Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at The Princess & The Frog

Ladies, gentlemen and alternatively gendered individuals, welcome to an article that I’ve been extremely excited about since this whole retrospective started. I know I say that often, but this time I really, really mean it because this movie is special. Welcome to The Princess & The Frog. In the latter half of the 2000’s, films like Meet the Robinsons and Bolt weren’t exactly raking in those 90’s Disney Renaissance box office numbers so, as the decade was drawing to a close, Disney decided to cut the bullshit and return to form with their first hand-drawn animated film since Home on the Range five years previous. As it happens, The Princess & The Frog would end up being Disney’s last hand drawn animated film. It’s unclear if anyone knew that at the time, but in any case, it does serve as a nice last hurrah for the 2D department. To make sure no chances were taken, Disney brought in their resident dream team, Ron Clements and John Musker, the men behind Aladdin, Hercules, The Great Mouse Detective and many other Disney classics, to handle directing duties. What’s more, this movie had significant buzz at the time of release due to having a predominantly African American cast, including Disney’s first ever black princess. Racial inclusivity is a wonderful thing, but it’s nothing without a solid story to back it up. Fortunately, The Princess & The Frog was prepared to deliver. Giving us a new and exciting spin on the old Grimm fairy tale of The Frog Prince, The Princess & The Frog takes us to the swinging jazz filled streets of New Orleans, Louisiana circa 1912 where a young girl named Tiana is working night and day to raise enough money to make her late father’s dream of opening up a restaurant a reality. Tiana’s work ethic is commendable to be sure but as a result she’s sacrificed every semblance of a social life she may have otherwise had. Tiana’s dream is just that important to her, which is why it’s so frustrating to her when the racist dickhead realtors she plans to buy the property for her restaurant from keep putting roadblocks in her path. Meanwhile, Tiana’s wealthy best friend, Charlotte, and her father, Eli “Big Daddy” La Bouff, are to host a visiting foreign prince named Naveen at their home. Charlotte has only marriage on her mind, but the prince’s impending arrival has also caught the attention of sinister voodoo practitioner and power-hungry con artist, Dr. Facilier, known locally as The Shadow Man. The Shadow Man tricks the carefree womanizing prince into making a deal that turns him into a Frog while his greedy, put-upon assistant Lawrence, who’s struck a deal of his own with Facilier, wears a magic talisman that makes him look like the prince that he plans to use to marry Charlotte. Once Lawrence has married Charlotte and Facilier has offed Big Daddy, the two will split the money and Facilier will use his share to take over New Orleans and offer up the souls of the entire city to his “Friends on the Other Side,” shadow demons from whom The Shadow Man draws his power. Naveen, in the form of a Frog, meets Tiana at a costume party dressed as a princess and assumes that a kiss from her will restore his humanity. However, since Tiana is not a princess, at least not yet, the kiss has the reverse effect and ends up turning her into a frog as well. Now, trapped in the Louisiana bayou, Tiana and Naveen must seek out Mama Odie, the alleged Voodoo Queen of the bayou to change them back into humans, befriend a trumpet playing alligator and a cajun lightning bug along the way, then get back to New Orleans and foil the Shadow Man’s evil plan. While the film didn't do well financially upon release, it was nonetheless popular enough to develop a following that endures to this day, so much so that over a decade after the fact, Walt Disney World announced that it would be renovating their popular Splash Mountain attraction to re-theme it for The Princess & The Frog. This film is also credited with kicking off what’s known as the Disney Revival Era, a sort of second renaissance for Disney animation that has continued to this day. In my opinion, this statement is only partially true. Yes, this movie is integral to kicking off Disney’s revival era, but in my opinion the era didn’t truly begin until Tangled the following year. So, if this isn’t the start of the Disney’s revival era, what the hell is it? Well, watch the movie closely. It’s a 2D animated film, it has a princess, an over the top sinister villain, a set of great songs including an “I Want” number and a villain song, it all sounds a little familiar doesn’t it. Yes indeed, this film feels like a lost Disney Renaissance film. I mean it, if I had never heard of this film prior to this most recent viewing and someone had told me it had been released in 1996, I would have believed it as it fits right in with films like Hercules and Aladdin in terms of feel and tone. So no, this movie is not the start of a new era but rather a farewell of sorts for the old ways. And if this is truly the last hand drawn Disney animated film, then this definitely ending that era on a high note, at least more so than Home on the Range would have. So, after what I believe has been my longest and most rambling introduction to date, let’s hop right into, The Princess & The Frog.

