Line #7 Analysis/ThePrincessAndTheFrog


1	There were quite a lot of interesting, behind-the-scenes politics that went into the planning of this movie, as it introduced the first Black and the first American[[note]]Pocahontas doesn't count since the setting of her film predates the United States[[/note]] Disney Princess during a time period when Black Americans were heavily oppressed, meaning the animators had to tread delicately on many issues. All tropes pertaining to those anecdotes belong here.
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3	* EnforcedTrope: If the production team didn't portray Tiana as diligent, it would have amounted to portraying her entire race as lazy. Disney would never have found peace again.
4	* FacialProfiling: A delicate issue with Tiana's design. It's very clear with her fuller lips and broader nose that Tiana wasn't just a generic white design coated brown. At the same time, artists had a challenge in not playing up any "blackface" stereotypes. Tiana is more or less an [[InkSuitActor Ink-Suit Actress]] of her voice actress, Anika Noni Rose.
5	* HollywoodPudgy: Charlotte has a tinier waist than any real life supermodel, but certain critics have called her "fat", even though it's more like she's just stacked with realistic arms instead of stylized slenderness like Tiana.[[note]]Note that Tiana is able to wear one of Charlotte's dresses without trouble.[[/note]] Some of her perceived pudginess is due to her personality. Charlotte typically wears lavish and flouncy dresses and bounces when she walks. Charlotte's design is over-all very round, despite her tiny waist, and she has full cheeks; they make her expressive and give her a childlike smile, and an excess of baby fat. Humorously enough, an early concept was to have her ''actually'' be fat, hiding an enormous potbelly with her corset.
6	* MortonsFork: There was '''''a lot''''' of debate on whether or not Prince Naveen should have been black. Up until 5 years later with ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', there had never been a black male protagonist in a Disney film. Many felt that Disney missed an opportunity to actually have their first black male prince as well. On the other end of the spectrum you had viewers react positively to there being a mixed race couple. Not to mention that Naveen being black would've opened an entirely different [[UnfortunateImplications can of worms]] concerning his character. Naveen was created as a foil to Tiana by being a lazy bum looking to marry into money. Considering the negative racial connotations that would've been connected to the character if he were Black, this may have pissed viewers off more. The decision to make Naveen AmbiguouslyBrown also came from the fact that Disney would have gotten flack for making him black ("Disney hates interracial marriage!") or white ("Oh sure, the princess can be anything, but the prince ''has'' to be white!"). Naveen's design was [[WriterRevolt basically the animators saying]] "Here! Now he can be whatever offends you the least!" (or whatever offends you the most, given how fan reactions tend to go).
7	* OlderAndWiser: As a production company, Disney has learned a lot from their mistakes surrounding racism, specifically portrayals in ''Dumbo'' and ''Song of the South''. This time around, they were diligent.
8	* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Zig-Zagged. The movie takes place in the Disney Animated Canon, so its outlook is brighter than the real world. (Let us not forget: in the real New Orleans, Naveen could have been legally barred from marrying either Charlotte or Tiana until [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia 1967]], depending on [[AmbiguouslyBrown where you think he's from]].) However, Old South attitudes are still present, if gently handled: Tiana and her mother are clearly shown to sit in the back of the trolley and clearly live in an under-privileged part of town. Further, the realtors selling the sugar mill Tiana wants to buy are very condescending towards her in a combination of racism and sexism at the idea of a black woman running a restaurant, and it's possible they only refused to sell it to her because of her race. However, Big Daddy Le Bouf has no qualms eating at a black-owned diner, or with his daughter marrying a Latin(ish) royal. Tiana's restaurant proudly serves and employs people of all races. There's also some AluminumChristmasTrees and RealityIsUnrealistic going around too. The relationship between races and people of both was often complex and a topic of controversy. Suffice to say the movie probably came closer to reality in some places than most Disney fantasies. Needless to say, not ''everyone'' at that time was in lockstep with the era's racial policies.

Context Analysis / ThePrincessAndTheFrog