Modern African American Art Pricness and the Frog Concept Art
Deeps > Contemporary Film and the Blackness Atlantic > History > Disneyfied Histories: Disney'due south Intentional Inaccuracy, Historical Films, and The Black Atlantic > The Princess and the Frog: Rewriting Jazz Age History and Culture
Since before the completion ofThe Princess and the Frog, controversy has environment the Disney princess fairytale. From the setting of New Orleans to race to Jazz (and many more aspects of the motion picture), critics have questioned the film since its announcement. That is, earlierThe Princess and the Frog hit theaters in December 2009, Disney already had worked to alleviate concerns that the portrayal of race in this film would follow the tumultuous past the studio has had.
From Asian stereotypes inLady and the Tramp to Jim Crow inDense, Disney'south older films take been filled with negative stereotypes. Perhaps most infamously, Disney's Song of the South premiered in 1946 to backlash, accusing the studio of creating an Uncle Tom persona in the character of Uncle Remus. According to Jim Korkis, Bosley Crowther wrote a pic review forThe New York Times stating information technology was:
travesty on the antebellum South…no matter how much one argues that it'due south all childish fiction, anyhow, the primary-and-slave relation is so lovingly regarded in your yarn, with the Negroes bowing and scraping and singing spirituals in the night that one might almost imagine that you figure Abe Lincoln made a error. Put downward that mint julep, Mr. Disney."[i]
The moving picture'due south about famous scene, showing Uncle Remus singing Zero-a-Dee-Doo-Da is shown beneath:
Set in the Reconstruction Era,Song of the South shows the happy formerly-enslave Uncle Remus using his stories to bring happiness to white family unit. Although it is fix post-slavery, the film does not brand this articulate. And, equally with most Disney films, Song of the South has never been noted for its historical accurateness. The idea is laughable.
So isThe Princess in the Frog post-obit in the tradition of Disney films that have grossly ignored history and used racism to construction their story lines? Or is this particular film attempting to do something different with American history and race?
Co-ordinate to critic Esther Terry, the character of Tiana is no Uncle Remus:
Tiana'southward success depends solely on her ain actions, her power to reconnect with uncorrupted American nature, and her willingness to interconnect with her surrounding community. This emphasizes her agency as an African American adult female in modernity, reversing the surrogate tradition that created an African American mentor and comforter of white society in both minstrelsy andVocal of the Due south."[ii]
Terry's ascertainment correlates with many writers thoughts on the film: Tiana is a modern princess that serves every bit a positive office model to young girls and the audition in full general. In dissimilarity to many Disney princesses that seem to lack autonomy, such as Snow White and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Tiana has her own dreams and, most importantly, plans to brand them come truthful for herself. Established in the prologue of the flick, Tiana desires to ain a restaurant and works at two diners in order to save money for a downpayment. And, by the end of the film, she establishes herself through talent and hard work rather than by the family she marries into and their coin/lineage.
Despite the positive reception most film critics (84 percent of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are positive)[iii] and some scholars gave The Princess and the Frog, many have questioned history's portrayal in the film. Scott Foundras, a picture show critic, constitute the setting of New Orleans during Jim Crow inexcusable, likewise citing the experiences of blackness community during Hurricane Katrina. He describes the movie in this way:
A patronizing fantasia of plantation life in mail–Civil War Georgia,Song could at least exist understood—if hardly excused—every bit a production of its time (18 years earlier the passage of the Civil Rights Act). But is Disney'due south latest,The Princess and the Frog, the Obama-era fairy tale that anyone other than the "birther" crowd has been waiting for?
After he counters the protests some may posit:
But for all its superficial innocuousness—"It's only a kids' flick!" you may already take exclaimed before reading this far—The Princess and the Frog is the most insidious of the lot, precisely because it comes packaged as an all-ages entertainment bearing the imprimatur of the very studio that has branded the imaginations of several generations of the earth'southward children."[iv]
The creators of The Princess and the Frog chose, during its development period in the 2000s, to set the film in New Orleans. They too chose to prepare information technology during the era of Jim Crow and barely bear on upon the racial implications of the time. Knowing the history of New Orleans, what would be their reason to do this? Is there annihilation redeeming in these choices or do critics like Foundras have it right in saying this picture "is the nearly insidious" of recent misfires by studios attempting to portray black life?
