A Small Victory

I give the Disney princesses a lot of grief. Whenever I want an example of how movies affect people I usually list a movie like "Sleeping Beauty" or "Snow" White" and talk about how they encourage passivity in little girls. With the exception of "Beauty and the Beast" I can't think of a single princess film that supports feminism (I would count "Enchanted" but Disney refuses to put Giselle in the category of other princesses because they don't want to pay royalties to Amy Adams for using her likeness). So, my curiosity was piqued when "The Princess and the Frog" was released in all of its hand-drawn glory. I wanted to know if this was a princess movie that would break the pattern of passivity. 

In short, the answer is yes. There was never a time where she slept waiting for somebody to rescue her, nor was there ever a time where her voice was taken away so that she could be seen as human. She was an active, determined, strong-minded woman throughout the film. 

The story of Tiana is as follows (there'll probably be spoilers). When she was a little girl growing up in New Orleans, she and her father had a dream of opening a restaurant together. However, he was called into duty for WWI and never made it back. Tiana kept the dream alive, though, and worked two jobs and sacrificed her personal life in order to save the money necessary to start her business. When she first meets the prince, she doesn't even care about him. 

But due to the direction of the plot, she and the prince wind up in a mess together when they're transformed into frogs. They go on a journey together to the one person who could change them back while helping each other out on the way. There are times when the prince rescues Tiana, but there are times when Tiana rescues the prince. You have to keep in mind that feminism isn't women having power over men; it's about equality between the sexes. This movie showed that.

And when Tiana and the prince fall in love, it doesn't revolve around the prince choosing her a la "Cinderella." In fact, they almost don't get together. The prince was going to propose to Tiana, but she seemingly only cared about her restaurant. So, the prince was going to marry another woman to get the money Tiana needed. Tiana realized how much she actually cared for the prince, so even though it meant sacrificing her restaurant and staying as frogs, Tiana choose to be with the prince instead. Of course, though, everything ends happily ever after with them both becoming human again and Tiana getting her restaurant.

But while I feel as though I can appreciate this movie for its feminist qualities, it's less than stellar in other fields. There wasn't a single memorable song throughout the film, although there were many songs. Too many songs, in fact. I was so interested in the story that whenever a mediocre song began I got frustrated. Actually I began to sing more memorable songs in my head just to liven things up. And, more importantly, it lacked any kind of meaningful commentary on race or culture. Sure, it showed that Tiana grew up poor and that she was treated differently at times, but it failed to create any kind of argument. Still, I suppose it's better than previous Disney films.

And I'd be remiss if I left out the best part of the movie: the art direction. In one scene, the art work transforms from the classical Disney style to that of an expressionistic poster without flaw. And the vibrant neon colors used throughout helped to capture a magical ambiance. The side characters were all likable enough with my favorite being the trumpet playing alligator Louie. And the villain, voiced by Keith David, was intimidating although less so than other Disney villains. The fact he was voiced by Keith David was 80 percent of the character's scare factor.

So, there you have it. A Disney princess movie that had an active woman lead for the first time since 1991. I am happy about that, but I'd be lying if I wasn't let down by it's failures. In the world of race relations, Disney has a lot to make up for.