The Princess and the Frog/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions

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** That's actually semi-based on real voodoo beliefs about loa.
** That's also on the assumption that the loa want what Facilier thinks they want. What if, on the other hand, what they really want is Facilier's soul?
** Loa aka spirits are believed to be attracted to what is most similar to them and easiest to possess / [[Danny Phantom|Over Shadow]] in order to work ritual magic -- inmagic—in this case he certainly has an army of selfish spirits following him around because some spirits require payment each summoning and others require it BEFORE even thinking about them.
* This troper was incredibly irked that Mama Odie had such a minor role in the film, despite the fact that a good portion of the film is spent trying to find her. Sure, she is the ''discover for yourself'' kind of person but even with {{spoiler|Ray's death scene}} she should have done something. Think of how [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|cool]] it would've been to have her and Juju [[Deus Ex Machina|come in]] and [[Badass Grandma|face off]] [[Wizard Duel|against]] Facilier at the end! She's such an interesting character and Ron Clements and John Musker really missed the opportunity.
** Okay, notice that what we see about Mama Odie's powers are themed around sunlight...or rather, her offensive powers at least. There isn't a whole lot of sunlight when she ''could have'' fought Dr. Facilier in the ''middle of the night at Mardi Gras''. Meanwhile Facilier's powers are themed around...shadows. Even in the day...''there are plenty of shadows''.
** Intensely Agreed. The only thing I didn't like about that film was the final showdown.......there wasn't one. granted this was a fear i had going in (A working class chef and a womanizing playboy prince against a powerful voodoo magician, probably wouldn't have worked out well, specially cuz they're frogs)
** Heck, why wasn't Mama Odie seen in the restaurant at the end? Everyone else was. That would have been the icing on a happy ending cake!
** Because if Mama Odie had gone off to fight Facilier, however awesome such a fight would have been, it would have undermined a) the overall idea that [[This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself|the Hero has to defeat the Villain]], not their Mentor or anybody else and b) the film-specific idea that you have to work for your dreams. If Tiana had let someone else save the city and Naveen, or if Odie had stepped in and done it for her, it would have ruined the [[Aesop]]. Also, [[Informed Ability|how do we know Odie is really powerful enough to take Facilier on]]? Louis claims she has very powerful mojo but he's not completely reliable, what we see during her showstopping number may just be window dressing, and the only magic we actually see her doing is divination. It seems to me her power is knowledge, not flashy mystical showdowns--theshowdowns—the way she helps them is by telling them to seek what they need, and then eventually revealing the "kiss by a princess" bit, and none of that requires great magic. I do agree, though, that she should have been seen at the restaurant at the end. Maybe she doesn't leave the swamp often? She is 197 after all...
* I love the movie, but there's one teeny tiny thing that keeps bugging me: Naveen goes through the city playing the guitar at the end of 'Down in New Orleans' and tries to flirt with Tiana, who dismisses him. They interact about 5-105–10 seconds, clearly enough to remember each other's faces and still Naveen mistakes her as a princess in Charlotte's party despite that she still has her hair bound and nothing that would cover her face. Yeah sure, he's probably met (and slept with) hundreds of women, but seriously, you can't forget her face that easily, given that she is a dark-skinned woman in a city, which is still mainly inhabited by white people.
** It's kind of the sign that, without all they went through, Tiana and Naveen would never have gotten together. It kind of subverts the idea of fairy tales that you are 'destined' to be with your 'one true love'. It furthers the whole point of the movie that WHAT YOU DO ACTUALLY MATTERS.
*** It's actually a very welcome subversion of the old Disney pattern of "love at first sight" in so many of their other Princess movies.
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** I'm sure he's intelligent, I'm just wondering if he's studying up on Political Science and Government while he's waiting tables in New Orleans.
** ^ That's where Tiana comes in. I'm pretty sure his [[Casanova]] attitude was one of the reasons his parents decided to force his hand; they wanted him to settle down with a practical, down-to-Earth woman who could keep him on his toes.
