The Princess and the Frog immediately captured the media’s and critics’ attention since the heroine and later princess, Tiana, is Disney’s first African-American protagonist. Some scholars claim that the timely release of the film in the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency renders The Princess and the Frog an appropriate marker of America’s so-called ‘new age’ of racial harmony: While a black president resides in the White House, a black princess lives in the Disney castle.
When the characters sing “Dreams Do Come True in New Orleans” (Newman), the city – though accurately and authentically depicted – is presented as a dreamspace with racial harmony, contrary to the real New Orleans at that time. In this context, the peculiar absence of racial tension throughout the film might be an approach to overwrite the problematic position the city occupies in the minds of many Americans with a romantic fairy tale by Disney. Therefore it can be said that The Princess and the Frog serves as a tourist brochure for the city which makes viewers nostalgically look back.
To prove my theses of how blackness is formed in The Princess and the Frog, I will have a closer look at the setting of the Disney-movie since New Orleans, which is often considered as a place of ‘racial difference’, plays an important role in the film’s construction of blackness. At first I will give a brief overview of the city’s colonial history before explaining the concept of Creolization and link this idea to New Orleans. In the following part of my paper, I will analyze the representation of blackness in Walt Disney’s film The Princess and the Frog by on the one hand referring to the setting and its depiction and on the other hand taking into account Tiana, the first African American princess, and her illustration in the film. Due to limitations of space and since the portrayals of New Orleans and Tiana provide lots of interesting material for an analysis, the display of voodoo and the study of other characters in the film is omitted in this paper. Finally, in the conclusion I sum up my findings and elaborate on an issue, or respectively, answer a question which was often posed and discussed about after the release of the film: Does Disney neglect stereotypes in The Princess and the Frog or promote them?
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 New Orleans as a Place of ‘Racial Difference’
2.1 New Orleans and Its Colonial History
2.2 The Concept of Creolization
3 The Princess and the Frog and Its Representation of Blackness
3.1 New Orleans as a Place of Racial Harmony where “Dreams Do Come True”
3.2 Tiana as a “Princess for Today” and “the Girl Next Door”
4 Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this academic paper is to analyze the representation of blackness in the 2009 Disney film The Princess and the Frog, exploring how the film’s depiction of 1920s New Orleans and its protagonist, Tiana, engage with or perpetuate racial stereotypes. The study interrogates whether the film successfully portrays cultural plurality or instead utilizes the city as a nostalgic, sanitized dreamscape that ignores historical racial tensions.
- The historical and social significance of New Orleans as a site of racial difference and Creolization.
- Disney’s construction of a "mythical" New Orleans to represent racial harmony.
- Tiana’s characterization as a modern African American princess in contrast to traditional Disney tropes.
- The tension between the film's marketing as an authentic representation and the reliance on cultural clichés and stereotypes.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 New Orleans as a Place of Racial Harmony where “Dreams Do Come True”
After looking at New Orleans’ history of racial difference and multiethnicity, the question comes up why Disney especially chose New Orleans as the setting for its children’s film The Princess and the Frog.
The latest in Walt Disney’s animated canon, is set in Louisiana in 1926, Jazz-Age New Orleans, and the plot is loosely derived from E.D. Baker’s young adult novel The Frog Princess (2002) which itself is a reimaging of the Grimms’ The Frog Prince (Chowdhury, 25). Though the film’s portrayal of New Orleans indicates the place the city assumes in America’s racial heritage, in general the town is depicted as a fictional or even mythical location in the United States. According to Chowdhury, already in the prologue of the film, which begins with an ode to the evening star as it shines down the city and the young Tiana wishing upon the star for her dreams to come true, it seems as if Disney connects two distinct settings in the film: the Disney castle, where wishing upon a star can make dreams come true, and the ‘real’ city of New Orleans where, as the song by the composer Newman tells, “Dreams Do Come True”. With Disney relocating its popular castle to New Orleans, the film can be aligned to a series of other medial representations of New Orleans as an exotic Otherland and a dreamscape (ibid. 28). The American mythologizing of the city and its depiction as a specific paradise of ethnic Otherness located within the American interior, can often be found in the media.
As Watts points out filmmakers often understand New Orleans as a setting which adds a deep richness to a narrative and brings its own mythos and unique aura into a plot (Watts, 1). This idea of New Orleans as an alluring and exotic place is grounded in the American consciousness and therefore finds its regular articulation in literature, political rhetoric and everyday life (ibid. 2).
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the film in the context of Disney’s animation history and outlines the central controversy regarding the representation of its first African American protagonist and the setting.
2 New Orleans as a Place of ‘Racial Difference’: This chapter provides a historical overview of New Orleans, focusing on its colonial past and the complex sociological concept of Creolization.
3 The Princess and the Frog and Its Representation of Blackness: This chapter examines how the film creates an idealized, harmonious version of New Orleans and analyzes the characterization of Tiana as a modern, albeit complex, Disney princess.
4 Conclusion: This chapter synthesizes the research findings, reflecting on whether the film’s attempt at multicultural representation ultimately relies on or challenges entrenched racial stereotypes.
Keywords
The Princess and the Frog, Walt Disney, New Orleans, Creolization, Blackness, Tiana, Racial Stereotypes, Jazz Age, Representation, Cultural Clichés, African American, Disney Princess, Post-Katrina, Racial Harmony, Cultural Amnesia
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this paper?
The paper examines how the Disney film The Princess and the Frog constructs blackness through its setting and protagonist, and whether it effectively navigates the complexities of race in America.
What are the key thematic areas addressed?
The study covers the history of New Orleans, the concept of Creolization, the evolution of Disney princesses, and the use of racial and class-based stereotypes in media.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to determine if the film promotes or neglects stereotypes and how it balances the portrayal of an African American lead with Disney’s traditional "fairy tale" narrative style.
Which methodology is employed?
The author uses a qualitative cultural studies approach, analyzing the film's narrative, setting, and character depiction against historical and scholarly literature regarding New Orleans and the African diaspora.
What does the main body explore?
It investigates the "mythologizing" of New Orleans as a dreamscape and analyzes Tiana's persona, examining how her physical appearance and socio-economic goals serve as markers of her identity.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include Blackness, Creolization, New Orleans, Disney Princess, Racial Stereotypes, and Cultural Representation.
How does the film treat the setting of New Orleans?
The film creates a romanticized, "mythical" 1920s New Orleans that ignores the harsh racial realities and economic disparities of the actual Jim Crow era.
Is Tiana considered a conventional Disney princess?
While she fits the overall physical frame of Disney princesses, she is unique as a waitress-turned-princess who emphasizes hard work and independence rather than relying solely on a prince.
How does the author interpret the film's "happily ever after"?
The author suggests it may function as a metaphorical "happily ever after" for post-Katrina New Orleans, potentially masking historical trauma with a romanticized vision.
What role do the other characters play in the film?
Characters like Mama Odie and Ray are discussed as contributing to the construction of Tiana's blackness by contrast, defining what she is—and is not—in a racial and ethnic sense.
- Quote paper
- Anna Wertenbruch (Author), 2012, The Representation of Blackness in Walt Disney's "The Princess and the Frog", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/208449
