Disney the Princess and the Frog Racist

https://www.awn.com/blog/harsh-opinionated-and-unfair-review-walt-disney-s-princess-and-frog

Is Disney Racist?

Here is a deep analysis of the company using The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog, similar to most of Disney's animated films are based on European folklore. Although in this particular movie Disney has put a modern twist on the story, the story was placed in the 1920s New Orleans where the protagonist, Tiana, is not a helpless woman but the family breadwinner after her father passes away. The beginning of her story is anything but uncommon for a woman of her race and age. Many black women in the 1920s were widows, so it was not unusual for them or their daughters to work for the family. Even if their husbands were alive, they would still have to work because of low income caused by systemic racism.

Essentially, 'The Princess and the Frog' has a very accurate setting and characterization.

As you may already know, The Princess and the Frog is the first Disney movie in which the main character is a woman of color and the first movie in which the princess is a working woman. This shows that Disney is endorsing black rights and female empowerment. But are they? Let's take a walk down memory lane. Disney started in the early 1920s. Their first animated film was the 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' in 1937. During this period, it was very out of the norm for African Americans to be accepted enough to be able to get a lead or even a background character in the first movie of a company that was just starting, taking a risk. Therefore, it would be unrealistic for anyone to expect Disney to include people of color when America was segregated. Disney continues to build its brand until 1940 when they came out with 'Fantasia' where there is a black centaur who is a slave to the others. That was not only after slavery was completely abolished, but when African Americans had jobs and worked along with whites. It was disgusting to see that even though the characters were not human, they still decided to promote slavery and African American discrimination. The centaur is now erased in newer versions of the film. However, Disney's debatably largest mistake that has been hidden quite well for years is the 'Song of the South'. It was released in 1946 and in this movie, Disney shows a plantation in Georgia where the slaves are more than happy to be doing the work and sing and dance and skip into the sunset. The whole film is completely absurd and unrealistic. Although Disney has a reputation for happy endings, this is crossing the line and there is no doubt that they know that. In the next 50 years, Disney proceeds to release its world-renowned fairy-tale animations. These were based on European folklore, so there was no diversity shown until 1995 when Pocahontas was released. It was the first Disney princess movie not based on European folklore, but it was about a Native American woman. Some may say that it was a good thing for Disney to do but if we look back at older movies, we see Disney making fun of Native American tribes in Peter Pan. This only shows a nuance of Disney trying to cover up for their past ridicules of Native American tribes.

Why do we assume that the first black princess was a working independent woman while she was built off of the guilt that had built up from degrading women to romanticizing slavery? The Princess and the Frog was not an endorsement but an apology. Yet, it wasn't sincere. The Princess and the Frog like any other Disney movie has a villain. In this movie, his name is Doctor Facilier or The Shadow Man. He practices voodoo magic which originates from African American culture. When making a movie that is to apologize for the racial discrimination that was promoted in the past making, the antagonistic attitude towards African American religion isn't a smart move. Now, this tiny detail makes me think again about the ending. How does she become human again? The answer is she marries the prince as a frog, becomes a princess and the kiss they share saves them. A traditional European ending. So what we see here is that African culture dooms her but European culture saves her. All of that is beside the fact that they used a Brazilian man to fake a Coming to America accent.

The verdict that I would like to make from today's article is that Disney is not as innocent or pure as its target audience. Starting from the helpless image they put out in the 1930s of women to the romanticized plantation in the 1940s to their 105-million-dollar half-hearted apology, The Princess and the Frog. Are they racist? That is for you to decide.

Disney the Princess and the Frog Racist

Source: https://medium.com/the-unsolved/is-disney-racist-1a3377d102af