Main Character:

While there definitely appears to be more focus on Tiana, I feel that Tiana and Naveen share the title of main character in equal measure. We’ll start with Tiana. As I said at the top, Tiana is a dedicated and hard-working individual, wanting nothing more than to open her own restaurant and make her dearly departed father proud. However, in doing so, she’s destroyed any opportunity to have a life of her own. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with being a hard worker, but as her father says, one must never forget what’s really important. I believe that Tiana misinterpreted her father’s words and believed that hard work was what was most important. Indeed, hard work is important, but ultimately what her father was referring to was friends, family, living one’s life and surrounding yourself with people you care about. As they say later in the film, Tiana’s father never got what he wanted, but he always had the love he needed. Now let’s look at Naveen. Naveen is more or less Tiana’s polar opposite. He’s a carefree womanizing playboy who just wants to coast through life and have fun. That was easy for a while, but his parents presumably got sick of his shit and decided to cut off his allowance, hence his looking for a wife in New Orleans. See, it’s either find a rich wife to help fund his carefree lifestyle, or Naveen will have to do the unthinkable, get a job! Now, you may think Naveen is lazy but I don’t buy that. Naveen clearly has a lot of energy for dancing and womanizing and one has to at least have some skill to be able to play the ukulele as well as he does. Naveen’s problem is, growing up royal, he had servants who waited on him hand and foot so he never really needed to develop any skills, hence why the idea of finding a job scares him. What I like about Naveen and Tiana’s dynamic is that neither of their lifestyles is shown to be right or wrong. There’s nothing wrong with hard work and there’s nothing wrong with living life and enjoying yourself, but one needs both in order to be a well-rounded individual. In a way, one could say that this is a movie about finding a healthy work/life balance. Over the course of their time together, Tiana and Naveen learn from one another. Naveen learns the value of hard work and Tiana learns that there’s no shame in taking time for oneself once in a while. They actually develop this really sweet chemistry with one another that I greatly enjoy and you can understand why they eventually fall in love.

Villain:

My friends, we finally did it. We’ve reached the last of Disney’s franchise villains. For those who don’t remember since it’s been a minute since we covered Hercules, much like the Princesses, the Disney villains have their own brand and only certain members baddies are selected to represent that brand. Facilier here is the last of the franchise villains to date, considered by many to be the last truly great Disney villain. Much like how this film fits right in with the Disney renaissance, so too does Facilier fit right in with his Disney villain contemporaries despite coming in late in the game. I’m going to say it, Facilier is easily the best thing in this already fun movie. The man absolutely steals every single scene he appears in, even the brief ones where he barely says anything. If you are familiar with my Gargoyles retrospective, than Facilier will sound very familiar indeed. That’s right, that Goliath himself, Keith David, doing Facilier’s voice and his trademark baritone fits the role of the sinister voodoo man perfectly. Hell, there might even be a little Thailog in the performance. I love everything about this character, the way he looks, the way he talks even the way he moves. The way shadow moves independently of him is an especially nice touch. Facilier commands some powerful magical abilities and tricks. As the song says, he’s got voodoo, he’s got hoodoo, he’s got things he ain’t even tried, and he uses this magic to con unsuspecting rubes out of their money. However, as powerful as the Shadow Man may appear at first glance, the magic he wields isn’t actually his own. He instead draws it from his demonic friends on the other side and he’s only allowed to keep it so long as he does their bidding. See, Facilier knows that magic isn’t the real power in the world, it’s money, hence why he’s after Big Daddy La Bouff’s fortune. With all that money, he can live comfortably and satisfy his debt by offering the souls of the entire city to his friends. Facilier is an incredible character and I’m glad he’s taken his rightful place amongst Disney’s evil elite.

Side Characters:

There’s a whole heap of side characters this time around so let’s get into it. We may as well start with Tiana’s mother, Eudora. Not much to say about Eudora, she’s just a loving, kind-hearted and supportive mother to Tiana. The only reason I even bring her up at all is because she’s voiced by Oprah Goddamned Winfrey! Now, I don’t really know how relevant Oprah is in the 2020’s since I never really pay attention to that sort of thing, but in 2009 this was still considered a huge deal. Moving on to James, Tiana’s father, voiced by Terrence “Almost War Machine” Howard. The first thing you’ll notice about this character is that he’s a father in a Disney movie who is warm, loving and has little to no negative character traits. If you know your tropes, than it follows that this poor man has the life expectancy of a keg of stella in my uncle’s boathouse on the Fourth of July. Still, James is a pretty cool character who serves as Tiana’s main inspiration, even if she doesn’t correctly interpret his words of “never forget what’s important” correctly.

