After watching Pocahontas and vowing never to watch another abhorrent distortion of history, I broke down and watched the Princess and the frog. I had tooooooo! It’s Disney’s first black princess story!

Let me remind you of Pocahontas’ premise in a nutshell: European men come to North America in search of gold. They stop in Virginia (and I’m not exactly sure why Virginia)and encounter natives. Love ensues between native Pocahontas and European John Smith. The Native population and the Europeans don’t get along, so the Europeans conclude TO GO BACK TO EUROPE!?????????? (There are 10 question marks!)

Yes, you read that correctly Europeans returned to Europe and do not settle in North America.

Now back to my review of Disney’s Frog and the Prince.

If you haven’t seen the film, here is the basic plot summary:

Instead of the young girl kissing a frog and turning him into a prince (therefore making her a princess), she is transformed into a frog.

Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780521/

This film started with an impressive message that good work ethic, strong family values, financial prudence and a little luck will ultimately result in achieving your goals.

But there are a few regressive messages which it seems only Disney can do…

They imply destroying your hard work and lifelong goals are acceptable if you find the right man to marry.

You can skip the below paragraphs if you have seen the film.

The protagonist dreams of making her own restaurant, even as a very young child. Years pass and she has sacrificed and saved every penny to open her dream business. She has put her dream in action, met with the bankers and in just a few short days her dream will come true.

BUT, somehow this practical, hard-working, and goal oriented individual is willing to abandon her lifelong ambition/goal, in an instant, because she has found her man (which also happens to be a prince).

As well, Although this film does an excellent job of portraying black males as wonderful father figures, the role of the mother is completely absent. The father is referred or alluded to multiple times through out the film as a psychological crutch for the protagonist and to support her ambitions. Yet the mother, who is still alive and active in her life is never mentioned except when it comes to cleaning her new restaurant!

In conclusion I leave you with these questions and comments:

Should we be more critical of children’s films than we are of adult films? Do children analyze the larger, aggregate messages found in film? Can they extrapolate this to the plight and dimension of the African-American experience?

Let me assert that children’s films should be more accurate than your average film. There is an enormous difference between having a fairy defy physics by flying and telling a social justice inaccuracy. Children simply can’t question the material presented, jump on the Internet and research the validity of the arguments.

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