African-American Character Representation In The Princess And The Frog

Despite the fact that there are so many Disney films that are (and should be) criticized for their social imperfections, there have been some recent signs of

These films have included certain features that can be seen as covert racism, a form of racial discrimination that is disguised and subtle, rather than public or obvious. In their film Aladdin, released in 1992 introduced the sixth Disney princess Jasmine, Disney include a song as the opening credits that created great controversy. The original song lyrics were, “Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place where the caravan camels roam. Where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.” After receiving negative criticism Disney agreed to change the lyrics of the song after obtaining approval from the song producers. However, the Arabic community was not fully thrilled about the song after the change. It was "nowhere near adequate, considering the racism depicted in 'Aladdin,' " said Don Bustany, the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (Fox). In the film, Disney attempts to recreate Arabic culture by including what they believe as producers will represent the culture. “When they show a market where the signs are meant to be in Arabic but are written in a form of gibberish, it implies there really isn't a culture in existence that uses that language" (Shweffi). For their latest film Moana, the producers of the movie attempted to fully capture and represent Polynesian culture to the best of their

What images come to mind as one reflects upon his or her childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the fondest of memories. Yet, for many, mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept off their feet, and lions roar to their royal place in the animal kingdom. Disney films have captivated the American culture for years and have become a pivotal part of popular culture as well as a form of education. However, these films have devoured the youth of America and, in the process; have perpetuated an institutionally racist society based on harsh stereotypes. Minorities are often underrepresented, and even completely left out, of many Disney films such as Dumbo (1941), The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), and

Hollywood’s leading animation studio has had many instances of stereotyping and being racially insensitive. Two main examples of their racism towards Native American tribes have been Peter Pan and Pocahontas. In both instances, there have been controversial songs that have the Native Americans at the center. Both depict the stereotypes that are not necessarily true of the tribes.

Fairy tales are timeless entities that will always be relevant in people’s lives. Fairy tales and stories offer entertainment, advice, and moral examples. The creation of fairy tales is important in the development of social norms. Children everywhere would read fairy tales and learn from them. As a result, these fairy tales are translated into multiple languages and allows people with different backgrounds to understand and relate to the story. People take these stories and adapt them to life around them. Within these adaptations of the same story, it is normal to observe slight differences that contribute as evidence in identifying the culture or societies in which these stories come from. Whether it is the slang of the dialogue or the change of location, modern producers and writers are known to take these classic stories and adding a significant twist to adjust to their cultural agenda. The movie, The Princess and the Frog, is a modern example of writers and directors creating a modern twist to the popular story of the Brother Grimm’s The Frog King. The Princess and the Frog and The Frog King both encode the mores, values, and beliefs of the cultures of the societies from which they come because, even though they both have similar plot ideas, the differences of the location and the differences of the overall specific plotlines attribute to understanding how their own specific cultures influence the adaptation and the actual story.

The story of Tiana in the movie The Princess and the Frog is one of Disney’s more progressive princess movies in that it moved away from the typical, cookie cutter princess story in which the woman needs saving from the handsome and charming prince. The movie is the story of Tiana, a young, African-American woman of low socioeconomic status, who lives in New Orleans. The movie centers around Tiana’s dream of owning her own restaurant named Tiana’s Palace and how she gets to her happily ever after of owning her restaurant. Though progressive the movie still contains similar traits to other Disney princess movies. The Princess and the Frog exhibits traits of Feminist theories throughout Tiana’s journey in building her restaurant while the movie still undermines the oppression of women. Moreover, in her journey aspects of Karl Marxist’s commodity theory arises when Tiana interacts with other characters in the movie.

Disney creates gender roles, racial roles, and white supremacy through socialization within their motion pictures. For example, Walt Disney’s “Snow White”, “Fantasia”, and even “The Little Mermaid” all show females as obscenely beautiful, male dependent and flirtatious creatures who couldn’t save themselves from a Chinese finger trap. Males are the perfectly sculpted rescuers who can be easily wooed by a woman’s body; and these exaggerated roles create a false standard for children and can lead to severely underdeveloped sociological skills. Moving onto the racial roles; in the movie “All dogs go to

Disney has been known to have racial messages located within their movies for many years. During the time period when some of the more racial films were made, racism was more common in society. It was not nearly as frowned upon and was more culturally accepted. As time has progressed, the Disney Corporation has also progressed as well. They went from being completely stereotypical and racist against African Americans in Dumbo to having an African American princess in The Princess and the Frog. Many try to find arguments that show Disney is no better today than it was in 1940’s, but it is evident that Disney no longer wants to be seen as a racist and impure company. In their newest animated film, The Princess and the Frog, the lead character

