The Princess and the Frog: Difference between revisions

The story centers on Tiana, a 19-year-old waitress in 1920's New Orleans who encounters a talking frog. In reality, the frog is the egotistical Prince Naveen, who was transformed by Dr. Facilier, an evil voodoo doctor. When she agrees to kiss him, the result is that ''she'' becomes a frog too, and from here they embark on a journey across the lush Louisiana swamp to seek out the voodoo priestess Mama Odie, the only one who can help them. Along the way they meet up with Louis, an alligator jazz enthusiast, and a Cajun firefly named Ray, all the while avoiding Facilier's creepy shadow goons.

 

 

''The Princess and the Frog'' got three [[Academy Award|Oscar]] nominations (two for Best Song, the third for Best Animated Feature), but didn't win any of them.

 

Before adding examples, note that tropes pertaining to the more sensitive political issues (gender and race) have been moved to the analysis page.

 

* [[Actor Allusion]]: The weird psychadelic filter effect on Dr. Facilier's face as he sings ''"I hope you're satisfied"'' during his [[Villain Song]] seems to hearken back to [http://dietrichthrall.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/they_live_movie_poster1.jpg one of the posters] for ''[[They Live]]'', a horror movie in which [[Keith David]], Dr. Faciler's voice actor, starred prominently.

* [[Ambiguously Brown]]: ''Naveen''.

* [[Amusing Injuries]]: The frog-meets-book [[Running Gag]] is powered by this.

* [[Animal Stereotypes]]: [[Subverted]] heavily. Louis, the alligator, is a [[Gentle Giant]]. The subversion is more evident in Mama Odie's pet, Juju; a gentle, loving snake that takes care of a blind old lady who uses him as a pole and a bridge, among other things.

* [[Animal Talk]]: Once Naveen and Tiana are turned into frogs, they are able to understand and communicate with other animals, first noted in a very brief encounter with Charlotte's dog. Interestingly, they can still talk to regular humans as well.

You've been pushed around all of your life -<br />

You've been pushed round by your mother, and your sister, and your brother,<br />

* [[Circling Monologue]]: {{spoiler|Dr. Facilier does this to Tiana when trying to convince her to give him back the talisman that turned Naveen into a frog.}}

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Charlotte

* [[Curse Escape Clause]]: Only a kiss from a ''princess'' will release Naveen from the frog curse. This comes with two twists. {{spoiler|First, Charlotte temporarily qualifies as a princess because her father was voted king of the Mardi Gras parade. Second, after Tiana and Naveen give up on turning human and just get married as frogs, Tiana qualifies on the technicality that she's married to a prince.}}

{{quote| ''[[That Guy With the Glasses|"What's up with all the loopholes!? Was this fairy tale written by a lawyer!?"]]''}}

* [[Sir Not Appearing in This Trailer|Dame Not Appearing In This Trailer]]: Charlotte LaBouff, at first. She did make an appearance in the last trailer, causing some people to call shenanigans due to the movie featuring a "blonde princess" as well as a black one. See Never Trust a Trailer, below.

* [[Dance of Romance]]: Naveen teaches Tiana how to dance after she teaches him how to to mince.

* [[Does He Have a Brother]]: Luckily for Charlotte, Naveen does have a brother. {{spoiler|He's 6 years old. But she'll wait!}}

* [[Does Not Like Shoes]]/[[Foot Focus]]: Mama Odie.

** Speaking of 'Friends On the other side'...

{{quote| "If you relax, it will enable me to do, anything I please."}}

* [[Dramatic Necklace Removal]]: {{spoiler|Lawrence rips the voodoo talisman from around his neck. Facilier ties it back on later, though, and Lawrence never tries it again.}}

* [[Drop What You Are Doing]]: Blink and you'll miss it. Naveen almost buried in gold coins during "Dig A Little Deeper" but the he turns and sees Tiana, and he drops the coin he was left holding after Mama Odie rescued him and pointed him at Tiana.

* [[Dumb Blonde]]: Charlotte.

* [[Eccentric Mentor]]: Mama Odie, who says and does more than a few odds things between teachings the protagonist to 'dig a little deeper' and find what will truly make them happy.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: Amazingly for a Disney film, Dr. Facilier's Friends on The Other Side may count.