*** If Maldonia works like most other monarchies in the world, he ''can't'' be heir to the throne-- hethrone—he married a commoner after all. If he wanted to eventually be the king, he would have had to marry nobility, which, in America, would be considered someone with money (e.g. Charlotte). So, at least in my mind, as soon as he married Tiana, he's no longer eligible for the throne.
**** Keywords being of - for all we know, he could be eligible, but he wouldn't have taken the chance (and given the responsibility to his brother). Tiana actually could have been made the "Queen consort" - in other words, just the king's wife; not really any power over the state of Maldonia.
*** And with that logic, you just [[Logic Bomb|completely undid the resolution of the film,]] namely the entire "Once I marry you you are a princess" deal. Congratulations.
*** That's not true, just because Naveen can't be King doesn't mean he is no longer a Prince. If Naveen became King, his brother would still be known as a Prince, right? If Naveen is ineligible for the throne, that doesn't change the blood in his veins. He's still a Prince, so Tiana's still a princess.
*** Besides, what magic will except may not be what the law will accept. That might be at least one reason why they got another marriage in a church ''after'' the marriage in the swamp that enabled the kiss to undo the spell.
**** Another explanation: Maldonia allows for voluntary abdication -- Whenabdication—When Naveen married Tiana, she became a princess. However, he might have abdicated his position as heir to the throne when they met up with his parents. Considering his [[Character Development]], he wouldn't want to deprive his new wife of her life's dream just so he could go be King.
**** However, if you go by what Monaco allowed with Princess Grace Kelley being able to marry into the royal line and bear heirs then Maldonia could very work like that as well. Not every monarchy works like England, ya know.
***** England doesn't work like that, ya know. Not in recent years anyway. Heck, there's isn't an "English" monarchy in the first place, ya know, it's a British one. If the monarchy works like the modern British one, then there's no reason he can't be King and married to a commoner. Prince William is most likely to be King one day, and his most likely Queen will be a commoner.
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** The logic that was previously on the work's main page under [[Never a Self-Made Woman]] seemed to be that it implied Tiana owes all her success to a male. Makes even less sense in light of the above comments.
** It's the kind of thing that's not at all sexist in isolation but sometimes sexist in accumulation. One heroine being all "I want to do X because it's a family tradition/because my father was the best X-er ther was" - fine, normal, sweet, etc. When you've seen a ''lot'' of heroines like that, you may start to get a little annoyed. That's all. Doesn't mean this one character's background is offensive in itself.
** It's more a matter of Tiana's father being consistently given credit for Tiana's good qualities, while her bad qualities are linked to her neglecting to have his good qualities, and that her mother has no influence on her except to provide her with mementos of her deceased father. Tiana is two steps and a headstone away from being a [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]; it isn't sexist that he had a strong influence on her, but all the songs Tiana is involved in don't actually reference any of ''her'' qualities, they reference ''his'' qualities that she picked up from him, and her ultimate goal is ... being just like dad! The viewer absolutely gets to see that Tiana is resourceful, intelligent, determined, capable, and probably one of, if not ''the'' best Disney Princess in terms of non-sexist portrayal, but the ''characters in the movie'', including Tiana herself, only see that ''she's her daddy's daughter'' and attribute none of her positive qualities to her own self. The exception to this is ''Naveen'', which goes further to highlight the romantic validity of their relationship-- herelationship—he's the only character who sees her as more than the product of her late father. The [[Never a Self-Made Woman]] entry does specifically say that it is an in-universe example of the trope, for what it's worth.
*** In regards to every song being about her daddy's work ethic? ''That is precisely the idea.'' Whether she straight misunderstood as a child, or a case of hindsight being 20/85 and cross-eyed, it was Tiana's ''perception'' that her father encouraged her to work hard above all else that was her major character flaw, that she never caught on to his comments that LOVE and FAMILY were what was truly important. That was what Mama Odie was telling her to get over.. She just ended up missing the point.
