Now In Theaters - The Princess and the Frog

The long awaited arrival of Princess Tiana is finally upon us. Disney's first Black Princess comes to our big screens in the heart of the Big Easy during Mardi Gras. The voice of Tiana comes from a Tony Award winning actress, Anika Noni Rose. A good number of Hollywood big names brought their talent to this project. John Goodman, Keith David, Jennifer Lewis, Terrence Howard and even Oprah Winfrey lend their voices to help bring the adventure of Tianna to the screen. We also have a VERY accomplished writer/director in Ron Clements. He was also the writer/director of 'Aladdin', 'The Little Mermaid', 'Treasure Planet' and 'Hercules'.

As a young girl Tiana has always dreamed of opening her own restaurant. Her father and her would sit in the kitchen whipping up delicious meals and making plans for the future. While her best friend, Charlotte (or "Lotty" as Tiana often refers to her) who is the daughter of a very wealthy man, sits back and dreams of one day being one of those lucky fairy tale girls who gets to marry the Prince. As time goes on, Tiana's father is no longer around and she is working two jobs to save money for her still lifelong dream. Those around her often tease her and are quick to point out that all of her hard work will never pay off. Charlotte, on the other hand, is close to landing her dream when Big Daddy (Goodman) hosts Prince Naveen at his annual masquerade ball. Lotty plans to woo the Prince and be married by the end of the week! On the other hand, The Shadow Man (David) has his own sneaky plans. (FYI: The Shadow Man is the equivalent of the Wicked Witch in other Disney films.)

The story and antics that Tiana and Naveen find themselves into are very cute little situations that you would expect of Disney. The songs are fun and the animation is very true to a typical Princess film. I enjoyed the jokes and I laughed at the character's situations. It was a lot of fun. If I had a daughter, as a Black man I would be happy to have a movie to take her to in which the Princess finally looks like her. But with that said, there is a bit to this film that does make me scratch my head. LOL, but what is a Disney movie that doesn't have a bit of controversy right?

The most obvious head scratcher is the fact that Prince Naveen is NOT Black. While I am impressed with Disney's effort to show children that interracial relationships are okay, I am a bit put off by the fact that they chose to use the Black Princess to show this. Our little girls finally have a face like their own on Disney screens as a Princess, but what about our little boys? They don't deserve to see a Black Princess falling in love with a Black Prince? I was also slightly disturbed by the setting and backdrop of this movie. Is it just me, or does it seem as though Belle, Jasmine and others were off in some enchanted kingdom far, far away... while little Tiana here gets the N.O.? Is Juvi going to drive by in old school cutlass? And during Mardi Gras??? Is Joe Francis going to stop by and offer Tianna some beads and a GGW tee shirt? Maybe I am looking into things too deep, but I just don't feel that Mardi Gras is a proper backdrop for a children's film. (And I am not going to talk about the fact that our Black Princess didn't actually get much "face" time in this film. You will understand what I mean once you have seen it.)

But despite those things, the film was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. I most definitely suggest it for anyone wanting to take their child out for a good time. Black, White, Mexican, Asian, Middle Eastern, whatever... your child will be happy to see this one. And I am sure they will be singing along with the songs in no time. I loved the voice of Tiana (Rose) and look forward to seeing more of her. Overall I will rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10. I really, really want to give this an 8 or an 8.5 just because it is the first Black Princess, but the reality is that this movie isn't top notch Disney. By no means am I saying it was bad, it was very enjoyable. But I can't compare this film to the likes of 'The Lion King', 'Beauty and the Beast' or 'Aladdin'. Very good, very funny and very cute. So I do suggest your get your children out to see it. And if you don't have any children, try to con your sister into letting you take her child! You won't be disappointed.