, though he does die, we see near to the end of the film, that he comes back as a star, appearing right next to his love, Evangeline. Can I have a tissue, please? Ray is voiced by Jim Cummings, the man behind many beloved Disney characters, including Winnie the Pooh since 1988 and Tigger since 1989.
Then, there is Dr. Facilier. Finally, Disney made a good villain again, after so many years of waiting and not getting one! And then didn’t make many more after that… Anyway, Dr. Facilier, also known as “the shadow man”, is a witch doctor, specialising in voodoo. As we see in the opening of the film, he spends his time conning members of the public. He uses his magic, in exchange for cash, only for it to backfire on them. Specifically, there is a bald man he sees: Facilier uses a magic powder on him, his hair grows, but then as he tries to talk to a pretty girl, he ends up with hair all over his body and she flees. Dr. Facilier wants more than he’s currently getting though, so he concocts a plan to get Mr. La Bouff’s riches. He will get someone to impersonate Prince Naveen and marry La Bouff’s daughter, and then they will split the takings. This is why he lures Naveen into his shop, so he can turn him into a frog, and get his long-underappreciated valet, Lawrence, to take his place. Dr. Facilier is evil for evil’s sake, and I like that; he doesn’t need an emotional backstory. He’s just greedy and tired of being considered lesser than the rich sugar barons of New Orleans. He’s also very stylish with his top hat and tails, and, as Naveen says, Facilier is very charismatic. Facilier also gets a great villain’s song in “Friends on the Other Side”. His demise is good too, as his “friends on the other side” come to claim him and drag him underground for not fulfilling the plan with their magic. One of the best villain demises, I think. Keith David, voice of Dr. Facilier, did a great job getting that deep, sinister voice that is perfect for a Disney villain. He also referred to his character as “a delicious bad guy”[2].
Keith David has starred in numerous roles on stage and screen. On stage, he has performed in Broadway revivals of plays like Hedda Gabler in 1994, and the Shakespeare plays Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, and Macbeth in the 1986. On screen, David has appeared in numerous films, including Armageddon (1998) as General Kimsey; Cloud Atlas (2012); Nope (2022) as Otis Haywood Sr., and in American Fiction (2023) as Willy the Wonker. David also has had a long career in voice acting. The voice of Apollo in Disney’s Hercules (1997) and The President in Rick and Morty (2015-present) are just two examples.
Opposite to Dr. Facilier is the voodoo priestess Mama Odie, who uses her powers for good, not evil. Despite seeming to be a doddery old, blind woman, Mama Odie is the wisest character in The Princess and the Frog, and ultimately resolves the curse of Tiana and Naveen, albeit not in the way they had expected! She’s caring, but also a straight talker, getting to the point quickly. Jenifer Lewis voices Mama Odie. Lewis has starred in numerous movies such as Beaches (1988) as Diva, and Sister Act (1992) and its 1993 sequel as Michelle. In television, Lewis appeared in the recurring role of Aunt Helen in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-96), and as Ruby Johnson in the hugely successful sitcom Black-ish (2014-22). Lewis also provides the voice of Flo in the Cars franchise (2006-22).
Finally, there are a few minor characters to talk about. Firstly, Eudora, Tiana’s mother, who is kind and encouraging of Tiana’s dreams, but is also aware that she works too hard, and is starting to lose her sense of what’s important: family and love. Eudora is voiced by actress and talk show host Oprah Winfrey. She had been brought onto the project as a consultant initially, but was then pitched the character of Eudora, and agreed to voice her[3]. Then, there is “Big Daddy” La Bouff, a rich sugar mill owner, who is a complete pushover as a father, but very generous, and kind to everyone. He is voiced by John Goodman, but, like Eudora, does not have a big role in the movie, unfortunately. John Goodman had previously voiced other Disney and Pixar characters such as Pacha in The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and James P. Sullivan, “Sully”, in the Monsters Inc. franchise (2001-present). Another of my favourite characters is Lottie. She is like the typical Disney princess in that she longs to be married to a prince regardless of who they are! She’s a bit naïve, a bit chaotic, but she’s hilarious, and she cares about her friendship with Tiana. Her voice work by Jennifer Cody is great; I can see why she won the Annie Award for Voice Acting in 2009 for this role. Cody began her career on stage, in musicals like Gypsy and Cats.
