The Princess And The Frog Summary

To study communications in media is a daunting task made further daunting when topics such as the cultivation theory are associated with our beloved Disney movies. An article titled Images of Animated Others: The Orientalization of Disney’s Heroines from The Little Mermaid to The Hunchback of Notre Dame By Celeste Lacroix argues consumerism and orientalization is rife throughout Disney princess movies. I disagree, and through my analysis of the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog I will prove that not all Disney princess movies are racially biased and portray woman as helpless creatures who need a man’s guidance.
In Lacroix’s article she uses Disney movies such as Beauty and The Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback
of Notre Dame to show how race and femininity are shown in these films and how consumerism in the world that surrounded them. Lacroix explains how “American society constructs itself as objective, rational, and civilized by its orientalization of minority women.” She notes that more oriental characters like Pocahontas and Jasmine are more active in there rolls where more traditional characters like Bella and Ariel are less active and are similar in looks and mannerisms, and there is movement that Pocahontas and Jasmine have that draws attention to the body and skin of a more “exotic” woman.
Lacroix also list ways we as consumers make these stories less of a fantasy you can observe and more of one you create. With almost every Disney movie having a boat load of merchandise and having consumers think
they can create the fairytales they see on screen in their living rooms, this is how we allow our beliefs to be impacted by media and a prime example of the cultivation theory. Lacroix says “Children in this marketplace can buy, not only the fun of the films themselves and the fairytale lives of the characters in them but also can come very close to, at least materially recreating those lives in their own living rooms.” I can see her point but I would have to say that the merchandise is part of the emersion that all movies strive to have with their audience and should not be taken as a form of over indulgent activities.
I chose to do my critique over the film The Princess and the Frog nominated for best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song at the Academy Awards is a story of a Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) a hard working girl with a dream to open up her own restaurant. Things take a turn when she crosses path with a frog prince named Naveen (voiced by Bruno Campos) who convinces Tiana to kiss him which makes her a frog as well. The two must embark on an adventure to get Naveen a kiss from a real princess before the end of Mardi Gras that will undo the spell put upon Naveen by Dr. Facilier an evil voodoo man (voiced by Keith David). This story shows the sometimes the thing we want the most can blind us from the things we need. This film is a great way to show that there is a healthy balance between work and play and that no matter who you are or where you come from you can always find happiness when you are with the ones you love and those two points are great lessons for children because now a days people think that you should only focus on work and can’t make room for some fun or that money can buy happiness but as Tiana that’s not the case. The growth from both Tiana and Naveen is great to observe and how even coming from completely different backgrounds they could identify their flaws and work to improve themselves. It also reminds me of the old style animation that Disney is famous for, while also bring a modern color scheme to the film. “Gorgeously animated with bursts of bright purple and acid green” says Manohla Dargis writer for the New York Times. It was released November 25, 2009 grossing 267 million dollars Lacroix’s argument of race doesn’t really fit in with The Princess and the Frog.
Tiana was not discriminated against in any fashion, Lacroix mentions that a Disney character of another ethnicity other than white must clash or go against other white characters “whiteness” and by doing that it shows how strong and independent their culture is and that’s just not the case here. Tiana’s ethnicity has nothing to do with it none of the characters whiteness affects her at all not even the fact that Mr. Labouff was rich and Tiana was poor had no hindrance on her goal. The fact that she was, and I won’t say poor but not as well off as Mr. Labouff and his family had no correlation, she still would have saved up the money and gotten her restaurant and been fine. With the additional fact of her male counterpart not being white either throughout the film there is no white clashing no going against the grain she is just like everyone else. Now a days every Disney movie has a merchandise boom before the release of the film and The Princess and the Frog is no exception but Lacroix condemns this act saying it dictates our discourses of self and discourses regarding others but I don’t see it that way I see the advertisements and merchandise as a deeper emersion in the film itself. It lets you get to know the characters and become more invested in their lives and because you are so invested you morn their losses and you celebrate their victories you feel what they feel and I find that to be
the reason we watch movies to connect with someone or something.