The Disney Corporation has had both positive and negative effects on American society. Disney has majorly affected both the youth and adults in America by way they interact with each other, what they expect from each other, and how parents bring up their youth in harsh and unrealistic expectations according to Disney. Disney has fostered a strong sense of imagination in the past, present and future youth of America. This sense of imagination is necessary to the development of children when it comes to success in life and self-confidence. The Disney Corporation knows how to work it’s audience for a profit and mastering that skill has allowed Disney to accumulated billions by advertising and selling fantasies to young children and their parents. It’s also these very ideas that influence what Americans believe our government and policies should be founded on. In “The Mouse That Roared” the author states “Education is never innocent, because it always presupposes a particular view of citizenship, culture, and society. And yet it is this very appeal to innocence, bleached of any semblance of politics, that has become a defining feature in Disney culture and pedagogy” (Giroux 31) This quote defines Disney at large. Disney has created the idea of ‘imagination’ in American society and perpetuates it in everything America does and influences everything America stands. In everyday American life, politics and business, The Disney Corporation has a hand in it.

The Disney Corporation is one of the largest media companies in the world. Disney's films have always been popular for children since they came out.The Disney movie Dumbo was made in 1941 by Walt Disney. It was based on a children's book written by Helen Aberson which was originally designed to help make more money after the failures of both Pinocchio and Fantasia in 1940. It was the most successful Disney movie in the 1940s. But, who has actually examined the social principles of gender, race, age, and sexual orientation in these films? Many look at this movie as a great movie for children, but have those people really listened? Really watched? Really payed attention to the details of the movie? I highly doubt it. Gender, racial, and cultural stereotypes have been resembled in Disney

Racism: discrimination which exemplifies stereotypical differences between the ethnic groups to which people belong. While Disney animated films are the ideal family movies, it is undisclosed to many that such racism is being portrayed. Disney’s movie Aladdin (1992), “was a high-profile release, the winner of two Academy Awards, and one of the most successful Disney films ever produced” (Giroux, 104); however, what is often disregarded is the obvious depiction of careless racism towards Arabs seen in the illustrations of the characters, the statuses into which they are placed and the lyrics of the opening song near beginning of the film. Furthermore, with the movie disguising itself as innocent and wholesome, children are exposed to these

During the last several decades, the media has become a strong agent in directing and controlling social beliefs and behaviors. Children, by nature, can be particularly susceptible to the influencing powers of the media, opening an avenue where media created especially for children can indoctrinate entire generations. Disney movies, like all other media “are powerful vehicles for certain notions about our culture,” such as racism. (Giroux 32). Racist scenes in Disney movies are often identified as simply being “symbols of the time” when the films were produced. Furthermore, Disney racism is often passed over as simple humor, or as a simple guide to

I believe that any animated character of any race can fit the role of any person’s voice. The animated character is not real therefore, it should not matter what race the person is (you're not actually seeing the person). Disney mainly focus on making sure that the actors voice suits the character he is playing, they don’t care about the ethnicity of the person. I agree with them because all that matters is if the film is good. It does not matter how diversified the acting crew is. Many groups and people like MANAA, Gene Luen Yang, Lalo Alcaraz, and Laika believe the acting group needs to be diversified. If the film is good, it should not matter. Another reason why I believe acting crews do not need to be diversified is because if the producer

There were not too many roles created in mainstream film world that flattered the African American woman unless they were created by African American filmmakers which still focused on racism. Women who were dark-skinned or brown-skinned were specifically cast as roles that degraded their true intellect and presented them as nothing more but uneducated housemaids, house servants and house slaves who kept themselves “busy” throughout the film. Those who were fair complexions and could escape their bi-racial or black identity would hide their true ethnicity in hopes of landing higher paying and respectable parts such as the familiar damsel in distress These roles were mainly marketed towards white American women. Viewers are subconsciously taught through media that there is a distinctive look stars are so supposed to possess, this can be associated with a character’s gender, sexuality or race. Lee goes so far as literally making the depiction of both rivalry groups’ face Hattie McDaniel and Judy Garland. What I found particular interesting when observing this scene and the racial ambiguity the musical score shared is the “bad hair” characters are compared to Mammy in “Gone with the

A young girl with black hair and brown eyes sees a beautiful princess named Cinderella who has blond hair, blue eyes, and flawless skin. She believes she will never be as radiant and beautiful as the princess because they don’t look alike. Like this girl, there are many cases of Disney films having lasting negative effects on children. Disney influences children more than any other age group since most merchandise and movies are geared toward younger audiences around thirteen or younger. Walt Disney Productions have a negative effect on children through stereotypes, violent actions, and sexism presented through its characters’ physical characteristics and actions. Disney has been