PRODUCTION
The inspiration for The Princess and the Frog’s story came from The Frog Princess novel, by E.D. Baker and first published in 2002, which itself was based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Frog Prince. In The Frog Prince, a princess loses a golden ball down a well and the Frog Prince retrieves it for her, providing she’ll be his friend and take him to the palace. She does not and her father shames her into keeping her promise. The frog has followed her to the palace anyway, but soon the princess becomes irritated with the frog and throws it against the wall. Her grief breaks the curse and the frog becomes a prince.
In The Frog Princess novel, Princess Emma of Greater Greensward is betrothed to Prince Jorge of East Aradia, who she despises. She runs away to avoid this marriage, and ends up in the swamp where she meets Prince Eadric from Upper Montevista, but he has been turned into a frog by the witch Mudine. Emma kisses the frog to try to reverse the spell but turns into a frog herself. As they try to find the witch Mudine to reverse the spell, they find that the reason Emma turned into a frog was because she was not wearing a curse-reversal bracelet that was gifted to her by her aunt to ward off evil curses. It was randomly stolen by an otter so they go off to find it. Once the bracelet is retrieved, the two kiss again and become human. It’s quite a random story, but you can see the storyline that Disney was using as a basis for their own plot, although they made many changes, one of the biggest being that the princesses in both versions of the original story are not likeable and are very spoilt, whereas Tiana is the complete opposite[4].
Another inspiration for The Princess and the Frog was an actual New Orleans chef named Leah Chase. She was born in 1923, and one of her first jobs in New Orleans was as a waitress in the 1940s, in a restaurant in the 1940s. It was almost unheard of at this time for a young, Black woman to be working in the French Quarter area of the city, but she loved her job and getting to see the full workings of a restaurant. Leah met her husband, Dooky, in 1944, and his parents ran a sandwich shop. Leah helped to grow the business into Dooky Chase’s Restaurant. She became the head chef of the restaurant, and was given the title the “Queen of Creole Cuisine”. The Dooky Chase restaurant on the 6th Ward of New Orleans was flooded by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Leah and her husband spent more than a year living in a trailer across the street, and the restaurant did not reopen until 2007. The team working on The Princess and the Frog wanted to hear all about Leah’s life so they spoke with her during their research trip to New Orleans. To begin with, Leah wasn’t sure about why Disney wanted details of her life, but she was happy to talk to them anyway. On hearing about the characters within the film, and of Disney finally debuting their first Black princess, Leah was thrilled to have been a part of it[5]. Sadly, Leah Chase died in June 2019 at the age of 96, but during her life, she received numerous honorary degrees and recognition for her culinary talent, even being inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2010. She also received the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and has fed many celebrities at Dooky Chase, including the likes of presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
So, these two stories contributed to the plot of The Princess and the Frog, but how did the film actually get made? Well, the history of The Princess and the Frog began with a change in management. It would be Michael Eisner who was to be ousted as Disney CEO in 2005, after twenty-one years of employment, with countless movie releases and seven Disney theme park openings during that tenure. Many people are not fans of Michael Eisner, but I think he did great things for Disney, and he has been unfairly ridiculed in my opinion. But that’s beside the point. The reason for his departure was in part because of concerns, particularly from Roy E. Disney, that the animation department had gone into decline, and they were no longer breaking boundaries or box-office records as they had been in the 1990s. Also, around this time, it was becoming clear that former Disney Animation president, Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had left the Disney company in 1994, was now doing wonders at DreamWorks, with their movies outperforming many of Disney’s in the 2000s. Bob Iger replaced Eisner and set about acquiring Pixar in 2006.