* [[Establishing Character Moment]]: How do we know Facilier's not a nice man? It's not the outfit ''or'' the [[Living Shadow]], but his first customer on-screen. Man suffers from male pattern baldness, so Facilier hits him with a magic powder that grows a full head of hair...followed by the rest of his body.

** [[Invoked]] in one scene with Charlotte throwing sparkles over herself.

* [[Everything Is an Instrument]]: Including Lulu the potato bug/squeezebox. Also, Naveen manages to make a fully functional frog-size ukulele out of a stick and a spider web. ''Twice''.

** The creator of the Proud Family was one of the animators for this; and it shows. Dr. Facilier not only looks like Baron Samedi, but he also looks like Oscar Proud. Mama Odie even looks like Suga Mama.

* [[Fairytale Wedding Dress]]

** {{spoiler|Dr. Facilier is the first, and so far ''only'' Disney villain to, quite literally, be [[Dragged Off to Hell]] kicking and screaming.}}

** Plus, {{spoiler|Ray being stepped on}}. Really not the kind of thing you expect in a Disney film, especially with it ultimately subverting the [[Disney Death]] trope.

* [[Fat Bastard]]: Averted with Louis. He's notably the chubbiest alligator in the film, and yet he's also one of the nicest characters in the film.

** Also true of Big Daddy. He is a man who could throw his weight around physically, influentially, and monetarily, but he seems to just be sweet, jovial, and dotes upon his daughter.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: "You just wanna be free; hop from place to place. But freedom... takes green!" (As it turns out, he's not talking about money...)

* [[For Halloween I Am Going As Myself|For Mardi Gras I Am Going As Myself]]: Thanks to a musician [[Your Costume Needs Work|complimenting him on his alligator costume]], Louis gets to play with a Jazz Band.

* [[For the Evulz]]: Facilier curses some guy to grow hair all over his body pretty much just for his own amusement.

* [[Fourth Date Marriage]]: The relationship Tiana and Naveen create is the typical speed for a Disney movie.

* [[Friend or Idol Decision]]: {{spoiler|Dr. Facilier offers to give Tiana her hopes and dreams in return for his voodoo pendant. He makes the mistake of reminding her that her father never reached his dream... Because not only does she realize that her father was still a happy man, thanks to his family, but it reminded her that she always believed in ''working hard'' to reach her goals.}}

* [[Here We Go Again]]: Ray [[Medium Awareness|attempting to restart "Dig a Little Deeper"]] (but immediately averted).

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Ray singlehandedly fights off Facilier's shadow minions so Tiana can escape with the blood talisman, only to have his triumph cut short by Facilier ''stepping on him''. He at least lives long enough to see Naveen and Tiana together and gets a great reward for his sacrifice.}}

* [[Hidden Depths]]: While deliciously suave, Facilier seems like a standard Disney villain until {{spoiler|it turns out his actions are him trying to pay back the Friends On The Other Side so they don't do something horrible to him. Doesn't make him much more sympathetic, but definitely more complex and relatable.}}<br /><br />Facilier seemed genuinely frustrated and bitter with his lot in life, (likely due to being black in 20's New Orleans). Probably what sparked his original deal with his "Friends", and after that just [[Dark Reprise|dug a little deeper each time...]] This gets obvious when he is convincing Lawrence to follow his plan, saying how he (Lawrence) should be tired of being in poverty while the big shots only get richer and richer. The expression in his face pretty much tells that he wasn't speaking much about Lawrence as he was about himself.<br /><br />Facilier was apparently supposed to be a Creole, and hence an ethnic minority to boot. Free African Americans and Creoles of mixed ancestry would have been lumped in under Jim Crow laws after the Civil War. The ''LaBouff'' family were probably Creole too, but would have been considered "French" and white. Facilier also had economic motives as well as racial ones. New Orleans is run by a capitalist white patriarch, and {{spoiler|by turning everyone into just souls for his "Friends" to collect}}, he's equalizing everyone--no more class system. The undertones are clear because he teams up with Lawrence, who is obviously unhappy with his role as a servant and would like to move farther up the totem pole.

