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Dissertation help on The Princess and The Frog

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daisychain1	Dissertation help on The Princess and The Frog	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1 (11/04/09 06:00:18) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : princess, disney, representation, gender, frog, race, female Hello I am a University student and this year I have to write a dissertation. I am doing mine on the representations of femininity and race with Disney films looking mainly at the Princesses. I have been doing alot of research on the internet about the new Disney Film The Princess and the Frog and I would find any opinions on this film useful. Some questions that I am asking are: 1. This is the first black Disney Princess do you think the representation is fair, or a sterotypical representation? 2. How do you feel about the Princess spending of the film as a frog? 3. How do you feel about the films prince, Prince Naveen? Is there a reason for him not being black? He is voiced by a Brazilian actor. Thank You in advance for any replies, they will be really helpful.
daisychain1		#1	[-]
Posts: 2 (11/04/09 06:01:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Sorry question 2 is meant to say 2. How do you feel about the Princess, princess Tiana, spending the majority of the film as a frog?
Writerpatrick		#2	[-]
Posts: 341 (11/04/09 17:27:42) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	It's obviously a commercial decision to make the character black. Disney needed a black princess to sell more merchandise. It's not really about race, especially since they get attacked every time they try to do an ethnic story. Jasmine and Pocahontas are both ethnic characters, so it's not the first time they've tried it. But this is the first time they've had a truly black princess. Be sure to look for the merchandise in stores. And the character does come across as more Creole, although I'm just going by pictures. Wikipedia says that the story is based upon a retelling called "The Frog Princess," which explains why the character becomes a frog. If there's any racism it's about making (or calling) someone from the French quarter of New Orleans a frog. As to the ethnicity of the prince, that would depend upon the character's back story. I don't think it really matters, and it would be just as difficult to explain the origin of a black prince as a black princess. Patrick McNamara Webpage: http://writerpatrick.webs.com Podcast Ping: http://podcastping.blogspot.com Blue Hot Gossip Comedy Show: http://bluehotgossip.blogspot.com
kristiw		#3	[-]
Posts: 85 (11/12/09 20:15:35) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	For as much flak as Disney will catch from cultural studies critics and theorists for what I'm sure will be a film containing a few broad stereotypes and even more gross oversimplifications about voodou, most seven year old girls are neither critics nor theorists and will turn out in droves. I suppose the frog angle is more likely to be a comment on the New Orleans/French connection, but my first thought was, "Really, Disney? You're going to identify your black heroine with an animal characterized by thick bulbous lips, when that's been the physical characteristic of black people most caricatured in the history of animation?" (I could do a little breakdown of iconography here, but I don't want to.) I also thought of this article, in which famous folklorist Alan Dundes shows how a popular joke cycle about frogs is actually about race: http://books.google.com/books?id=g195nUPUC6gC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=alan+dundes+wide+mouth+frog&source=bl&ots=lTjRlXbLWZ&sig=OK0Mq8SQMbcWSNQYOeU-5qXoThc&hl=en&ei=19r8Sq6fI4rPngfXs8CXCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=alan%20dundes%20wide%20mouth%20frog&f=false
Goldtears.ulcompstudy	Disney's Princess and the Frong	#4	[-]
Posts: 7 (11/24/09 18:31:36) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi! I'm from Louisiana. As a Louisiana resident, my friends/ peers and I find the firefly particularly troubling. He's seems to be a Cajun (the bad accent and hick appearance implies this). This depiction is so derogatory and insulting. I don't believe it's the first negative portrayal of Cajuns either. I think that the original Rescuers was set in the Devil's Bayou and much of the action takes place in the swamp. Bayous and swamps are more associated with Cajuns and Acadian Louisiana than New Orleans. Madam Medusa, with the French title is somewhere between Cajun and Creole, but her location in the swamp suggests Cajun. Anyway, back to Princess and the Frog: I also find the Voodoo villain insulting. Voodoo is far too often portrayed as evil or Satanic, when it's not. I think that deserves some attention, because, not only is this the first black princess, it's the first predominately black cast and Voodoo is a predominantly black religion. Also note that the original press release for this film gave the princess the character Maddy, a derivation of the name Madeline. However, this name was deemed too "slave girl" and was revised to Tiana which apparently is less slave like? I'm not really sure I agree with Disney on that point. I am not quite sure how Tiana is a princess. NOLA in the 1920s was not exactly racially progressive. I would definitely look at the Dundes's article suggested by Kristiw; it's fabulous and particularly relevant to the frog/race issue. On a personal note: my friend and I are writing dissertations on fairy tales as well. My friend is writing about princesses in popular culture/children's lit and I'm writing about postmodern vs. mass/pop culture adaptations of the Beauty and the Beast story. I'll probably be including The Princess and the frog in my dissertation. Perhaps you'd like to share ideas? It'd be nice to have a study group and a support group. Are you planning to write your dissertation in one year? I'm helping to organize a conference here in Louisiana. We're still accepting submissions until Thanksgiving. We welcome papers on fairy tale themes. Checkout our website http://english.louisiana....onference/Home/index.php . This invitation is of course open to all. Best of Luck, Amanda
daisychain1		#5	[-]
Posts: 3 (12/01/09 02:30:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thank You all for your comments! They are really appreciated.

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