This brought in John Lasseter as the Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation. John Lasseter, though well-known for his CG work at Pixar, insisted that they go back to 2D animation, even though Disney had themselves vowed never to return to this medium after the release of Home on the Range (2004), thanks to the financial failure of Treasure Planet (2002). Pixar had actually started early work on a film set in New Orleans that was to be named The Spirit of New Orleans: A Pixar Ghost Story, which came about because of Lasseter’s liking of the city. Some of that early work was incorporated into The Princess and the Frog. Many animators had left Disney when the traditional animation departments were dissolved. Lasseter had two specific people in mind to direct this hailed return to hand-drawn animation and they were Ron Clements and John Musker, the two behind the über-successful Disney Renaissance movies, The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992). Let’s ignore the fact they also directed Treasure Planet…Luckily, Clements and Musker agreed to direct the movie, and many other animators, like Mark Henn and Andreas Deja, came back to the Disney Studios to work on this movie. Deja animated Mama Odie here, and had been the supervising animator for some of the best Disney villains, such as Jafar, Gaston, and Scar, Graduates of CalArts were also able to join the Disney Studios to actually do what they had studied, instead of being pushed into the computer animation department, although some elements of computer animation were used such as for the fireflies, and some vehicle wheels and doors[6].
Once the man-power was back on board, they decided to twist the typical fairy-tale style Disney were known for to make it feel new and fresh. They made the prince a ladies’ man; Mama Odie, the strange voodoo priestess who lives in a boat in a tree in the bayou, became the fairy godmother; “Big Daddy” was the king of the kingdom; and Dr. Facilier was the evil witch. They wanted to bring back the movie style that they had done so well in the 1990s, as well as the 1950s. Disney also decided that, instead of the typical mystical European setting, they wanted this fairy-tale to be set in America. Clements and Musker spent around ten days in New Orleans researching, paying attention to the diverse architecture, as they felt they had a responsibility to get the settings and locations just right, to be authentic to what is still there. The beauty is in the simplicity and subtlety of the animation, and because of that the settings are quite impressionistic, capturing the feel of a place instead of being rooted in realism, much like Disney did with the forest in Bambi (1942). It was difficult for the animators to figure out how to animate the frogs, as sometimes they came out “too frog-like”. Though they used real-life frogs as reference points, it was decided that the frogs didn’t need to look realistic to the animal, but to just have suggestions of the animal, much like Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio (1940)[7]. The animators were clearly very happy to be back working on a traditionally hand-drawn animated feature film, as that was the whole basis of the legacy that Walt Disney had built.
MUSIC
Every great Disney film also needs great music, and they did not disappoint there, because this was not just a return to traditional animation, but it was a return to the animated musical. Due to the specific time and location setting for this fairy tale, they had to be careful to ensure that the musical stylings of New Orleans were respected. With this in mind, they hired Randy Newman as the composer, since he is a jazz musician and had grown up in New Orleans, making him a good fit for the film. Newman described the music of The Princess and the Frog as being like gumbo, because of all the musical styles that were mixed in, such as the classic love ballad with a Cajun twist, gospel, blues, and jazz[8]. Newman was already a frequent collaborator at Pixar, having scoring the movies Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999), A Bug’s Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and Cars (2006). Randy Newman also voiced the character of Cousin Randy, one of Ray’s huge firefly family.
The Princess and the Frog’s soundtrack consists of eight original songs; all except one were written by Randy Newman. R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo actually wrote and performed the End Credits song, “Never Knew I Needed”. It hit number 56 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and did the best in Japan, reaching number 13 on the Japan Hot 100. I don’t personally like this song very much, finding that it doesn’t fit well in the soundtrack. It’s just such a different style to the rest of the music.
Moving on, we have the much more upbeat, and much more fitting song, “Down in New Orleans”. It is a perfectly jazzy number to properly open the film, as Tiana rushes to get to work on time. I really love it, and it is my favourite song in the soundtrack. It was performed by Dr. John, a popular musician from New Orleans, who passed away in June 2019. The song also appears in two other forms in the movie; firstly, as a brief prologue from Anika Noni Rose as Tiana, as she sings about the magic of the Evening Star, and then as a fun-filled finale, again performed by Tiana, as she finally opens her restaurant. I like all three versions, but the main one by Dr. John is the best for me.
