Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" and what it has to do with real life...

So we’re all pretty much aware that the Disney hit machine has made more than a few misses in it’s lifetime of openings. Pocahontas was almost a universal flop, but that didn’t stop them from making a sequel. And who could forget the epic fail or the Hunchback of Notre Dame? Now, Disney is pretty famous for skewing the facts to make the cut but turning a horror story into something for children?? I shudder to think…

But as far as making hits (and hit makers for that matter) the Disney Corporation is poised to strike the killing blow each and every time. They have 5 theme parks worldwide (counting Disneyworld as one theme park together), a string of movies, and their own TV channel and record label. They even have their own radio station! Get in with these guys and they’ll do everything they can to make sure you’re a star. (Because fame for you is money for them and that’s the heart of Disney ethics. Just ask Michael Eisner.) If you doubt this I want you to repeat 3 words to yourself: High School Musical. Yeah, I thought you’d change your tune.

While I’ve been disappointed by the last few Disney films. Bolt and Up left me a bit cold. Even Enchanted, a critical hit, slapped me in the face with its over the top sap and campy pot shots. However, I was convinced to watch The Princess and the Frog by a friend of mine that has made some dubious recommendations to me in the past. (none so bad as Twilight.) But then she showed me the token villain song, “Friends on the Other Side” on Youtube. I was enchanted! Here was a jazzy sound for Disney, something new and exciting! So, after that, I consented to watch it.

Now, to be honest, I enjoyed the movie so much overall that I’ve watched it twice more since then. (The fact that it’s on my Netflix instant cue doesn’t hurt) Sure, it’s cheesy. Sure it’s got sap and predictability stamped all over it. It’s for kids!! What kid’s movie has originality and spunk anymore?

However, The Princess and the Frog is original in a lot of ways and just as back assward in others as they’ve always been. Tiana is, for all intents and purposes, Disney’s first big black main character. To those of you crying about Song of the South, realize I’m speaking of female leads. And to those of you crying about the muses from Hercules (seriously, Disney execs? Gospel for a movie about Greek Mythology gone HORRIBLY wrong? Seems absurd and blasphemous to me…) the muses were pretty cool for what they were but not heroines, simply narrators. Could have been Morgan Freeman narrating for all the difference it would have made. People might have liked that better anyway.

Now, the original concept drawing for Princess Tiana (in early concept called Maddy) is found here. http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z316/ZaiaFantasy/Maddy.jpg?t=1287165814

If they’d stuck with this concept they might have had something. But in true Disney fashion, they scrapped the earlier “racist” concept for a white washed Princess cutout. I mean, who wants a Fro for their Halloween Princess costume?? (well me, personally, but I’m strange. Also, not a child) Along with the fro the Disney concept artists lost the pooka shells and the traditional garb. Enter the rich white best friend. Someone had to dress her up, didn’t they?

So, suddenly, our original concept is now the perfect cardboard cutout princess that we all are used to. So much for originality in that arena, movie. Better luck next time.

Now we get a little original. The music in this film is jazzy and original, very much keeping with the setting and time period of the film. (Hear that Hercules muses?? Setting and time frame of the movie!!)) I found the music to be bland in places but overall very catchy and upbeat. Not to mention, jazz music outside of New Orleans Square in Disneyland is new territory. So points for originality in that column.

The second item is in the execution of the “moral.” I say “moral” in quotes because the moral in Disney movies always boils down to the same thing…love conquers all…yada yada yada…true love happens in a matter of days, not months or years…blah blah blah…etc etc. So the “moral” is dubious at best.

HOWEVER, and I used the big letters as a stress, Princess and the Frog was a vehicle for a new set of morals as well and this makes it new and exciting. It introduces the idea of work behind achieving your dreams. Pipe down all you Snow White and Cinderella fans! I’m getting there…Unlike Snow White and Cinderella who were servants in their own homes, who worked because they were told to and not toward some specific goal, they don’t quite match what Disney introduces with Tiana. Here is a poor girl who is WORKING toward a specified dream. Her aspirations aren’t of fame or status. She just wants to open the restaurant she promised her dad she’d open. Finally, a moral worth remembering!!

Now, before all of you Disney fanatics start bitching “Hey, Lauren, what about Mulan? All she wanted to do was save her dad! Blah blah insert mindless diatribe here…” I will concede the point with one stipulation: if it wasn’t a fairytale she’d have been dead early in. C’mon. We’re being realistic here!!

Back to the point…I seem to have lost it here in the field of bullshit. Oh, right. The second thing that makes this tale somewhat unique to the Disney formula is their “fix it fairy”, Mama Odie. Fix it fairy is the generic term I set to any character in a Disney film that can instantly fix the problem (even if they create another in the process or have ulterior motives.) The biggest case of a fix it fairy is the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.

I liked Mama Odie! She had charm and soul. And, while she indeed fixed the problem, she also gave them the real lesson. Sometimes what you want isn’t what you need and vice versa. Some unanswered prayers are really blessings in disguise. Though convincing disguises at the time, you find the real meaning later. None of the other “fix it fairies” in Disney fame (ala Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, etc).
Though I was disappointed with how Dr. Facilier ended his part in the movie, I guess it was fitting in the end so I’ll let it slide.

Now, as for the rest, it’s all the same formulaic situations that most Disney animated films apply. Boy meets girl. Folly ensues. Boy and girl are forced to bond, meet sidekick(s) along the way (or before, whatever), bond some more, main problem, main solution, love love love, movie ends.

Now, to clarify, I mean most in that I’m applying this to the Disney films The Little Mermaid forward. There are exceptions on either side of this very broad generalization. The Toy Story franchise (which works if you substitute girl for boy where applicable and change love to friendship), and The Rescuers (that was made in the early 80’s.) are the exceptions I can think of off the top of my head.

So, you know, in the end it’s innovative for Disney, the company that makes a black heroine AFTER a Chinese heroine and about 50 years or more too late for the black civil rights movement and still considers the 36-24-36 body shape the way to go. We’re not talking modernization here, people, so consider this for the effort it is! Disney has a LOT of people to please and you do that by keeping everything the same and keeping your stories within the European story set. Is it fair? Well, honestly, no. Is it honest? Well, honestly, no. Does it keep a majority of people stupid and happy and only upset the severe extremes? Well, honestly, yes. Show a pretty white girl getting with a handsome white boy in some lush forest somewhere and you’ve got the goods to please about 85% of their fanbase.

They could have made this film a little more daring at the risk of pissing off a few people but I can understand why they didn’t. If I had millions on the line, I’d play it safe, too. And, honestly, the differences only really matter if you’re an anal retentive like me.


Day 46 - 319 Days to go