(no subject)

[seraphcelene]

Although I'm excited about the idea of an Africa-American Disney Princess, I am really irritated by the fact that she has to spend a portion of the movie as a frog. When has any other "traditional" Disney Princess spent a movie transformed into an animal? Ariel, at least, only goes from recognizably humanoid to full human. Why does Tiana get lesser treatment? But maybe I'm splitting hairs, borrowing trouble or whatever people will say in lieu of "you should be happy to have a black character period". All I'm saying is that when it comes to animated black/african/african-american people, Disney has a habit of de-humanizing them.

But, again, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm missing something.

Comments

[darlas-mom.livejournal.com]

There are no examples of another human-animal transformation for a Disney princess I can think of. :-/ I can think of one for a Disney prince, though- Arthur in "The Sword in the Stone" spent significant fractions of the movie turned into various animals (IIRC, a squirrel, a bird and a fish).

I know people are excited about the "first" CoC Disney princess (actually the fourth- Jasmine, Mulan and Pocahontas predate her by several years), but...eh. Is she actually going to be on Disney merchandise and promotional material that isn't specifically for her movie? Are we going to see Tiana on the Disney princess PJs, dolls, clothes, etc., ten years from now? I'm pretty skeptical about that. So far, Jasmine is the only CoC Disney princess who has reached icon status that extends beyond the confines of the movie she's from (which is actually a pretty cool accomplishment, seeing as how she's the only one of the Disney princesses at all who isn't the title and central character of her originating movie).

As for the people who'd say "you should be happy to have a black character period," I roll my eyes in their general direction. I'm not in the business of settling for the least popular culture has to offer, and I don't think anyone else should be, either.

[seraphcelene]

Unfortunately, the bar for princes and princess is different. Lacking the suggestion of emulation, perhaps because the marketing dollars are focused in a different direction. Whereas the princesses are used to define or represent ideas of femininity, the princes don't seem to have that pressure outside of the confines of the movie theater.

I'm not excited about the "first" CoC, as you point out Tiana has three predecessors. I am specifically excited about the first African-American "princess." Regardless of how widespread her appeal or longevity following the movie, which, as you suggest, doesn't promise to be especially extensive, my primary objection in this instance is the de-humanization of a black character. The CoC's that you point out have animal sidekicks, but none of them are reduced to animals themselves. I object to the fact that this isn't the case for The Princess and the Frog. (As much as I loved The Lion King, back in the day I was annoyed by the fact that an African story had to be played out by animals.) My next question is, how much of the movie does Tiana spend on four legs?

Overall, I'm just dissatisfied.

[diachrony.livejournal.com]

I'll be really interested in what you think once you've seen the movie, especially as I just read this review (http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/review/2009/11/24/princess_and_the_frog/index.html) and it makes the movie and its heroine sound utterly irresistible. I did notice the review didn't say anything about how much time Tiana spends in animal form, though.