Movies: The Princess and the Frog

By Wolfen Moondaughter

Tiana, a gifted cook just like her father, wants to make her late father’s dream come true and convert an old sugar mill into a restaurant. Thing is, it takes money to do it, and when Naveen, a prince-gone-frog, promises to help her with that if she kisses him, she reluctantly agrees. Their effort backfires, and the spell instead turns her into a frog as well. Tiana and Naveen get along like oil and water as they search for Mama Odie, a voudoo priestess, to help them become human again. It doesn’t go easy for them as they’re chased by alligators, frog-hunters, and worst of all, the supernatural friends of Facilier, the witch-doctor who transformed Naveen in the first place. But, is being human again what they really need?

I was broken-hearted when Disney announced back in 2004 that they were closing their 2-D animation department, and The Princess and the Frog is a more-than-worthy return for them to that field! It’s well animated, features wonderfully complex characters, and carries some strong content on ethics.

But it’s also not perfect. There are some holes in the narrative, some lessons that I find questionable, and the music is a bit mediocre, especially for a Disney film. I generally found myself much more interested in the stunning visuals than the actual music during the musical numbers. I might count this film in my Top 15 Disney animated films; maybe even my top 10. But, not my top 5, and if I included non-Disney animation, making it a more general list, it definitely wouldn’t make my top 10. In fact, from this film’s directing duo, John Musker and Ron Clements, I prefer The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and most especially Treasure Planet to The Princess and the Frog.

Permit me to get a bit spoilery as I discuss what I loved and didn’t love about the film.

While we are given enough sense of who Naveen, his manservant Lawrence, and Facilier are to nominally understand their motivations, I would have appreciated more backstory for each of them, as there’s so much great untapped story potential there.

Granted, in a way I suppose it serves the plot by accentuating Naveen’s shallowness, having him start out so two-dimensional, but sooo much time is spent on Tiana’s backstory and motivation that comparatively, I feel like some big hunks of the story are missing without him getting the same treatment. It would have been more meaningful if we had been shown how Naveen is flawed rather than just told, especially because by the end; this is his story as much as it is Tiana’s. On the upside, and despite this lack, by the end of the tale, he’s my favourite character. I’m deeply in love with the quandary he faces and the choice he ultimately makes.

Lawrence’s characterisation was sporadic, sympathetic and villainous in turns as the scenes required. I like dimensional villains, yes, but not when they suffer a two-dimensional bad-guy’s fate rather than getting redemption. I’d rather he’d been entirely unsympathetic and irredeemable. As it was, while I don’t approve of what he did, I can’t really blame him for being tempted. A better ending for him would have been a confrontation with Naveen, being resolved with Naveen coming to understand how much harder Lawrence has had things and taking pity on him, maybe given him a job at Tiana’s place.

As for Facilier, his motivation, jealousy over Big Daddy’s affluence, hardly seems worthy of such a vendetta as he tries to carry out, especially putting himself in such personal danger form the spirits to do so. A more direct confrontation between him and Big Daddy would have helped immensely; as it stands, Lawrence has much stronger motivation. It’s like Facilier is a lesser copy of Lawrence; Facilier never had to wait on Big Daddy like Lawrence did with Naveen, and never had to suffer directly for a decision Big Daddy made. I also would have appreciated more explanation of how Facilier’s powers work; all we get is a lot of non-informative chatter about his “friends on the other side” and a mid-film mention that he can’t use his powers for himself, the latter of which came off like a case of the writers realising they had a plot hole and needed to fill it. I loved Facilier’s look (and the fact that he was given voice by Keith David, aka Goliath on Gargoyles, but he’s a rather weak villain.

I do like how the moral lesson of the original tale got flip-flopped. In the original story, the princess makes a deal with the frog, promising to kiss him if he will fetch her golden ball form the bottom of a pond. He does so, and she refuses to keep her end of the bargain. She eventually caves, and is rewarded for fulfilling the promise when the frog turns out to be a prince. Here, it’s the frog who fusses about keeping his promise when he learns that he was mistaken in believing she was a princess (she never claimed otherwise); he’s rewarded when he makes the conscious effort to make Tiana’s dream come true regardless of how it will prevent him from being happy. How this ethics drama plays out is, obviously, far more complex, interesting, and satisfying than the original take could ever hope to be.

While the film has a lot of great moral fiber like that, though, there’s a “lesson” or two that gets stuck in my craw, and that contradicts other messages.

Tiana is a strong, hardworking woman who follows her father’s belief that you have to help your wishes come true by doing as much as you can yourself. I can greatly appreciate this, as it’s a belief at the heart of my spiritual path. But this message gets watered down with people constantly telling her that she works too hard and needs to have a little fun. And in the next breath, she has people telling her she will never achieve her dream. She’s being faulted for being passionate about her dream? She’s supposed to listen to the grasshoppers and stop being a hard-working ant because it’s a long-shot? I might have been able to accept that message, that we have to balance work and play and can’t ignore our families and friends, as it basically comes down to “everything in moderation, including moderation”, if it hadn’t gotten followed up with Mama Odie telling Tiana that she may want a restaurant but what she needs is a husband!

