Tiana

The most complicated and controversial princess of them all is Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog (2009). She is the first African-American princess in the Disney franchise and her being the first, her movie has created a lot of buzz and speculation from critics and viewers alike. The biggest difference between Tiana and the other Disney princesses is that Tiana is not a princess until the very end of the movie, when she marries Prince Naveen. She grew up working her way through life, working multiple jobs to support herself and her mother and to open the restaurant of her dreams. This is so unlike all of the other princesses—her father was not present in her life (as he died early on) and her mother was her main source of support and she wasn’t given everything whenever she asked for it. Neal A. Lester points out in his article that “Tiana is her parents’ hope for familial and racial uplift as evidenced by her dreams of entrepreneurship and of economic independence” (Lester 302). Tiana is the first princess to have dreams and ambitions and to not be searching for love at all. She is not fazed by the prince as first—“Tiana’s eloquence and wisdom beyond her years is evidenced in her retort to the flirting suitor Naveen that she does not want to be treated like a princess but rather that she wants to be treated with respect and dignity” (Lester 302). I think this is a big step in the right direction for Disney movies—they’re starting to break the typical mold in that respect and in the racial aspect. But, the feminist issues in this movie are about the same. No one expects Tiana to do well and to succeed with her restaurant because that’s not what women do in their society. It is set in the 1920s in New Orleans, which I think is very interesting because Disney is trying to be so progressive with an African-American main character but they chose a setting that actually regresses in the aspect of women’s rights. After analyzing these movies, I can confidently say that this is one of the few that I would happily show to my future children because of the central message—that if you work hard to accomplish your dreams, you can do that and so much more.