In 2009, every black girl, young and old, crowded movie theater’s everywhere to see the film that marked a long overdue need for diversity in the world of Princesses and Fairytales. The public had seen plenty of images of the beautiful and vibrant Tiana and the handsome Prince Naveen, and could not wait to watch their romance play out on the big screen. And while Tiana’s presence has meant quite a lot to young girls everywhere, Disney should not be patting themselves on the back for this film just yet. Almost a decade later, the newness and excitement of the Princess has long since worn off, and those of us with a more critical eye can see that there are some glaring problems with the film that cannot be ignored.
1. Princess Tiana Spent Majority of the Film as a Frog
Most people were estatic when seeing the first images of Princess Tiana on the screen. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also well spoken, independent, and had a marvelous singing voice to top it all off. It’s just such a shame that we didn’t get to enjoy much of the beautiful black queen on the screen. Within the first 20 minutes of the film, both Naveen and Tiana are turned into frogs, and spend the bulk of the movie that way. The rest of the film is spent watching frog people interact with other woodland creatures in the Louisiana swamps. Many black females, young and old, would definitely have loved to see Tiana grace the screen more in her human form. It’s not too often a black girl gets featured in a Disney movie. In one that actually focuses around one, we’d actually like to see her face.
2. Prince Naveen and his ambiguous race
I definitely cannot speak for anyone else, but the first time I watched the film, I assumed Prince Naveen was a man of African descent and the fictional country of Maldonia was somewhere in Africa. However, after watching the film and learning a little more about the origins of the Princes name (Naveen is an Indian name, meaning ‘new’), and languages the Prince speaks (French, English, and Italian), that the nation probably has Eurasian roots. Couple this with the representation of the Prince at Disney theme parks, and you see that our first black Princess did not have black prince. While the interracial relationship is a perspective that speaks to many, the only group that has less representation than the black women in these types of films, is the black men. The only other black men you see in the film are Tiana’s deceased father and Dr. Facilier. Though the Shadow Man makes for a great villain, I think African American men have been vilified by the media quite enough.
3. Charlotte and Tiana’s Friendship
Charlotte and Tiana have a beautiful friendship and audiences can see just how much the two girls really care for each other, but their friendship ignores some important parts of history. It’s unrealistic to believe that a young black girl and a young white girl in Louisiana would be close enough to share clothes in the 1920s. No, I am not suggesting that we expose children to the harsh realities of racism through Disney films, but altering history in order to tell a children’s story is not always the best course of action either.
4. Lack of Diversity in the Ensemble of the Cast
The people Tiana surrounds herself with in the film are quite the colorful characters, but her ensemble needed a bit more developing as well. We catch a glimpse of Tiana’s personal life and a group of her friends outside of Charlotte, but developing one or more of these characters a bit further would have added a lot to the film and showed some more of the complexities and diversity black people in Disney films are missing.
5. Promotional Material Using Tiana’s Likeness
Tiana had a batch of lip balms come out with her promotional products after the film. And what flavor were they? Purple Grape. Really? But wait, there’s more! One promotional batch of Disney Princess Candy that went out a little while after the film’s release assigned every princess a flavor. Take a wild guess at what flavor Tiana got. That’s right, Watermelon. Seriously, Disney? Do Better.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore Princess Tiana, what she stands for, and that she gives young black girls a chance to see themselves as princess material. But the next time Disney decides to take on a black protagonist, I think they need to take a little more time and put a little more thought into all the things that surround them.