Oh yes, being a career woman leads to being a lonely old spinster, you know, and you can never be a fulfilled woman without a man, right? Thankfully, she doesn’t end up having to give up her dream, but that doesn’t make the fact that Mama Odie suggests she should any less, well, odious to me. Granted, Odie was probably speaking specifically about Tiana, not women and marriage in general, because she could sense Tiana’s specific fate and knew what Tiana would lose otherwise, but this was not explicitly stated; her words were too vague and general for my comfort. Tiana deciding on her own that Naveen is more important to her is one thing; I’m fine with her changing her mind and sacrificing something for love. It’s her being told that this is the more desirable outcome that bothers me.

Lottie was the one wanting a prince to come “save” her; Tiana wanted to be self-reliant. But it’s Tiana who is saved. So Lottie’s point of view is the more correct one? Lottie is still looking for a prince in the end, even suggesting that she’s willing to wait until Naveen’s younger brother grows up. It’s a funny scene on the surface, but disappointing and even disturbing underneath. I keep hearing people talking about how wonderfully progressive a fairytale this is, but to me there’s still undertones of the whole “wait for your prince to save you” story. (Mulan had a much stronger heroine in that regard; we saw great examples of Mulan’s ingenuity and direct results of her hard labour, and she saved the lives of hundreds of men, including the man she loved and her father. I like Tiana a lot, and I appreciate her struggle, but if I had to chose one story for young girls to watch to gain a sense of empowerment, I would easily chose Mulan’s story over Tiana’s.)

The work ethic message is contradicted in other ways. Tiana works hard to earn money to get her restaurant, but it’s not enough; she’s outbid on the property, and told that as a woman with her background, she should just give it up. So yes, it’s understandable that she gives in to the temptation to essentially prostitute herself, to trade intimacy with Naveen (just a kiss, but still intimacy that she otherwise would have no interest in) in order to get ahead. It does make for some interesting character development for her, but it’s sad that such a self-reliant character never does manage to make her dream come true on her own with just the fruits of her labours! As far as I can recall (I’ve only seen it once and am working from memory), it’s unclear whether it’s Lottie or Naveen who pays the rest of what’s needed for the property, but it’s highly unlikely that she and Naveen came up with the money in a few hours time through actual work, especially given that they had two weddings in the interim. So much for money not buying happiness! And if the money came from Naveen, it’s a sad resolution to Tiana’s problem, that she had to marry to get what she wanted. Well, I suppose that’s how it usually was back then. Yay for historical accuracy? It’s also ironic, given that Naveen was coming to marry Lottie originally, because his parents had cut him off for being a leech (and a womaniser) and he needed money.

The work ethic plot is also wasted, a virtually un-tapped storytelling device for the couple. Naveen at one point confesses that he’s always had done things for him and therefore doesn’t know how to do things. Tiana shows him how to mince food. And that’s it. Otherwise, he actually seems quite capable, and even rescues her from captivity at one point. Yes, she plays the damsel; why couldn’t we have seen her rescue him there? And surely there are other things she could have taught him besides mincing? If there are any others, I don’t recall them.

I do appreciate that, just after Naveen rescues Tiana, they work together against their foes. There’s a great sense of partnership here, a general air of them saving each other. The romance is rushed, but then they’re always rushed in these kinds of stories, and despite a lack of lead-up, it’s still quite believable that they are in love when the time comes.

Aside from my qualms about the money and princess-saving aspects, I do love the ending on the whole. I’m very surprised at how a certain character’s story ended, that it was a more … permanent end than Disney will generally do, but I also think the way it was handled was very sweet and beautiful. I love how the Evening Star is used intermittently throughout, especially towards the very end. I love each wedding scene; Tiana’s dresses in each are gorgeous. I love the final scene, and how Louis the gator gets his dream, even if it’s not how he expected. It’s all very satisfying to me.

Most importantly, I love what Naveen and Tiana are willing to do for each other in the climax, their selflessness, and I’m thrilled with how Lottie interplays with all of it. It’s perhaps one of the most romantic and touching scenes I’ve ever seen!

In fact, I’m pleased in general with how loving and generous Lottie is, when she could have easily have been made into a selfish, cruel rival for Tiana. As she is, she’s an original and refreshing sort of character, adding an original and refreshing twist to the climax. She’s also a fun character on the whole, silly, lively, and somehow deliciously ambitious and calculating despite being a little fluffy-headed. She’s almost tied with Naveen for my fave character, although I do love Tiana a great deal as well. Louis is fairly fun, and Ray, despite not being the most aesthetic of fireflies, is quite endearing. And even though I don’t much care for some of her message, Odie was a hoot!

Then again, perhaps the best character of the film was the magnificent visuals! Facilier’s stylish emporium, the coloured glasses hanging in Mama Odie’s tree, As I mentioned, Tiana’s gorgeous dresses, the fireflies dancing over the swamp … who knew that a swamp could be so beautiful? It’s enough to make one want to wallpaper one’s walls with stills from the film!

On the whole, despite my complaints about the moral messages and the film’s lack of a truly stirring soundtrack, I still consider The Princess and the Frog an incredible film, one that, like many of its House-of-Mouse predecessors, I’ll want to see again and again!

Wolfen Moondaughter is on the editorial board for the comics industry webzine Sequential Tart, for which she has written since late 2001. She’s an artist, too, having done spot illustrations for Dragonlance, among other things. In her spare time, she’s a rabid fanficcer/fanartist. See more of her work at her site, Wolfen’s Webworld.