Next, Tiana gets her own solo, “Almost There”. This is Tiana singing about her dream of opening up her restaurant as she is so close to seeing it come true. It’s a very hopeful, positive song, and I think it is great for motivating anyone to finish something! This scene is quite different to the rest of The Princess and the Frog in terms of animation style, and that is because we move into an Art Deco fantasy of Tiana’s restaurant, which is almost like going into a storybook. Eric Golberg, the animator behind characters like Genie, Phil in Hercules (1997) and Louis the alligator here, was the supervising animator of this scene, basing it on the art of Harlem Renaissance painter, Aaron Douglas[9].
Then, we finally got a big Disney villain song, after years of waiting for another good one to follow Frollo’s “Hellfire” in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). I did say good, so that’s not counting Alameda Slim’s “villain” song from Home on the Range (2004), which is alright, but not at all scary! “Friends on the Other Side” is a big song, full of evil trickery and spookiness, thanks to the charismatic Dr. Facilier, and his brilliant voice actor Keith David. Within this scene as well, of Dr. Facilier turning Naveen into a frog with the help of Naveen’s valet Lawrence, it transitions from normal animation to suddenly crazy colours, voodoo dolls, and psychedelic imagery, to show the magical transformation.
Let’s get back to the happier songs. “When We’re Human”, performed by Louis, Naveen, and Tiana, as they travel across the bayou, is another upbeat song that just makes you want to dance. I particularly like some of Naveen’s lines in this song as he has decided that he’s going to go back to being a womaniser once he’s human – men are such dreamers… And then Tiana calls him out for being lazy and irresponsible: “your modesty becomes you, and your sense of responsibility”; who knew Tiana could be so sarcastic?
This song is soon followed by Ray singing “Gonna Take You There”, a song reminiscent of music from southern Louisiana, complete with accordion, as him and his firefly family lead the way to Mama Odie. Then to slow things down, Ray performs “Ma Belle Evangeline”, a Cajun waltz of sorts, as the customary love ballad for this animated musical. It’s a very sweet song, partly because of Ray’s innocence, and partly for the scenes of Tiana and Naveen dancing together and gazing into each other’s eyes under the starlight…Aww.
And finally, we get to Mama Odie’s song, “Dig a Little Deeper”, performed by Jenifer Lewis and the Pinnacle Gospel Chorus. This song is a huge gospel number, which also appeared as the big finale in Harmonious, Epcot’s short-lived fireworks show. Mama Odie is trying to tell Tiana and Naveen to look inside themselves and figure out what they actually want in life. To animate this scene, the Disney team used live-action reference material, which featured dancers performing as the characters that would feature in the sequence. Shari Butler performed as Mama Odie, and the spoonbills that accompany her in the movie were performed by dancers wearing baseball caps with cardboard attached to them to look like a bill. The live-action material helped the animators to animate this big number, and Andreas Deja even used Shari’s shimmy when animating Mama Odie into the scene[10].
Within the instrumental score, also by Newman, the piece that really stands out to me is “This Is Gonna Be Good”, because it features the music that plays during Ray’s funeral. It starts off very sombre and melancholic, but then it builds to the happy moment where we see Ray reunited with his Evangeline. It’s supposed to make you cry and it certainly makes me cry buckets! It is then topped off by the wedding of Naveen and Tiana in the bayou and their return to their human forms, which ties up the storyline of the movie.
“Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans” were both nominated in the Best Original Song category at the Academy Awards in 2010, but unfortunately lost out to “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart (2009). “Down in New Orleans” was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media in 2011, again losing to “The Weary Kind”. “Almost There” did however win the Black Reel Award for Best Song in 2009. The Princess and the Frog soundtrack didn’t hit people in the same way as some other Disney movie soundtracks that came later, like Frozen (2013) and Encanto (2021), but I still like it a lot, and think it is one of Disney’s better soundtracks.
