Disney Princesses - Controversies

For this homework I chose Tiana in The Princess and The Frog. This is the 115 feature-length animation and classic animation 49 Disney Studios. It was released on November 20, 2009 in the United States. The filmmakers are Ron Clements and John Musker.

Of all Disney movies I’ve seen in my childhood, Princess Tiana is the first black and really appealed to me because I think that it changes other Princess which are often white. But I appreciate that they brings up the side of African cultures (ex: the marabou). There are also some typical African animals ( the crocodile). I appreciate that we have filmmakersplays tricks on the film because normally when a Princess kissing a Frog we imagine all the animal immediately that the animal will be transformed into a human while not at all what it’s transformed into a Frog. The fact that we find a moral lesson in this film I like too. At the beginning the father of Tiana dies and has no time to realize his dream (open a restaurant). So Tiana to fight to realize the dream of his father and his mother make proud. I also think it’s his way of making a tribute to her father she loved so much. This Princess is a beauty of a stunning simplicity. She is ambitious and has a character.

The side that I like the least is the fact that the film is taking place in places in America and not in Africa. I will love that filmmakers grow a little by bringing the Princess to its origins view that this is an African-American Princess.

The Princess and the Frog was created in 2009 and is a musical and romantic film produced by Disney. The film takes place in the New Orleans. The two principal characters are Tiana and Naveen. 

This is the story of a charming prince Naveen who is transformed into a frog by a witch. Later he is looking for a princess to break the charm by a kiss, which will give him back his human appearance. He finds a waitress to break the malediction but it doesn’t work, because Tiana is not a real princess. With his kiss, The prince changes Tiana in frog appearance too.

They both decide to go in the bayou in Louisiana, to look for Mama Odie, a famous blind shaman that can break the charm. Louis, an alligator who plays trumpet and Ray a firefly, helped them.  

The Princess and the Frog is the first Disney movie to introduce black princess that creates a big controversy.

The original title of the movie (The Frog Princess) has been changed because it could be badly interpreted by French because the English call them “frog eater”.

Furthermore the original name of the princess “Maddy” reminds a typical slave name “Mammy”, it creates a big offense to the Afro-American people. Therefore the name of the princess is now “Tiana” who would like to be a talent chief. In addition, the film is taking place in the New Orleans where the Katrina hurricane has destroyed the country. We can also see that the prince Naveen isn’t black or white but we don’t know exactly where he comes from.

The wicker is black and he makes voodoo which is a cliche to black people.

Following the release of the movie, a lot of people have criticized the story and the characters. The Afro-American people blamed indeed Disney of racism and a big controversy has been made on this film relating to a black princess and a charming prince who turns into a frog. In the end, it's a Disney so colorful as heroin with black skin is green in more than half of the film as if the studio was afraid of his audacity.

The Idian princess Pocahontas, one of Disney's animated heroine, is getting criticised because there is a disagreement between two adverse views of the historical facts.

Disney's Pocahontas

Disney cartoon figure Pocahontas  is generating more than a little controversy. Indeed the film indicate the comparition between the Christian views and the postmodern world aspect.

Pocahontas was the first Disney animation with a historical background. The Disney film comes from the true story of Pocahontas and refresh the legendary story of how Pocahontas allegedly rescued the life of John Smith the English colonist in 1607. Although the funny animals and the memorable lyrics that are in the film, Disney gives us a Princess that performs quickly and looses the meaning of the historical details.

In the real life when she first seen John Smith, Pocahontas was a young girl and when she became a lady, she stayed in England.for the rest of her life. She was baptized as a Christian and she married John Rolfe, who had the English nationality.

However, Rita Kempley, the Washington Post film critic sais that Pocahontas is an: «  aboriginal Barbie with waist-length raven-black hair. » John Smith is characterized as he wanted to be in love with Pocahontas. In the film,There's no indication about religious faith, and spectators aren't told on what comes to light for Pocahontas when she reaches maturity.

In real life, Pocahontas is considered as a strong, adventurous and dinamic woman. But in the film, she is willing to save the man she just met before saving her own life.

Before making a historical film, Disney studios should had searched the important information on the life of Pocahontas and try to make their film more realistic and historicaly accurate.They changed the story acutely. It would have had been more intelligent from Disney to use different names without linking their film with a real life event. This is why there are conflicting views of the historical part of the Princess Pocahontas.

Pocahontas is a cartoon realized by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg. It is went out in 1995.

Pocahontas is the most beautiful girl of her tribe. She is the girl of the leader. It is a character heights of wisdoms, kindness. She has some powers: she can communicate with the nature, the animals, trees.

While it and its tribe was in peace, from English come to colonize their lands.

It is the beginning of a big impossible love story between Pocahontas and John Smith, one of the colonists. Thanks to their love, they will manage to save their people of a war.

This movie is different from other movies of Disney, set apart can be "Mulan", because it is quite a different culture. Pocahontas is not a princess, but a girl of leader of a tribe. She and her tribe do not live in houses, but in tents. They are in accordance with the nature and the animals. While many princesses of Disney are royal girls, live in castles, get dressed of big and beautiful dresses.

Through Pocahontas, Disney "denounces" in a way the fear of the unknown. Indeed this movie shows us that can import the differences, the cultures, the language, we are all human beings.

This movie shows us so how much the colonizations were able to be murderous and without any respect for the other peoples.

I had never seen this movie so far and I do not regret having seen it. I find that the first one Disney is better that the new. The girls are "less redone" and the much deeper stories with a lot of morality.

The film « Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs », created on december 1937, was embraced both by critics and audiences, grossing many times - it's then record (for an animated film) - $1.5 million budget.

The biggest remark that we can make for this movie is the message conveyed on the role of the woman.

In 1937, everybody expected that a woman cooks, cleans, does the household and the ironing by smiling.

Today, among our current habits, Snow White is not a woman model anymore as she has the mother role in the perfect home , slightly submitted and naive. The girls aspire now to bigger dreams than cleaning at home.

Similarly, the "Dwarfs" appear slightly degraded as they have a potato instead of the nose and adore working in appearances, even they are very funny in the movie. Today, we can not play with the disabled appearance to make people laugh.

The Prince involvement remains very quite weak like the man in 1937 never there to share his life with his wife He is there only for the love at the first sight to save the princess, it is too simple

Luckily with the Disney magic, we can forget the nowadays society rules and this movie remains well watched.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs remains the first classical Disney which make dreamed the youngest and the oldest chidren that maybe one day the prince (or the princess) will come.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first movie from Disney studio output in 1937. This adaptation of the story of the brothers Grimm becomes very popular and has been reward in 1939.

This adaptation remain simple but faithful. The movie has been censured, the original text contains more violent scene. All this for make a movie for children.

This movie becomes very popular because it contains all the ingredients to divert the viewer. There is suspense, humor and romance. The music is very important, it will mark as a tradition. The songs are now very popular.

The criticism that we can be made on the movie is the message he brings, that of the role of women. In 1937 it was normal for a women to cook and household in smiling. Snow White incarnate perfectly the role of the housewife, slightly obedient. But the little girl take model on she. Today fortunately the girl have better dream than to clean for dwarfs. It’s the same for the dwarfs slightly degraded with their big noses and likes to work in the mines it's not very rewarding.

This film can be a propaganda. It’s possible.