Eli “Big Daddy” La Bouff is the richest man in New Orleans and a pretty cool character overall. Big Daddy is voiced by one of my favorite actors of all time, John Goodman, one of the few actors I truly believe can do no wrong. What’s funny about Big Daddy is that, well, this is a movie where a voodoo witch doctor turns people into frogs, an alligator can play the Trumpet and a firefly has teeth for some reason, and yet, the thing that stretches my disbelief the most is a seemingly non-racist wealthy white man living in Louisiana in the early 1910’s. Joking aside, I do appreciate that Big Daddy seems to be the sort of man who appreciates quality work regardless of its source. He’s kind to Eudora and later Tiana, acknowledges that they’re the best at what they do and compensates them appropriately for their services. To Big Daddy, the fact that they’re black is irrelevant, all he cares about is that they are really good at what they do. It’s nice to see, even if it isn’t completely realistic for the time period. Charlotte La Bouff, Big Daddy’s daughter and Tiana’s best friend since childhood, is actually a much more likable character than she seems. Sure, she may be a spoiled brat and a ditzy airhead, but by all indications, she’s an exceptionally kind person and a really good friend to Tiana despite their drastic difference in social standing. Notice how despite how obsessed she is with marrying the prince, she still drops everything to cheer up Tiana after the two racist douchebag realtors screw her out of buying the property for her restaurant. Incidentally, all I have to say about those two is that it’s very appropriate that one of them is seen dressed as a literal horse’s ass at the party.

Lewis the Alligator is a lovable character. Something about a gator that wants to be a jazz musician just makes me laugh. I also love that at the end, Naveen and Tiana threaten to sick Lewis on the two jackass realtors if they don’t sell to Tiana. How can you not love that.

I don’t actually have much to say about Mama Odie, she’s just a wise old voodoo lady who gives sage advice to our main characters. It’s worth noting that in the original script, Mama Odie was supposed to play a much larger roll in the film as it would have been revealed that she was Facilier’s mother and the climax would have been a huge magic battle in the middle of Bourbon Street between the two of them. I would have liked to see that, but I still enjoyed the final showdown we ended up with.

That leads us to Ray the Lightning Bug. I know a lot of people don’t care for Ray, but for me, I can never hate on a character played by the legendary Jim Cummings. The dude is not only one of the greatest voice actors of all time, but since he spent a great deal of his life in Louisiana, the man is in his element playing a lovable Cajun like Ray and you can tell Jim put a little bit more of himself in this character than usual. I honestly love Ray, he’s eccentric, but he’s got a heart of gold. He’s also got this weird quirk where he’s in love with a star that he thinks is another firefly. That sounds dumb, but it’s actually really sweet.

Songs:

Can I just say, it feels wonderful to once again be covering an honest to goodness musical. It feels like it’s been forever. And what’s more, it’s a damn good musical at that. Every song gives us a little bit of that sweet New Orleans flavor and I am here for it. The only real clunker in the mix is When We’re Human and even that one still has a great melody and a solid brass section, it’s just not especially strong lyrically.

I really like the opening number, down in New Orleans. The song is a perfect introduction to our New Orleans setting and the sequence serves to set up all the major players in our story. Though I will admit, I much prefer the reprise at the end with Tiana singing. No disrespect to Doctor John, I just happen to think Anika Noni Rose (Tiana’s Voice Actress) has a stronger singing voice. Speaking of, let’s talk about Almost There, one of the best songs in the movie. If I were to make a ranking of every Disney Princess I Want Song (which I plan on some day) I think this one has a good chance of making number one. I love everything about this song, Tiana’s statement of determination, the animation change, the lyrics, the melody and of course, Anika Noni Rose’s otherworldly singing voice. It is an absolutely beautiful number and I can’t get enough of it.

Gonna Take You There is one I liked pretty much the second I heard it. It’s got this delightful country beat to it and it makes for a good traveling song. I just wish it was longer. Ma Belle Evangeline took a while to grow on me, but once it did, it never left me. It’s a unique take on a Disney love song, I love the bit where Naveen teaches Tiana how to dance and I challenge you not to get the beautiful melody stuck in your head.

Dig a Little Deeper is absolutely infectious! It’s the kind of Gospel number that just makes you want to get up and testify. Mama Odie and her chorus of birds give us this beautiful music that helps teach our heroes some important life lessons and that chorus will never leave your head, I guarantee it.

However, I saved the best for last. Yes, the best song in the movie goes to the best character in the movie, as Dr. Facilier sings about his Friends on the Other Side. That’s right people, for the first time since Hunchback of Notre Dame, we have an honest to god villain song. While I maintain that Hellfire is still the best, this one is still pretty awesome and honestly, I’m just happy to have one again after so long. I just love everything about this song, from the haunting visuals, to the captivating melody to Keith David’s beautiful baritone. Goliath’s got some pipes, who knew. The song is a lot of fun, and I especially love Facilier dancing with his shadow. Sure, the middle part is a little slow, but it makes up for it with an absolutely bonkers finale. Just look at all the colors and crazy imagery. It’s an absolute feast for the eyes. To top it all off, the song ends with the resurrection of one of my favorite Disney Villain tropes, fading to Black on everything but the eyes, something that looks extra cool with Facilier’s skull facepaint. Good stuff.