RECEPTION
The Princess and the Frog, even before its release, was struggling with critiques after details during development were announced in the years prior to its scheduled release. These included comments over whether the setting of New Orleans, where Black communities were devasted by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was such a good idea for this Disneyfied American fairy-tale. There was also concern over the original name for the character of Tiana, which was supposed to be “Maddy”. This is not a traditionally Black name, and the other issue was that she was originally going to be a maid. These comments led to Disney changing the name to Tiana, and giving her the job of a waitress. There were also discussions surrounding Ray the firefly’s Southern accent, which was seen as stereotypical by some, for making him sound like an “uneducated hick”. Another discussion was around Prince Naveen’s skin tone, as although Tiana was to become Disney’s first Black princess, Naveen was not going to be the first Black prince. This caused some to think that Disney did not feel that a Black man was “good enough” to represent a prince and the princess’ love interest[11].
Remember that these comments were all made several months before The Princess and the Frog made its debut to the public, however, only concerns around Tiana’s original name and occupation were actually addressed. The issues surrounding Ray, Naveen, and the central setting of New Orleans were not changed, so I can only presume that anyone who was concerned by these points did not change their opinion after the movie’s release.
There were other concerns as well, this time around the use of voodoo in the movie, which came to light after the movie’s release. Christian groups criticised the use of “unholy” voodoo, and others found that voodoo had been misrepresented as magic, and not as a religion. The Princess and the Frog was also criticised by some for avoiding talk of segregation and racial injustice that would have been enforced during the movie’s time period of 1920s New Orleans. I can only guess that Disney felt that this was a difficult subject to include in their movie, and felt it better to avoid the discussions, instead making Tiana’s difficulties come from her lack of wealth and the fact that she is a single woman in a white male-dominated society. Interracial marriage was also illegal at this time; therefore, Charlotte would not have been allowed to marry Prince Naveen, and Charlotte and Tiana’s friendship would have been unusual. Although I understand that segregation was not properly referenced in The Princess and the Frog, I did feel that some of the dialogue, such as the Fenner Brothers saying that a woman of Tiana’s “background” could not run an establishment like her restaurant, got the point across that she was being discriminated against for her skin colour – or at least, that’s how I understood it. Had The Princess and the Frog been made today, it would have benefited from having a majority African-American writing and directing team, and some of these concerns could have been avoided.
The Princess and the Frog went on to gross just over $104 million in the US and Canada, and $271 million worldwide, making it profit-making and a box-office success, as well as far outgrossing many of Disney Animation’s movies of the 2000s, but when compared to Disney’s heyday of 1990s hand-drawn animated movies, The Princess and the Frog was seen to have failed. Perhaps because of the controversy swirling around the movie before its release, and because of the film being marketed as a “girls’ film”, a musical fairy-tale, these factors may have also contributed. Something to consider as well is that The Princess and the Frog, was released only one week before the smash hit that was Avatar (2009), so it couldn’t help but be overshadowed[12].
Despite this, the movie was nominated for multiple awards, such as Best Animated Feature at the 27th Annie Awards, the 67th Golden Globes, and at the 82nd Academy Awards. The Princess and the Frog did win some awards, mostly for voice work and music, but it was not the “big winner” at the Oscars or Golden Globes, being beaten out by Pixar’s Up (2009).
Many audiences did like The Princess and the Frog, enjoying the return to hand-drawn animation and finding the movie charming and pleasant, but it was not described as sensational or anything particularly special either. Disney were concerned that some audiences felt that the 2D animation style was “old-fashioned”, and that was perhaps why less people than expected had gone to see it in theatres. After this, Disney decided to revert back to making CGI movies, thinking that people did not prefer traditional 2D animation as first thought, which is disappointing because I much prefer 2D animation to CGI.
LEGACY
As part of the marketing push for The Princess and the Frog, in a manner similar to the promotional movie parades of the 1990s, a whole show was developed around The Princess and the Frog for the US Disney Parks. It was called Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee and it debuted at both Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World on 25th October 2009, and at Disneyland on 5th November 2009. It involved the characters of Louis, Princess Tiana, and Prince Naveen, and some dancers performing a mini-parade as they walked to the theme parks’ respective riverboats, so the Liberty Belle Riverboat in Magic Kingdom, and the Mark Twain Riverboat at Disneyland, where the show continued. They performed songs from the movie, and Dr. Facilier even arrived on board to get his moment in the spotlight. This show only ran for few months, ending sometime in early 2010, around the time that The Princess and the Frog stopped running in cinemas. At Disneyland, though, the Showboat Jubilee show did seem to become a smaller show titled Princess Tiana’s Mardi Gras Celebration. It was just on a stage by the Rivers of America, instead of being on the riverboat. It is unclear for exactly how long this show ran, but it seemed to reappear around Mardi Gras for a couple of years, until 2013.
