The Princess and the Frog

Drawing from Towbin et al's report on Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Featured-Length Animated Films, this blog post is going to examine whether or not newer Disney films have improved in their positive portrayal of cultures and gender differences by looking at one movie in particular: The Princess and the Frog. The Princess and the Frog was released in the United States in December of 2009. It was inspired in part by E.D. Baker's novel The Frog Princess and in part by the Grimm brother's fair tale The Frog Prince.

After watching the movie, it appears that there has indeed been an improvement to a certain extent. With regards to gender roles, there still exists the emphasis on the beauty of women as evidenced by Tiana's (the protagonist) childhood friend, Charlotte who is a debutante. Domesticated roles are also illustrated by Tiana's interest in culinary arts. However, barriers are broken as we see Tiana ambitiously working two jobs so she can open up her own restaurant Prince Naveen (a male) unwilling to work and is intent on marrying a rich woman instead. When both Tiana and Prince Naveen turns into a frog, gone is the inferior-superior between genders and in its place a sense of equality. 

There are even certain scenes where roles are reversed and it is the man who requires help from the woman (cue Naveen being turned into a frog first and requiting a kiss from a princess to be set free).  

As for the portrayal of cultural stereotypes, we do not see much of an improvement. The Princess and the Frog borrows from syncretic religion practices in Haiti, Voodoo, and when paired with both the movie's antagonist Dr. Faceiller and his act of killing one of Tiana's friend (an alligator named Ray) it gives the practice an evil connotation. Such an act can serve to be an exaggeration of Haiti's religion and if one is not well versed in it, one might believe this to be the only component of such a religion, especially children.

Nevertheless, irrespective of the extent of changes new Disney films have undertaken compared to its predecessors with regards to representing gender and culture norms, two facts remain true: (1) Disney films reflect the current stereotypes that are majorly held in societies and (2) in turn, they continue to have a substantial impact on popular culture today due to both its pervasiveness across cultures as well as its accumulated audience members. Long Live Disney!

For information on Towbin's article, please see:   

Towbin, Mia Adessa et al. "Images of Gender, Race, Age and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature
            Length Animated Films." Journal of Feminist Therapy 15.4 (2004): 19-44

For a synopsis on The Princess and the Frog:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780521/synopsis