Memorable Scenes:

First and foremost, the funniest scene in the entire movie comes shortly after Tiana and Naveen meet Lewis. Lewis talks about how he’s always wanted to play the New Orleans River Boats and then tells the story of a time he attempted to do so. We then cut to Lewis getting shot at on a River Boat and promptly cut back to Lewis saying, “It Didn’t End Well.”

However, my actually favorite scene comes during the final showdown with Facilier. At this point, Tiana has stolen a talisman that holds the key to Facilier’s plan, and that leads to a chase through a spooky graveyard. Instead of taking it by force, Facilier creates an illusion of Tiana having finally realized her dream of opening a restaurant. Facilier then plays Lucifer and tries to tempt Tiana by dangling her deepest desire in front of her and hoping she takes the bait. It’s truly the most sinister the character gets, and he’s pretty sinister to begin with. He even uses Tiana’s own words against her at one point, I love when villains do that. However, the scene culminates with Tiana finally realizing what her father’s words truly meant. What’s important is not having what you want, it’s having what you need, things like family and love. It’s actually a really powerful scene.

Story:

We’ve already covered many of the themes and messages of the movie. Work/life balance, knowing that family and love are what’s really important, all that jazz. However, there are a couple of other things I would like to talk about. The first is this movie’s biggest flaw and the thing that keeps it from being one of the greats. Honestly, despite some nice moments here and there, the stuff with Tiana and Naveen traveling through the bayou just feels unnecessarily long, uninteresting and meandering. Some scenes, particularly the one with the idiot redneck frog hunters, could have been cut entirely and nothing would have been lost. Also, and I don’t know how qualified I am to comment on this given the fact that I’m a white guy, but I’m not sure how respectful it is that we finally have a black prince and princess after 72 years, and we spend the majority of their screen time as frogs.

That out of the way, let’s talk about something that’s actually awesome, and that is the setting. This movie takes full advantage of its New Orleans setting. The music, the aesthetics, the food, the Mardi Gras costumes, this movie is a love letter to everything New Orleans and it makes it seem like the coolest place in the world. If the movie is this cool, I can’t wait to see how the upcoming Disney World dark ride recaptures the feel of New Orleans.

The Dark Disney Factor:

This film does not skimp on the dark stuff. Hell, there’s a scene where Mama Odie tongue kisses a snake, that’s fucking weird. Facilier’s Shadow demons can also be pretty frightening, especially to little kids. Hell, Facilier’s demise it more than a little disturbing. Tiana smashes his talisman, eliminating any chance he has of repaying his debt and his Friends come to collect his soul. Suddenly, the normally suave, dignified and intimidating Shadow Man is reduced to a whimpering coward as he pleads for his life while the demons drag him kicking and screaming to what I can only presume is hell, only a headstone with Facilier’s twisted expression of horror etched into it remaining once the dust settles.

However, let’s talk about the most messed up thing in this movie. For as much as this movie feels like one of the Disney Renaissance films of old, it does manage to pull off something that none of those movies would have had the balls to do. This movie kills off the lovable comic relief character. Yeah, during the final showdown, Ray tries to fight off the shadow demons and even manages to wound a few of them with his light but sadly the little guy is overwhelmed and gets stepped on by Facilier. To put this in perspective, imagine for a second if Scar had eaten Timon and Pumbaa or if Gaston had thrown Mrs. Potts against the wall causing her to shatter or if that psycho chef had managed to catch Sebastian and turn him into an entrée. Pretty screwed up, huh. This movie has a pair on it, that’s for sure. What’s especially unsettling is how we hear the crunch when Ray is crushed under Facilier’s shoe, and even worse yet, our heroes watch him die, presumably in agony, once the final battle is done, meaning he suffered for a while after his mortal wounding. Fortunately, we see that Ray became a star alongside Evangeline or something so at the very least he went to a better place but still… yikes.

Final Thoughts: This movie was even better than I remembered it. A true return to form for a then struggling Disney that caused a lot of people who had written Disney off during the past decade to take notice again. Just about everything in this movie is awesome. It has great music, great aesthetics and one of the last truly great Disney villains. Speaking of, before we move on to Toy Story 3, since we've officially covered all of Disney's Franchise Villains, next time we're going to see which of them is the best, or, the worst I guess. Next time, Deep Dive Disney ranks these eleven baddies from best to worst.