**** This is all true, but it doesn't really improve the original point: Tiana's entire character is solely influenced by her father. Where most Disney heroines are struggling with teenage rebellion against their dads, Tiana is trying to live up to his image. Where most Disney heroines would be looking to find their own dreams, Tiana wants the dream her father put into her head as a toddler. Has she ever had a seriously independent thought in her life? [[Never a Self-Made Woman]] centers around the idea that female characters can't achieve without a father, brother, or husband to get them into their positions via their own; Tiana defies this in the overall story, but the only criticism anyone has for her is that she's not ''enough'' like her father and doesn't know how to have fun. Nobody gives half a crap about any of her own qualities (mainly because she doesn't have any).
*** [[Sarcasm Mode|Yes, because all kids who are influenced by their parents make horrible decisions and must be mindless drones. Of course being influenced by her father means that she never listens to the advice her mother gives her and her character never really develops]]. [[MST3K Mantra|You appear to have gone rather far in your assumptions.]]
*** Come on, now, let's not get passive-aggressive with the tropes. No one ever said anything about mindless drones or bad decisions. Tiana spends most of the movie ''rejecting'' her mother's influence, she even has an entire song number about it, and in fact, she never does take her advice-- sheadvice—she falls in love with Naveen, and ''that'' changes everything for her, but it's got nothing to do with anything her mother said. Her mother's role is mostly to provide exposition ''about her father'' and to give Tiana and Charlotte a reason to have met and become friends. Tiana is never even ''suggested'' to have ever considered any goals in her life other than the restaurant that her father wanted, and the whole movie is about Tiana's journey of what it really means to follow in her father's footsteps. Considering that he's dead before the main plot begins, he actually gets more credit for her achievements than she does.
* Correct me if I missed something, but...why didn't Charlotte change into a frog when she kissed Naveen after midnight? When Tiana, who wasn't a princess, tried it, the curse extended to her. Since Charlotte was no longer a princess during the kisses, shouldn't she have turned into a frog as well?
*** Definitely missing the point with Tiana being compared to her dad. Speaking as someone who in many ways is a female version of her daddy, I get compared to him a lot, good and bad. And both Tiana and her mom obviously miss him a lot, so any little thing that reminds them of him would get mentioned. Thirdly, Tiana's role model is her dad. The point is that she's only focused on the 'work hard for your dreams' part and not the 'keep sight of what's important' part. Her realizing that is part of her character growth and what results in her being a good role model in her own right by the end of the movie.
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** And insects don't have butts, they have abdomens.
*** I don't think Ray's taken any biology/anatomy courses, I don't see why he would know the proper name for it.
** Humans "using the restroom" ''is''-- yeah—yeah. Perhaps as a frog, one is more sensitive to the negative stigma of being a frog, leading to a more PC way of saying "slime?"
** Yeah, but slime has a more varied meaning than just mucus in popular usage. When people think of 'slime', they think of slimy things, like moss, seaweed, snot, oysters, and so forth even though it's not technically 'slime'. Thus, Naveen's clarification of the more ''precise'' meaning.
* It kinda bugged me that they never pointed out that Mama Odie is (indirectly, I'll give you) responsible for Ray's death: she's the one who sent them back to New Orleans, as opposed to just marrying Naveen and Tiana on the spot.
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** It could be some subtle magical permission thing. Like, the FOTOS were able to drag Facilier off because he owed them a debt and was unable to pay, thus they had some form of power/custody over him. But it could be that they were just unable to kidnap random people on their own. So if Facilier is basically running the town, he has power of it and thus could theoretically have the authority to tell the FOTOS "have at whoever you want".
