Reaction to ‘Princess and the Frog’ shows just how politically correct we’ve become.
You could call it a return to Renaissance.
The Disney Renaissance era lasted ten years (1989-1999), a ‘golden age’ of sorts in which Disney had a slew of commercially successful animated films. Most of these were fairy tale stories featuring lavish musical numbers such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Tarzan.
The rising popularity of computer animation had brought an end to these hand-drawn films, and many computer animated films such as Shrek mocked the whole Disney formula. Going against convention became the new cool as many of these films turned traditional fairy tales upside down and inside out. However, by the third Shrek film, the mocking of traditional fairy tales had become tiresome. Mocking Disney was no longer going against convention. It had become the standard formula.
So this time Disney is the one going against convention with the release of The Princess and the Frog, a hand-drawn animated film about a traditional fairy tale story (with a few twists, of course) that places it in the same company as those films from the Disney Renaissance. While it may not quite measure up to the standards of Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin, it nonetheless is a pleasantly enjoyable film that avoids the ultra-cute pop culture references and toilet humor that often pervade other animated fare. And its twists include Disney’s first African-American heroine and a 1920s New Orleans setting for the story.
The reviews for the film have been overwhelming positive. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 82% fresh rating. However, the negative reviews of the film are very telling. They reveal how cynical our society is becoming towards movies that are clean, wholesome and don’t try to push an agenda.
For example, reviewer Armond White writes, “…The Princess and the Frog actually refrains from expanding our social imagination. Based on the venerable The Frog Prince, it uses that fairy tale’s moral about seeking inner value and personal worth to exploit "post-racial" complaisance.”
I didn’t realize it was the job of a Disney movie to “expand our social imagination.” Didn’t we just elect our first African-American president? I think the 2008 election did more to “expand our social imagination” than any animated movie could hope to.
And let’s not forget that the story is a fairy-tale. Fairy tales usually have simplistic moral messages. If it was to get into complex civil rights issues, then it would no longer be a fairy tale. What should Disney have done? Shown a mob lynching? Somehow, I don’t think that would have qualified for a G rating. And why is the reviewer trying to assign sinister motives to Disney? Most likely, the intention is simply to tell a fun little story, not “exploit ‘post-racial’ complaisance.”
White also complains that the film’s black heroine, Tiana, is turned into a frog and “stays that way for 80 percent of the movie. This narrative allows Disney to maintain the primacy of its classic white fantasy heroines.”
More sinister motives assigned to Disney. Does anybody really believe that Disney decided to make Tiana a frog for most of the movie as a way to undercut the character? I can’t say for sure what went on behind the scenes, but most likely, the plot was dictated by the needs of the story. If keeping Tiana human for a longer duration would have made a better movie, Disney surely would have done that.
Another reviewer, Annie Young Frisbie, writes:
Even more disturbing is the way that both Tiana and spoiled rich girl Lottie end up trading their bodies for gain. Lottie wants to marry a prince so badly that she absolutely ignores everything else about her imposter Prince all the way up to the altar at her Mardi Gras wedding. And virtuous Tiana? Gives a kiss in exchange for money. Sure, it's for a good cause—her restaurant—but that doesn't change what she's done. So while Disney seems to be trying to counter some of its pervasive princess ideology, The Princess and the Frog is still showing women who can't get by without men.
You could call it a return to Renaissance.
The Disney Renaissance era lasted ten years (1989-1999), a ‘golden age’ of sorts in which Disney had a slew of commercially successful animated films. Most of these were fairy tale stories featuring lavish musical numbers such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Tarzan.
The rising popularity of computer animation had brought an end to these hand-drawn films, and many computer animated films such as Shrek mocked the whole Disney formula. Going against convention became the new cool as many of these films turned traditional fairy tales upside down and inside out. However, by the third Shrek film, the mocking of traditional fairy tales had become tiresome. Mocking Disney was no longer going against convention. It had become the standard formula.
So this time Disney is the one going against convention with the release of The Princess and the Frog, a hand-drawn animated film about a traditional fairy tale story (with a few twists, of course) that places it in the same company as those films from the Disney Renaissance. While it may not quite measure up to the standards of Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin, it nonetheless is a pleasantly enjoyable film that avoids the ultra-cute pop culture references and toilet humor that often pervade other animated fare. And its twists include Disney’s first African-American heroine and a 1920s New Orleans setting for the story.