** Naveen also seems like a smarmy, cheesy "no-account, good for nothing" as Tiana calls him, but he displays resourcefulness, adaptability, scientific knowledge, and multilingual knowledge, plus a willingness to learn. To say nothing of his musical talents, which mainly enhanced his image as a himbo. Combine this with the fact that a lot of his behavior is used as a mask to hide deep insecurities about literally not knowing how to do ''anything'' for himself due to his parents spoiling him most of his life and then kicking him out and he almost goes straight into [[The Woobie|Woobie territory]]

*** Also a Character Establishing moment. It would not have been unthinkable at that point for her to have reamed out Tiana, and demanded more of her "man-catching beignets", but being a true friend, promptly took her leave, helped Tiana get herself cleaned up, and loaned her one of her dresses. She may be spoiled, and not exactly deep, but she knows what's truly important to her.

** Ray appears at first to be a stereotypical hillbilly-type. He actually turns out to be one of the most insightful, caring, and helpful people in the group. He's also competent, which goes a long way when the first two things he does are untying Naveen and Tiana (after Louis's well-meaning attempt made things much worse), and pointing out that [[No Sense of Direction|Louis had been leading them in the wrong direction]]. The rest of his family (who also appear to be hillbilly-ish as well) are just as helpful for the brief amount of time they do show up, helping the group find the way to Mama Odie's home.

** It's a step in the right direction that Disney also made a 'good' Voodoo priestess [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|dressed in the traditional white]], since Voodoo is usually seen as only something evil in Hollywood Voodoo.

** Facilier makes use of Voodoo dolls, usually the only known object in Voodoo. But the use of this object is only used in Louisiana Voodoo. So that is again a thumbs-up for Disney. But they do exaggerate it a bit.

{{quote| '''Tiana:''' Listen mister, this "stick in the mud" has had to work two jobs her whole life, while you've been sucking on a silver spoon, chasing chamber maids 'round your ivory tower.<br />

'''Naveen:''' ...Actually, it was polished marble. }}

* [[It Was With You All Along]]: {{spoiler|Naveen always had the potential to make a princess to break him from his curse...after all, as a prince, any woman he marries qualifies as a princess. Of course, him being a [[Handsome Lech]] was about as big an obstacle for marriage as the whole frog curse.}}

* [[I Want Grandkids]]: Tiana isn't almost there until she pops one out, at least according to her mother.

* [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]: {{spoiler|Right before Naveen proposes to Tiana, it occurs to him that she will never be able to afford her restaurant unless he keeps his promise to marry Charlotte and reward Tiana for helping him when he's rich again. He unselfishly abandons the sincere proposal and resigns himself to his fate.}}

** In a more platonic sense, {{spoiler|Charlotte. The one thing she's wanted more than anything else is to be a real princess, and because of the aforementioned marriage plan, she ''could'' get it, yet because Tiana's her best friend and it's Tiana that the real Naveen really loves, Charlotte doesn't even hesitate to go along with the kissing plan in an attempt to get them human, together, and happy.}}

* [[Jackass Genie]]: Dr. Facilier, naturally. Especially since Naveen never actually made a wish. He went in to get his fortune told, Facilier knew he was looking for money, i.e. 'The Green', and, when the deal was sealed by a shake of hands, promptly gave Naveen his OWN interpretation! Lawrence also did not get quite what he expected; Facilier told him he'd "be the man he always wanted to be", but he probably didn't realize that would mean literally becoming the Prince.

{{quote| ''"... I hope you're satisfied! But if you ain't, don't blame me! You can blame my friends on the other side! [[Evil Laugh|Hahahaha]]!"''}}

* [[Love Epiphany]]

* [[Mad Eye]]: Definitely invoked. "I was starting to think that wishin' on stars was for babies! And - an' ''[[Hypocritical Humor|crazy people.]]''"

* [[Magical Incantation]]: Mama Odie's is...different.

{{quote| '''Mama Odie:''' Gumbo, gumbo, in the pot. We need answers...[[Crowning Moment of Funny|whatcha got?]]}}

* [[Magic Pants]]: Surprisingly averted; Tiana's dress visibly doesn't transform with her. Though, {{spoiler|when she changes back, the movie pulls [[The Little Mermaid|a King Triton]] by having her magically clad in lily pad clothing, and Naveen gets a lily pad-like suit upon turning human as well. While it would made for really funny anecdotes, Mama Odie wouldn't actually let them transform without clothes.}}

* [[Make a Wish]]: Like [[Pinocchio (Disney)|some other Disney flicks]], it focuses on wishing on a star; unlike other Disney flicks, it explicitly states that you have to work hard to get what you want, too, and it's left ambiguous as to whether wishing on a star really make wishes come true, or if it's just a coincidence. {{spoiler|Well, it is until the end; after Ray becomes a star, you get the impression Evangeline the wishing star is actually ''pretty'' powerful.}}

* [[The Man Behind the Man]]: {{spoiler|It's pretty clear that the Friends on the Other Side are the ''real'' power behind Facilier.}}

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Dr. Facilier pretty well.

