Will showing selected scenes from “The Princess and the Frog” finally silence this film’s critics?

Jim Hill

15 years ago

Is it just me? Or does it seem like – every other week – someone new is inventing yet another reason to go after “The Princess and the
Frog”?

Almost from the moment that this Walt Disney Animation
Studios’ production was officially announced back in March of 2007, there have
been individuals & organizations lining up to take a swing at this project. First there were those
folks who allegedly took issue for this film’s original title, “The Frog
Princess.” Which was reportedly offensive to people from France.

Then there were those who were supposedly upset with the name
that WDAS had originally selected for “The Frog Princess” ‘s title character.
Evidently Maddy was thought to be a slave name. Which meant that Maddy wasn’t a proper moniker for Disney’s first ever African-American
princess.

To its credit, The Walt Disney Company did move quickly to address
any concerns that were initially raised about “The Frog Princess.” First by
changing that film’s title to “The Princess and the Frog” and then by changing
the name to this movie’s title character from Maddy to Tiana.

Unfortunately, the complaints kept coming. With some people now
suggesting that Tiana was far too ethnic sounding a name for Disney’s first
African-American princess. While still others insisting that the “Princess and
the Frog” ‘s love interest (i.e. Prince Naveen from Maldonia) was much too
light-skinned to be a suitable suitor for Tiana.

And this past week, it was the film’s supporting cast that suddenly found itself thrust into the spotlight. All because the Council for the
Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) took issue with Ray, that comic
relief firefly who made a quick appearance in “The Princess and the Frog” ‘s teaser.

According to Warren Perrin, president of CODOFIL, Ray is …

“ … a continuation of the stereotyping of Cajun people,
which is inaccurate. It has been done in so many movies over so much time,
people think that’s the way we are — and it’s just wrong. I can list several
other movies where they have portrayed us as backward, toothless, illiterate
people who fart.”

Which makes you wonder – given the intense scrutiny that “The
Princess and The Frog” production team have been under for 2+ years now
– how they’re holding up. Which is just the question
that I asked the film’s co-directors — Ron Clements & John Musker — last
month during a press roundtable at Comic-Con.

(L to R) John Musker
and Ron Clements answer questions at Comic-Con 2009. Photo by Nancy Stadler

The guys who brought us “The Great Mouse Detective,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” quickly brushed aside any PC-based questions that I brought up. Insisting that – in spite of any race-related concerns that may have
been raised over the course of this production – their ultimate goal here was just to deliver a truly entertaining animated feature.

“ ‘The Princess and the Frog’ isn’t finished yet,” said Ron.
“But this film is still in finished enough form that we’ve been able to screen it
for a number of groups now. And the response from those who have seen this movie so far has been very, very
positive. “

“That’s what kind of ironic about this whole situation,”
added John. “Most of the concerns that have been raised about ‘The Princess and the Frog’ have been
expressed by people who haven’t ever actually seen this movie.”

Which brings us to The Walt Disney Company’s new plan for
deflecting any further race-based criticism of “The Princess and the Frog.”
Clearly believing that the best defense is a good offense, WDAS has begun
screening selected scenes from this new hand-drawn animated feature at events where
African-American opinion makers are sure to be in attendance.

Just yesterday, 30 minutes of “The Princess and the Frog”
was shown at the Roxbury Film Festival. Where Bruce Smith (i.e. an industry vet
who’s one of the lead animators on this new WDAS production as well as being an
African-American) was on hand to answer audience members’ questions as well as
lead an animation workshop after this screening.

And this coming Thursday, a selection of footage from “The
Princess and the Frog” will be shown at the National Association of Black
Journalists (NABJ)’s annual convention. Which is being held
this year in Tampa, FL. at the Waterside Marriott Hotel and Marina. And as part of this
presentation, Anika Noni Rose (i.e. the Tony Award-winning actress who voices
Tiana in this film) will perform a song or two from Randy Newman’s score in front of all of these African-American opinion
makers.

So will this new strategy ultimately make a difference? To be honest, Ron
& John don’t seem all that concerned. They sincerely believe that “The Princess and the Frog” is a strong enough animated feature
that it will eventually rise above any race-related concerns that may still be
associated with this project.

“We’ve created a movie that – I think – will be embraced
beyond color lines,” Clements concluded. “That’s why we’re now screening
footage from ‘The Princess and the Frog’ at events like Comic-Con. So that
people can then see what this film is actually about. And – once they do – any concerns
that may still be out there will then quickly become non-issues.”

That said, The Walt Disney Company still plans on enlisting the
biggest African-American opinion maker of them all in an effort to effectively
silence “The Princess and the Frog” ‘s critics once & for all. When – just before this animated feature begins its exclusive
engagements in New York and Los Angeles on November 25th – Oprah Winfrey will reportedly
devote an entire hour of her daytime talk show to talking up this new WDAS
production.

Which – given that Oprah is voicing the role of Eudora,
Tiana’s mother – shouldn’t seem all that surprising. But even so, if the most influential woman in all of media
expresses her enthusiasm for “The Princess and the Frog” just prior to this
film’s opening in NYC & LA … Well, that will go an awfully long way toward
undercutting any critics who may still be out there, voicing their concerns about
this WDAS project, don’t you think?

Your thoughts?