Co-ordinate to Ron Clements and John Musker, New Orleans was both John Lasseter's (the film'due south producer) and Walt Disney'southward favorite city, which is why it is the setting of the film. Clements and Musker originally pitched to the studio that the heroine would be African-American and the moving-picture show would take identify in the 1920s. They wanted to celebrate the "magic" of the city of New Orleans.[half-dozen]
Richard M. Breaux says that by setting the film during this time-menstruation without fully addressing the implications of Tiana's dream to own her own restaurant, the employment conditions of black men and women, and Jim Crow segregation. He states, "Although an blithe picture show, Disney animators could have included some historical indicators that racism and discrimination was a part of people'south everyday experiences in 1910s and 1920s New Orleans."[vii]
Sarita McCoy Gregory, on the other hand, shows that some scenes practice accurately reflect the laws of the time period in the South. For instance, the masquerade ball does appear to follow history:
Most of the attendees are costumed and masked with the noted exceptions of Charlotte and Eli (the hosts of the ball) and the blackness attendees. The ring performers and Tiana are not masked, reflecting local law that prohibited blacks from roofing their faces. At the end of the scene, we realize that Dr. Facilier has broken with custom and law, hiding behind a white Janus-faced mask."
Gregory, however, does non see the masquerade scene every bit a positive indication of the film's racial bulletin. Instead, she argues that the scene reveals that, despite imagery in the film suggesting the audience and motion picture makers are "colorblind," this is simply not true of history or the present:
Disney's attempt to render blackness visible and human must be read against its objective of maintaining whiteness in the movie. Despite Edwards' merits that Disney never intends to "teach people about racism", I argue that indeed The Princess and the Frog does. Food and jazz share the burden of serving every bit metaphors for colorblindness and blackness humanity, leaving the audience with a feeling of accomplishment that they have moved beyond race in their acceptance of Tiana every bit a princess. […]Disney manages to reassure its mainstream audience, through its 2nd line, that while nosotros now accept a "new" princess, the existing hierarchy with whiteness at its helm remains firmly in identify."[viii]
As many of these critics have argued, setting the film in the Jazz Age without truly dealing with the implications that would accept for Tiana and other black characters could conspicuously have negative impacts on how the audition perceives history and, in fact, the present. The interracial marriage of the film would take been illegal in New Orleans in the 1920s. The friendship between the rich heiress Charlotte and the poor Tiana would be extremely unlikely. The world in which dissimilar races and members of different class intermingle as they do in the film was not the the world of the South. Disney, more or less intentionally, wants to have its cake and eat it besides — to romanticize and modernize the Jazz Age of New Orleans without acknowledging the negative parts of that history beyond a few lines or set pieces.
And yet, despite the lack of attention paid to history, this movie cannot simply be dismissed as "racist," "offensive," or "inaccurate." Tiana, despite being dismissed as "a woman of your [black, poor] groundwork," refuses to let powerful white men intimidate her out of her dream. She refuses to give up her business organization venture for love and manages to develop a relationship wherein both parties may follow their split up desires together. She does nowadays an image of a woman many feminists, movie critics, and audition members find worth emulating — not just for blackness girls but those of all races. The relationships shown in the black community are strong and supportive. Although Tiana'due south begetter is later on killed during Earth State of war I, the family relationship between Eudora, James, and Tiana presented in the prologue is a positive family unit image. Eudora and James announced to accept a potent spousal relationship, support their girl, and are seen as positive influences throughout the film. And, to a caste, the film does show some negative effects of commercialism and the exploitation dominant groups may accept over minorities.
In the opening song, "Downward in New Orleans," the viewer can see both the romantic calorie-free New Orleans through which the city is shown and the contrast between the rich and the poor:
Tiana works two waitressing jobs, the black child sells papers, and fifty-fifty the villain of the moving-picture show Dr. Faciller struggles to make ends encounter through his VooDoo tricks. In fact, despite Faciller'south magic powers, he declares, "The existent power in this globe ain't magic, information technology's money." His envy of Big Daddy La Bouff and Charlotte act as the motivations for his evil actions during the pic.
And, although Big Daddy and Charlotte are non "bad" people, the film continues to critique their lifestyle throughout the picture show. While Tiana and her family unit live in a rundown part of town, working double and triple shifts to brand ends see, Large Daddy and his girl alive the "high life." Continuously buying commodities without regard to those suffering around them, the La Bouffs are unintentionally complicit in an antagonistic arrangement. Tiana is Charlotte's best friend and Big Daddy is kind to Eudora who works for the family unit as a seamstress. Nonetheless neither look past the set order of the day to campaign for more than livable wages for their workers and friends.
