The Princess and the Frog

If you have the opportunity to see Disney’s new movie, the Princess and the Frog, do it. It’s set in New Orleans in the jazz age, and has a fun soundtrack flavored with jazz, zydeco, and gospel. But these aren’t the main things I loved about this movie. I loved Tiana. She’s not a victim of another woman’s jealousy, like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. She plays an active role in her own life. I’m sure that being a maid and cook to seven short miners was not Snow White’s goal in life. While there is a lot to be said for making the best of a situation and whistling while you work, she just accepted the cards that fate handed her. Tiana, on the other hand, had a plan and she worked hard to achieve her goal. And her plan had nothing to do with waiting for her prince to marry/rescue her.

I also loved Prince Naveen. He’s imperfect—he may be the picture-perfect model of a prince, but he’s a lazy lout. He doesn’t fall in love with Tiana because of her beauty, or her helplessness. He falls in love with who she is. And he chooses to change because of his love for her. This was my biggest gripe about the Little Mermaid. Ariel was obsessed with an alien culture, and chose to have herself maimed—she gave up not only her voice, but her very mermaid-ness—to be someone else. Eric never got to know her. He couldn’t find out what her dreams were because she gave up her voice to be part of his world. He only fell in love with her beauty. Prince Naveen got to know Tiana, and fell in love with her drive and her character, not her beauty. She didn’t have to change to fit into his world, nor did he—they both affected one another. She brought a sense of drive to his life; he brought a sense of play to hers. They complimented one another.

My only worry with this movie was that my youngest might be frightened by a few scenes that were kind of dark and scary. Although it’s rated G, I don’t think I’d bring very young children to see it.

If you’d like to know more about this movie, read about it at PluggedIn.com. I highly recommend their reviews because of the level of detail they provide. Whether or not you agree with their conclusions (this is a Christian review site), their reviews are very informative, and the next-best thing to screening the movie by yourself before bringing the kids along.

Tags: movies