** ...but they just as easily dragged Naveen away 3 separate times.
** Naveen was turned into a frog via the magic the FOTOS gave Facilier. This would have given them power over Naveen by proxy they wouldn't have over others. As to why/how Facilier could give the FOTOS all the wayward souls, I got the impression that for all the power the FOTOS displayed, they could not enter the mortal world completely on their own--theyown—they required Facilier, or somebody, to use summoning magic/open a gateway or something. Because we never see them active save for when Facilier is around or has already dispatched them on missions. So, assuming he got power over New Orleans, this would enable him to, oh I don't know, call a gathering of townsfolk to City Hall for some sort of "special announcement" (perhaps a lucrative new deal that would give everyone in New Orleans [[Be Careful What You Wish For|"exactly what they want"?]])...then as soon as they'd all shown up, he opens a gate for the FOTOS, [[Nightmare Fuel|and...]]
* Why did the FOTOS choose that exact moment to take Facilier away. True, the talisman was destroyed, but that was never established as being the source of his power (as he is clearly seen taking it from the FOTOS during his [[Villain Song]] and he used magic several times before that e.g. closing the door, lighting fires, giving that guy hair, his shadow). Plus, as far as this troper can see he's only made three deals with the FOTOS:
** 1. Giving him Voodoo powers
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** First, it's using classic characters. (So does the Princess and the Frog, true, but in a radically re-imagined way.) Second, it's a sequel. Those sell.
*** But the Princess and the Frog has also been added to the Disney Princess line, which means lots of merchandise and DVD releases, and soundtrack sales. Sure the Chipmunks might be doing better now, but which one do you think will last in the long run?
** In addition, ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'' opened after the first weekend and sucked away a lot of potential viewers, especially teens and adults, and then the crush of Christmas weekend releases -- includingreleases—including ''Alvin'', but also ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' -- made—made matters worse; word of mouth never had a chance to take hold. Moreover, the above three movies have '''much''' more inherent appeal to boys, and ''Princess'' getting mostly good-not-great reviews didn't help its case.
* "There's no way I'm kissing a frog and eating a bug on the same day." -- didn—didn't she kiss that frog the day ''before''?
** Maybe within-24-hours; I-haven't-slept-it-off-yet kind of day?
*** They slept in the hollow tree after the alligators attacked. They met Louis at midday.
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** Not to mention, when Lawrence had Naveen's appearance, he would be handsome, fit, have people fawning all over him, and especially the undivided attention of a beautiful, rich, and charming belle. To have that kind of life, he wouldn't mind handing over the "thinking" work to someone else.
** Lawrence ''wanted'' money and power. What he ''needed'' was respect. Which do you think Facilier would give him?
*** You are [[TV Tropes Made of Win Archive]] for that little bit of [[Fridge Brilliance]]. And you also underscore the truth about Lawrence--yesLawrence—yes, he WAS just trading being pushed around by one person for being pushed around by another. The fact he couldn't see this just proves how greedy and lacking in insight he was, and thus such [[Incredibly Lame Pun|easy prey]] for Facilier.
* I know, I know, it's a Disney movie - but proposing to a girl only a day after you met her? Isn't that a bit quick, even by Disney standards? And exactly how much time passed between the engagement and the wedding? It couldn't have been that long, considering that the leasers didn't even have time to officially sell the building yet.
** ''Isn't that a bit quick, even by Disney standards?'' [[Enchanted|"And you are..." "Giselle." "We shall be married in the morning!"]] Nope.
** [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Lol'd]]! You win forever!
** [[Fourth Date Marriage|That's ''long'' for Disney standards.]] It was more like 2-32–3 days, and they'd been together the entire 24 hours of every day. That's longer than Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel and Jasmine knew their men before they decided they wanted to get married. And a lot of people don't think the Fenners even had another buyer, they were just racist.
*** Aurora's case is iffy (she and Philip were both betrothed to each other by their parents), Ariel and Eric had just as much time as Tiana and Naveen (Ursula gave Ariel three days), and Jasmine didn't marry Aladdin until the third movie, so technically, Aladdin and Jasmine had the longest time instead of Naveen and Tiana who are tied with Eric and Ariel in terms of how long it took.