Furthermore, Tiana was formally inducted into the official Disney Princess line-up in October 2009, before The Princess and the Frog was even released in theatres. There was a ceremony to welcome her at Cinderella Castle in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, making Tiana the first official Disney Princess to join the royal list since Mulan in 1998[13].
And that’s not all. As Princess Tiana is an official Disney Princess, she makes numerous appearances at the Disney Parks around the world. Princess Tiana can be available as a makeover package at the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique locations that exist across the six Disney Parks, and she has a chance of appearing at any Princess Character Dining experience, such as Auberge de Cendrillon at Disneyland Paris or Cinderella’s Royal Table at Walt Disney World. Princess Tiana has also been confirmed as being one of the characters that will be meeting guests at 1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World, when the restaurant reopens in April 2024. She will be wearing her outfit from the upcoming Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction. Plus, one of the menu items here will be Tiana’s Gumbo. The Princess and the Frog also has a catchy soundtrack, so extracts are included in some parts of fireworks shows, such as Happily Ever After at Walt Disney World and Disney Dreams! at Disneyland Paris, and the characters appear in parades like Magic Happens in Disneyland, and the Festival of Fantasy at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.
Specifically, at Walt Disney World Resort, Tiana currently has a permanent meet-and-greet spot at Princess Fairytale Hall in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom. Tiana has been seen with Naveen before at Special Events here, such as Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and the two made an unexpected appearance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2023. Louis and Dr. Facilier were both a part of Long Lost Friends Week in Summer 2013, but these two are rarer characters to meet. However, Dr. Facilier, being a Disney Villain, is generally a part of the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party events, appearing in the Boo To You Parade and in the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular Show. At the Port Orleans Resort, at both the French Quarter and Riverside areas, The Princess and the Frog is quite a common theming element, due to New Orleans being the location of the movie and the big event of Mardi Gras. At the Port Orleans annual Mardi Gras parade in 2024, Princess Tiana was featured in a horse-drawn carriage for example. At the Port Orleans Riverside, you can also stay in the specially themed “Royal Guest Rooms”. Amongst images of other Disney Princesses, these rooms feature headboards with The Princess and the Frog-themed artwork and a huge portrait of Princess Tiana on the wall.
But the biggest and most exciting reference to The Princess and the Frog at Walt Disney World Resort has only recently been experienced. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, a log flume attraction taking over the area that housed Splash Mountain in Frontierland, opened on 28th June 2024 to take guests on a musical adventure with Tiana, Louis, and Mama Odie as they prepare for their New Orleans Mardi Gras performance. It uses the existing infrastructure of Splash Mountain; however, the exterior Briar Patch has been transformed into a giant tree. Numerous new animatronics have been included in the ride, as well as music from the film, with a new song featuring at the end of the ride[14].
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is also being constructed at Disneyland in the New Orleans Square area of the park; again, taking over the existing infrastructure of their Splash Mountain attraction, however, it will debut sometime in “late” 2024; no date has yet been given The New Orleans Square area of Disneyland though continues to reference Tiana and The Princess and the Frog. There is a quick-service dining location named Tiana’s Palace, which serves up Southern Creole and Cajun dishes, such as gumbo, shrimp and grits, and those “man-catching” beignets. There is also a shop, Eudora’s Chic Boutique, named after Tiana’s mother. Tiana’s Place, not Palace, is also a restaurant on the Disney Wonder cruise ship. This is a good reference to the movie, where Tiana’s original dream is to open “Tiana’s Place”, but when her restaurant is finally revealed at the end of the film, it is named “Tiana’s Palace”, possibly because of her royal marriage.