The reviews for the film have been overwhelming positive. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 82% fresh rating. However, the negative reviews of the film are very telling. They reveal how cynical our society is becoming towards movies that are clean, wholesome and don’t try to push an agenda.
For example, reviewer Armond White writes, “…The Princess and the Frog actually refrains from expanding our social imagination. Based on the venerable The Frog Prince, it uses that fairy tale’s moral about seeking inner value and personal worth to exploit "post-racial" complaisance.”
I didn’t realize it was the job of a Disney movie to “expand our social imagination.” Didn’t we just elect our first African-American president? I think the 2008 election did more to “expand our social imagination” than any animated movie could hope to.
And let’s not forget that the story is a fairy-tale. Fairy tales usually have simplistic moral messages. If it was to get into complex civil rights issues, then it would no longer be a fairy tale. What should Disney have done? Shown a mob lynching? Somehow, I don’t think that would have qualified for a G rating. And why is the reviewer trying to assign sinister motives to Disney? Most likely, the intention is simply to tell a fun little story, not “exploit ‘post-racial’ complaisance.”
White also complains that the film’s black heroine, Tiana, is turned into a frog and “stays that way for 80 percent of the movie. This narrative allows Disney to maintain the primacy of its classic white fantasy heroines.”
More sinister motives assigned to Disney. Does anybody really believe that Disney decided to make Tiana a frog for most of the movie as a way to undercut the character? I can’t say for sure what went on behind the scenes, but most likely, the plot was dictated by the needs of the story. If keeping Tiana human for a longer duration would have made a better movie, Disney surely would have done that.
Another reviewer, Annie Young Frisbie, writes:
Even more disturbing is the way that both Tiana and spoiled rich girl Lottie end up trading their bodies for gain. Lottie wants to marry a prince so badly that she absolutely ignores everything else about her imposter Prince all the way up to the altar at her Mardi Gras wedding. And virtuous Tiana? Gives a kiss in exchange for money. Sure, it's for a good cause—her restaurant—but that doesn't change what she's done. So while Disney seems to be trying to counter some of its pervasive princess ideology, The Princess and the Frog is still showing women who can't get by without men.
A woman who badly wants to get married? Heaven forbid! Tiana and Lottie should have been man-hating feminists. That would have been great! Actually, one of the dumbest things you can do is assign liberal values to characters in stories that take place in the distant past. I don’t think today’s form of liberalism was around in the 1920s, much less the 1700s era of Beauty and the Beast or the BC era of Aladdin. Marriage was much more highly valued in the past than in western society today, so it makes sense that characters from earlier periods should reflect that sentiment.
Also, I don’t think kissing a frog in exchange for money ranks up there with prostitution. And the marriage that takes place at the end of the film doesn’t show that women “can’t get by without men.” It reflects a simple truth that people generally are happier when they are married, a notion that die-hard liberals and feminists can’t seem to handle. Besides, fairy tales usually end with weddings, do they not?
Anyway, the overall positive reviews for The Princess and the Frog show that our society as a whole has not become quite so cynical. It just gets annoying the way clean movies such as this one (and the High School Musical franchise) increasingly get attacked because they are too simplistic, yet movies with the most awful violence and fornication are often adorned with lavish praise.
Hopefully, The Princess and the Frog is the beginning of a new Disney Renaissance. Given the current state of Hollywood, I think we could really use one.
Also, I don’t think kissing a frog in exchange for money ranks up there with prostitution. And the marriage that takes place at the end of the film doesn’t show that women “can’t get by without men.” It reflects a simple truth that people generally are happier when they are married, a notion that die-hard liberals and feminists can’t seem to handle. Besides, fairy tales usually end with weddings, do they not?
Anyway, the overall positive reviews for The Princess and the Frog show that our society as a whole has not become quite so cynical. It just gets annoying the way clean movies such as this one (and the High School Musical franchise) increasingly get attacked because they are too simplistic, yet movies with the most awful violence and fornication are often adorned with lavish praise.
Hopefully, The Princess and the Frog is the beginning of a new Disney Renaissance. Given the current state of Hollywood, I think we could really use one.
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