** As for the date between the engagement and wedding, it bugs me to no end. Did they get married as frogs the day of Ray's funeral? As in, Ash Wednesday (bad idea)? Did they get married as humans on Easter Sunday (great idea)? But that contradicts the order of events in the Happily Ever After montage! This troper just assumes that the Happily Ever After montage is out of exact chronological order.
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*** Waitaminute. Isn't it already stated that voodoo conjurers can't do a thing for themselves?
**** Well, maybe they're using the magic on the animals, not themselves. I thought the "Can't do a thing for myself" was put in because the writers knew that Facilier couldn't impersonate Naveen and seduce Charlotte without getting into ''serious'' [[Unfortunate Implications]] territory, so they put in an in-story block on it and made Lawrence truly necessary.
**** It doesn't necessarily have to be a spell. It could just be a skill; [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]]s all seem to speak the same language, so he could've just learned it the same way he learned to draw magic circles and whatnot.
*** Mama Odie is '''''HOW'''' old? She could have picked up a few things with the classic "old people are smart" trope, you know.
**** Or it could just be that Mama Odie used a different sort of voodoo magic than Doctor Facilier, especially since a lot of his power seemed to come from the FOTOS while Mama Odie did things for herself.
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**** How do you know what "wayward souls" is defined as? Could be the people you suggested. Could cover ''ever person'' in New Orleans.
**** You say that like it excuses him somehow. Also, how about the fact that he was gleefully going to commit murder?
**** Of course it doesn't excuse him. It does, however, paint him in a little more of a pitiable light. He reminds me a little of Scar that way...before the villain we know, it seems there was a young guy who was kicked and treated like he was worthless, until one day he started getting bitter--andbitter—and it was just all downhill from there. Which brings us right back to the want vs. need theme in that he needed respect, to be treated with some decency, but instead threw everything he had into what he wanted, revenge and power. Had it coming, in a nutshell, but it's still sad.
***** You could argue that about virtually every Disney villain, but there's still the fact that plenty of the protagonists were kicked down and treated badly and made it to the top without screwing over or killing or hurting anyone. Cinderella didn't feel the need to violently retaliate against her stepmother or stepsisters. Belle didn't go on a rampage against Gaston and the townsfolk for belittling her and her father. Tiana, who was in the same position Facilier was (it was pretty obvious that the real estate men were screwing her over on the sugar mill because of her ethnicity) worked her way up the social ladder through honest work, not trickery. It's like someone once said about Gaston from ''Beauty and the Beast'', yes one could possibly see his story as a tale of unrequited love. It's also possible to see Bluebeard's story as a tale of unfinished business. There are some points of view that just weren't meant to be used though.
***** Exactly. Tiana, Belle, and Cinderella, etc., when they were treated horribly, didn't let circumstance or cruelty overcome them and turn them into something just as bad. Disney villains are villains precisely because they do, and it destroys them. Facilier is an especially interesting case, because he doesn't get his comeuppance in one fell swoop, falling from some high ledge when he's at the top of the world and everything is going right. The walls have been closing in on him for a long time, and he knows this.
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** Tiana barely has time to ''sleep''. Mom and Odie are right to be a little concerned.
** PatF is interesting in that no character (aside from Facilier and Lawrence)is 100% in the wrong: Tiana needs to work hard, but she's sacrificing everything else in her life. Incidentally, though, the directors were as worried about it as you are: they added Tiana's mother bringing her the Gumbo pot since the original version (her showing up and badgering Tiana about Grandkids) just made her seem like a dreamkiller.
** But that's the thing, she's not sacrificing everything else in her life. She's clearly got a social life, just not much of a dating one--butone—but that doesn't mean she didn't understand how important love was. She didn't need to "dig a little deeper" as much as she needed to get some more sleep and take better care of herself, and make just a little more time for relaxing, so that she didn't die of a stress induced heart attack before the age of thirty. Although that doesn't make for a very catchy song.