* [[Marry for Love]]

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Dr. Facilier's name is a pun on the French word "''"facile''", for "easy", indicative of how he always offers the easy way out to his clients (or how he tries to take it for himself).

** It's probably not even a pun. ''Facilier'' is one letter away from ''faciliter'', the French verb meaning "to make something easier" or "facilitate". Maybe it just didn't have the same smoothness as ''facilier''.

** A short example just before the BLAM, combined with a great use of a [[Beat]] and a scene cut.

{{quote| '''Louis:''' It didn't end well.}}

* [[Morally Bankrupt Banker]]: Two of them.

* [[Motor Mouth]]: Ray.

* [[My Instincts Are Showing]]: While Naveen attempts to satisfy his Frog Form's taste for insects when he gets hungry, when Tiana tries to resist her own tongue rebels against her.

* [[Named After Somebody Famous]]: Louis is pretty obviously named after Louis Armstrong, and this is even [[Lampshaded]] when he mentions him first and foremost among the people he wants to surpass in the world of trumpet playing.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Facilier is more commonly known as "the Shadow Man".

* [[Never Recycle a Building]]: Tiana's father sets his sights on an abandoned mill as the place to set up the restaurant he dreams of starting. Not only was the mill empty for some time before he announces this, it remains empty for another ten years or so, while Tiana grows up and saves the money so she can buy the mill for the same purpose after her father dies. One of the things that kicks off the plot is that as soon as she tells the men selling the mill that she's able to afford it, she's informed that someone else just happened to outbid her on it. Given the warehouse's long-abandoned state and that the sellers are jerks, [[Fanon]] has taken to the notion that Tiana was simply lied to about the competition.

* [[Never Say Die]]: Averted. Tiana's mother mentions that Tiana's father died before he could see his dream of owning a restaurant come true. And of course there's {{spoiler|the onscreen death.}}

* [[No Except Yes]]:

{{quote| '''Mr. La Bouff:''' All right now, princess, you're gettin' that dress, but that's it. No more Mr. Pushover. Now who wants a puppy?}}

** and in [[Running Gag|Disney tradition]], Tiana and Naveen get Louis and Ray.

* [[No More for Me]]: The partygoer dressed as an octopus.

* [[Noodle People]]: Facilier definitely fits.

* [[Oh Crap]]: {{spoiler|Dr. Facilier, when his "friends" show up to demand payment... after their talisman gets broken. The way they surround him makes it ''very'' clear what the price they demand is, and it isn't long before they get it.}}

** You just ''know'' you're in trouble when your [[Villain Song]] gets a [[Dark Reprise]]. Just take a look at {{spoiler|Facilier's}} face at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zby1aPIl3Qs&feature=related the 24-second mark]. {{spoiler|Even though he was going to offer the city as a buffet to his "friends", you still feel pity for what's about to happen.}}

* [[Only Known By Their Nickname]]: Dr. Facilier's name is only said once (by himself) in the movie. The other characters refer to him as "The Shadow Man". Tiana even calls him it to his face once.

* [[Opera Gloves]]

'''Ray:''' Oh, she's fine. Got in a little trouble for [[Incredibly Lame Pun|flashing]] the neighbors again! }}

* [[Picture Perfect Presentation]]: The "Down in New Orleans" number introducing the main characters has several, newspaper photographs turning from black and white to color and coming to life.

* [[Princesses Prefer Pink]]: Invoked and averted. Charlotte wants to be a princess, so she favors pink, due to this trope. Tiana favors green and blue when she becomes an actual princess.

* [[Plucky Girl]]: Tiana

* [[The Power of Blood]]: See [[Blood Magic]].

** When {{spoiler|Tiana ''does'' destroy the talisman}}, we get to see that Facilier had some damn good reasons to be so protective of it.

* [[Purple Eyes]]: Dr. Facilier. They match his belly shirt.