In a mode, the system —capitalism— that stratifies society is the true evil. The want to make coin and/or maintain a specific lifestyle drives people to make choices at the expensive of the larger population. This has reoccurred beyond Black Atlantic history — Jamaica was prosperous for a few white landowners on the backs of slaves and poor whites, Haiti's complicated racial politics led to the exclusion of not but blacks merely those of mixed race, and Africans sold other Africans to Europeans in exchange for goods such every bit guns. Although the Disney pic does not focus on the history of capitalism explicitly anymore than it focuses on the history of racial segregation in America, the undercurrents are nevertheless distinguishable through the contrasting lifestyles of the rich and poor characters and their attitudes toward "work."
Of class, one could argue, the film's relationship with capitalism is merely as confusing as its presentation of race. Despite spending the moving-picture show critiquing the system, The Princess and the Frog ultimately finds the reply to the exploitation of capitalism being simply to "word difficult." At the starting time of the film, Tiana finally has saved plenty for the downpayment on an quondam sugar manufacturing plant that she wants to convert into a eating place. Notwithstanding, the realtors dissolve their deal with her when they detect another potential buyer who can purchase the sugar factory outright. Declaring she has "worked difficult for everything I got" during the film, Tiana inspires those around her to rally behind her, eventually winning her the sugar mill. A montage at the cease of the moving picture shows Tiana and Naveen standing to build their business from the ground up:
The implication the picture leaves the audience with, then, is that if 1 pays his or her dues to the organisation long enough, he or she can eventually obtain social mobility. Dreams come true with hard work, rather than by luck or environmental factors. Tiana lives in the 1920s S where, historically, obstacles to owning a restaurant would be greater than poverty or opportunistic realtors. Her "groundwork," gender, and interracial union would limit her. And yet, Disney makes the case that in spite of a starting bespeak, in spite of legal discrimination, in spite of color or gender, hard work tin can not just allow y'all to obtain your dream but be accepted into the system as well. Happy endings tin be earned and can bridge divides. As James tells his daughter, "Adept nutrient brings people together from all walks of life."
The Princess and the Frog clearly does not perfectly portray history, race, or many of the issues it tackles and so drops. But I tin can't dismiss the film every bit existence wholly offensive or lacking value. Neal Lester, in his examination of the moving-picture show quotes bell hooks to sum up budgeted Tiana every bit the first blackness Disney princess.
When information technology comes to the upshot of race and representation, much of what nosotros run into on the screen paints a grim picture. As more than nonwhite images appear on the screen, they at to the lowest degree promote public contend and discussion nigh the politics of representation."
A positive consideration could exist this: although the film inexcusably does not deal with the segregation of the South in explicit detail, it does provide the audience with a positive representation of a black heroine and black families. Furthermore, friendships between multiple races exist and interracial romantic relationships are seen as stable and happy. In a earth in which we struggle with race relations in the present mean solar day, seeing positive female/female and female/male interactions that cross class and racial divides are images that provide an influence likewise rarely seen in the media. While the context this gives the occasional problematic undertone, The Princess and the Frog cannot exist dismissed as unimportant. Equally hooks argued, at to the lowest degree this picture has promoted public debate and discussion beyond all sectors —scholars, newspaper writers, Hollywood, and its general audience. Perhaps in this, at to the lowest degree, Disney moves (and helps its audience movement) a footstep frontward.
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[i] http://jimhillmedia.com/alumni1/b/wade_sampson/annal/2005/11/16/1289.aspx
[ii] http://link.springer.com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/article/10.1007%2Fs12111-010-9132-3/fulltext.html
[iii] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1196003-princess_and_the_frog/
[four] http://world wide web.villagevoice.com/2009-11-24/film/disney-due south-princess-and-the-frog-can-t-escape-the-ghetto/full/
[6] Musker, John; Clements, Ron; and del Vecho, Peter (2010). DVD/Blu-ray Disc sound commentary forThe Princess and the Frog. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
[vii] http://link.springer.com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/commodity/x.1007%2Fs12111-010-9139-nine/fulltext.html
[8] http://link.springer.com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/article/x.1007%2Fs12111-010-9138-ten/fulltext.html
[9] Lester, Neal A. Disney'due south The Princess and the Frog: The Pride, the Pressure, and the Politics of Beingness a First. The Journal of American Civilization; December 2010; 33, 4; ProQuest Inquiry Library
How to cite this project: Sasha Panaram, Hannah Rogers, Thayne Stoddard. "Contemporary Flick and the Black Atlantic." Deeps, (Accessed on Engagement) http://sites.knuckles.edu/blackatlantic/
Source: https://sites.duke.edu/blackatlantic/sample-page/contemporary-film-and-black-atlantic/history/disneyfied-histories-disneys-intentional-inaccuracy-historical-films-and-the-black-atlantic/the-princess-and-the-frog-and-rewriting-jazz-age-history-and-culture/
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