** What? Like one of the above posters said, Tiana was hardly getting sleep. Her friend even says "Girl, all you ever do is work". She doesn't go out with her friends or engage in activities that make for stress relief (she doesn't even seem to know how to dance until Naveen insists on doing so). Tiana's father never got the restaurant but made time to be with his wife and daughter and was happy still. Tiana had it in her head that it was somehow letting her father down if his dream went unfulfilled when he obviously wouldn't have wanted her to clutter her life so much. Also, she only warmed up to Naveen after he pointed out that she needed to loosen up and helped her do so (just like how he only warmed up to her after she told him to take more responsibility and taught him how to take care of himself a little).
** I'm not denying that Tiana was pushing herself, working too hard, and misinterpreting her father's wishes...I just don't think she was the entirely out of control workaholic some people make her out to be. Also consider that she can't survive on the sleep we see her getting (almost none) all the time...it's possible she was pushing herself especially hard, even for her, in the days leading up to Mardi Gras, when there would be the most work to be done and money to be made.
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** Fireflies actually do have a distinct, pungent smell that becomes more noticeable when they're {{spoiler|squashed.}} But I think it was more of a gesture that he was collecting himself, brushing the bridge of his nose and adjusting his coat, putting himself back in control of the situation.
* Ummm... the U.S. has laws against having titles that aren't earned ("Doctor" is allowed, but "King" isn't as it was just inherited). Because Tiana is an American citizen, she can't technically be a Princess... [[Just Bugs Me]].
** I'm guessing voodoo [[Curse Escape Clause|Curse Escape Clauses]]s are more lenient in this regard.
*** The curse would accept "Princess of Mardi Gras" to work, it probably figured "wife of a prince" was fair game too.
** Not quite. She ''can'' have the title, it's just that it doesn't actually mean anything in America. So she can't have the title given to her by an American appointment (as in, Congress isn't allowed to declare anyone a knight, princess, whatever), but if Maldonia would recognize her as a princess, the fact that she's American doesn't change that.
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** Also, she IS married to a prince, whose parents are extremely wealthy. They cut him off because he was a lazy, womanizing, useless leech, but now that he's the co-owner of a popular restaurant, there's no reason why his parents would help out a bit when times got tough.
* I understand that, out of all the minority races, Disney has had the most bumpy relationship with African Americans, but it still bugs me that people make such a big deal about the first black princess when we already have Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan.
** [[But Not Too Black]]. Jasmine was middle-eastern, Pocahantas was American, and Mulan was Asian (coincidentally, all cultures that get or have gotten the shaft when it comes to... what is that stupid phrase? Reversed discrimination?), but Tiana was the first female, human, Disney main character with direct ancestral connections to Africa recognizable by [[Eagle Land|modern Americans]]. What ''I'' don't get is why people keep bringing up examples from the movie [[BigNon LippedSequitur Alligator MomentScene|out of nowhere]] or [[Square Peg, Round Trope|where it simply doesn't fit]] (at least the latter have grounds for removal), since it's difficult to tell if it's happening because it's recent (my guess), because it's [[Hype Backlash|hyped]] for being racially inclusive and set in a recognizable era of [[Real Life]] (makes the "recent" thing happen more), or if it's just because it really is that awesome/cute/cool/well-written ([[Crowning Music of Awesome]] doesn't count towards anything but the soundtrack).
** Actually, a lot of people were angry ''because'' of that. "How come it took sooo long to make a black princess when you have all the other ones?" like they were deliberately putting it off. But I actually think that might be a good thing. The animators are still a bunch of privileged white men, but at least now it's a lot easier to call them out on it. If they had made a black princess in the early nineties they probably would have tried to make her all "hip" and "jivey". There's also no way they would have done an interracial romance with a black girl at the time. Esmeralda and Pocahontas were accepted because the idea of white men hooking up with exotic gypsies and Indian Princesses has been romanticized for a ''long'' time. Also, note that with the exception of Mulan, the earlier heroines of color (Jasmine, Pocahontas, Esmeralda, Kida) have that exotic pornstar look. I rather like that Tiana is a classy dream girl a la Belle instead of an exoticized fantasy.