For meet-and-greets at Disneyland, Princess Tiana is not a regularly scheduled meet-and-greet character, however, she does sometimes appear at Royal Hall or just in New Orleans Square. Naveen and Tiana were both spotted at Disneyland After Dark: Sweethearts’ Nite in 2024. Dr. Facilier is again most likely to be seen during Halloween, at the Oogie Boogie Bash. He has had a special location on the Treat Trail before, most recently in 2022. Facilier is also a part of the Frightfully Fun Parade.
At Disneyland Paris, you may be lucky enough to see some of The Princess and the Frog characters, though they are more likely to appear at Special Events. For example, Louis, Naveen, Tiana, and Dr. Facilier were all together as part of the Disney Loves Jazz event at Disneyland Paris in 2018. Tiana was seen in Frontierland around 2023.
At Hong Kong Disneyland, Tiana sings her song “Almost There” during the Mickey and the Wondrous Book show that opened in 2015. Tiana was also spotted with the other Disney Princess in 2022 and 2023 for World Princess Week, but she has met guests by the Castle of Dreams before too. Dr. Facilier has been part of Hong Kong’s Halloween events, such as the Let’s Get Wicked show. Mickey’s Storybook Adventure, an identical show to Mickey and the Wondrous Book, opened at Shanghai Disneyland in 2021, therefore, Tiana also sings in this show. But at both Shanghai Disneyland and at Tokyo Disneyland, it is unclear whether Tiana or any of The Princess and the Frog characters have been available for meet-and-greets in recent years, though it is always possible that Tiana will appear at any princess area, such as a restaurant or by the parks’ respective castles, and that Dr. Facilier could be a part of any Halloween event. Others may appear at Special Events.
The Princess and the Frog has not been lined up for a theatrically released sequel, although it is possible that a live-action remake is in the works – what a surprise… But for Disney+, a series titled Tiana has been in development for a few years now, originally planned to be released in 2022, but it has now been delayed to 2024. A writer and director, Joyce Sherri, for the series was announced in October 2023; that is the most recent update.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s a shame that The Princess and the Frog wasn’t the ground-breaking return to traditional animation it was hoped to be, but I love it, for its characters, its music, and the return to fantasy and magic. It remains within the Disney Animation Classics list to be loved by many a generation to come. It deserves its place in Disney history and, although short-lived, was a much welcome return to what Disney Animation does best.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Disney, “The Princess and the Animator”, from The Princess and the Frog (2009) Blu-Ray (2010).
[2] Credit: Disney, “Conjuring the Villain”, from The Princess and the Frog (2009) Blu-Ray (2010).
[3] Credit: Disney D23, 5 Facts Every Fan of The Princess and the Frog Should Know, Disney D23 YouTube Channel, uploaded 25th March 2020.
[4] Credit: Kayleena Pierce-Bohen, ‘Princess & The Frog: 10 Biggest Differences Disney Made To The Original Story’, ScreenRant.com, 6th June 2020.
[5] Credit: Rachel Bertsche, ‘The Woman Behind Disney’s Landmark Princess’, Oprah.com, 24th March 2010.
[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Princess and the Frog’, CartoonResearch.com, 5th August 2022.
[7] Credit: Disney, “Magic in the Bayou: The Making of a Princess”, from The Princess and the Frog (2009) Blu-Ray (2010).
[8] Credit: Disney, “A Return to the Animated Musical”, from The Princess and the Frog (2009) Blu-Ray (2010).
[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Princess and the Frog’, pp. 145-147.
[10] Credit: Disney, “Bringing Life to Animation”, from The Princess and the Frog (2009) Blu-Ray (2010).
[11] Credit: Brooks Barnes, ‘Her Prince Has Come. Critics, Too’, The New York Times (online), 29th May 2009.
[12] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Princess and the Frog’, CartoonResearch.com, 5th August 2022.
[13] Credit: Blake Taylor, ‘A look back at ‘The Princess and the Frog’ in Disney parks’, Attractions Magazine (online), 4th March 2023.
[14] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Fridays with Jim Korkis: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.
The Disney Purist 