*** Uh...I find this complaint a bit of a double standard. First of all, Are you seriously trying to tell me that Ariel isn't drawn with the "exotic pornstar" look in the same way they are? Same huge boobs, same long, flowy hair, same skimpy outfit. Esmerelda looks more conservative than her! So...its okay to draw a white character like that, but a non-white character is racist? Kida IS quite skimpy and IS drawn to be the exotic island princess, but that has been done by pretty much everyone (think of the princess from Avatar) So...Its only racist if its Disney? (That happens so often, it should be a trope). And I think the reason Pocahontas and Esmerelda's relationships happened not because that kind of relationship is "already accepted," but because they are in a position in time and a place where that was actually possible. Jasmine was in the middle of medieval Arabia, Mulan in the middle of ancient China. Not a whole lot of available white guys for the taking. Why do you think PaTF had to be moved to the 1920's?
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** There's a bit of [[Fridge Brilliance]] there. You know that scene where Tiana was working in the cafe and finally gets enough money for her restaurant? Doctor Facilier happened to be there, stalking Big Daddy.
** Another idea: Remember how much Facilier ''really'' doesn't want to ask his 'friends' for help? It's quite possible that the powder, whatever it was, was only enough for a single use, and otherwise he relies on old-fashioned searching, since, well...if you had the choice between putting in a little more work or owing more souls, what would you pick? Look at his expression when he's throwing it down: the man is desperate and terrified.
*** I don't think the powder is one use--weuse—we see him using it at the beginning of the movie as well, to give a random guy on the street more hair--buthair—but I do think it's entirely reasonable to assume that Facilier is aware of people in the city in much the same way as Mama Odie is. Sort of a voodoo perk, knowledge of the people in your own stomping ground. Even if it's only knowledge of ''significant'' people in the city, Tiana's father seems to be well-liked in their community, based on the back porch cook-out framed around their family. Naveen is from outside the city, so Facilier doesn't have a clue of such background knowledge about him. Also, it's clear Tiana knows about Facilier--evenFacilier—even discounting the line, "You been messin' with the Shadow Man?!" she names him on sight when they come face to face towards the end. Maybe they've had a run-in before.
* One of the morals appears to be that your dreams mean nothing unless you're sharing them with someone. Fine, okay, but apparently in order to share your dream with someone, you ''must'' be married. The implication that you're never truly complete without marriage bugs me lots.
** It's more about how you have make room in your life for love.
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* Tiana and Naveen kind of give up on reversing the transformation pretty easily - sure, Charlotte's not a "princess" anymore, but if that sort of thing qualifies, there should be tons of other opportunities. They're still talking frogs. Why not have Naveen's dad call up King George and try to explain the situation? (which would also, incidentally, be a totally hilarious conversation)
** Well it wasn't actually said that they ''did'' give up. They just said that they were going to be together and get married. It's possible that after marrying and getting things settled, they would have gone on to try to find a new princess to solve the issue.
** Alternatively: They were going to spend a year with some excuse--explainexcuse—explain stuff to the mom post-marriage, say they were going on a long honeymoon, etc.--and just wait a year. This was Big Daddy's fourth year in a row as Mardi Gras king, there was no reason to believe Charlotte wouldn't be princess again next year. Or maybe Tiana figured it out and said she wanted to get married, and Naveen went "what the heck," deciding to look later.
* This is just a minor nitpick, but even if Tiana and Naveen hadn't transformed back into humans by marrying, the chance of them having to spend the rest of their lives as frogs is pretty low, because Big Daddy implies earlier in the film that he gets voted King of Mardi Gras every year (well, the last five years anyway). The worst case scenario would have been them being frogs for one year until Charlotte became a princess again, which is a pretty big bummer in its own right, but not as bad as being frogs for the rest of their lives.
** Well, if the whole "Princess of Mardi Gras" thing counts, then surely there are plenty of metaphorical princesses that would work. Plus, if Naveen has any aunts or female cousins, they would also be princesses as well.
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