{{quote| '''Dr. Facilier:''' Don't you disrespect me little man! / Don't you derogate or deride!}}

* {{spoiler|[[Really Dead Montage]]}}: {{spoiler|Ray gets a funeral fit for a firefly king.}}

* [[Red Eyes Take Warning]]: ''Subverted'' with Juju the snake. Facilier has [[Purple Eyes]]. Played with. Ray's eyes don't turn red when he's enraged, but his firefly butt does.

* [[Rhyming With Itself]]: The song ''When We're Human'' rhymes "right" (as in "my right arm") with "right" (as in "correct").

* [[Rich Bitch]]: Charlotte is a refreshing subversion. Though she had a privileged and spoiled upbringing, she's actually a nice person. See [[Spoiled Sweet]] below.

* [[Road Trip Romance]]: The traditional gender role are reversed, with Tiana having the experience and skills to guide on the journey, while the Naveen more or less tags along. The end result is the same. Disney used this plot again in [[Tangled (Disney)|their following animated feature.]]

* [[The Roaring Twenties]]: According to the newspaper Big Daddy reads during "Down in New Orleans", it's 1926. The date is a left ambiguous: the front of his newspaper says "Friday, April 25, 1926" (actually a Sunday), the back says "Friday, July 16, 1926", and ''none'' of the real events the headlines are referring to (including Mardi Gras) actually took place on either of those dates.

* [[Shown Their Work]]: Disney chief John Lasseter, the Pixar head whose brainchild it was to bring back 2D animation, insisted on setting the film in New Orleans. When he found out Disney Renaissance directors Clements and Musker had never been to [[The Big Easy]], he paid them to visit the post-Katrina city three times. Their research strongly influenced the plot as well as the look: Tiana's character was based on a person they met who dreamed of opening a restaurant.

** Clements and Musker researched voodoo for the movie. However, they insisted on [[The Scottish Trope|not using actual voodoo symbols, only fake ones]] for fear of conjuring spirits (or angering actual voodoo practitioners).

* [[Shrinking Violet]]: Ray thinks Evangeline is one of these.

* [[Simpleton Voice]]: Although Darnell (the big frog hunter) talks like this, his vocabulary is surprisingly more expansive than that of his father and brother, with the use of words such as "insolence" and "suspicious".

** Y'know, unless you actually [[Trope Overdose|read everything before making it down this far.]]

* [[True Blue Femininity]]: Tiana is given a blue dress by Charlotte. This convinces Naveen that she might be a princess to break his curse.

* [[The Unfought]]: {{spoiler|The "Friends On the Other Side". Arguably justified in that, once they got what they wanted (Facilier's soul), they had no more reason to harass the heroes.}}

* [[The Unintelligible]]: Two-Fingers, one of the frog-hunting rednecks, speaks with mumbles and grunts. Darnell and Pa have no trouble understanding him, though. In some scenes, he's only speaking very quietly rather than unintelligibly.

* [[Voices Are Mental]]: Averted, though in an odd way. {{spoiler|When Lawrence is impersonating Prince Naveen, his voice is noticeably higher than his normal one. This makes sense, as Lawrence speaks with a very different accent from Naveen.}}

* [[Warts and All]]: Naveen to Lawrence. Boy, does he regret it. {{spoiler|Amusingly, Naveen asks Tiana if she loves him, "warts and all", making it more literal than figurative "warts and all"}}

* [[With Friends Like These]]: Pardon the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|pun]], but {{spoiler|Facilier's "friends" from the other side promptly take his soul once he defaults on his loan.}}

* [[With This Ring]]: {{spoiler|Naveen, on realizing he's fallen in love with Tiana, fashions a ring for her out of champagne cork wire and a Mardi Gras bead.}}

* [[When the Clock Strikes Twelve]]: Rare example of midnight being correctly signaled by the ''start'' of the clock's strokes rather than the end.

* [[White Mask of Doom]]: Voodoo witch doctor Dr. Facilier.

* [[The White Prince]]: Prince Naveen, who admits to Tiana that he was rather terrified when {{spoiler|his parents cut him off financially}} because he never actually learned to ''do'' anything besides being a [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]].

** Also Why Did It Have To Be Frogs. Tiana is afraid of frogs, making it very awkward that she has to kiss one and then ''be'' one.

* [[You Go Girl]]: Basically the plot of the movie outside the [[Baleful Polymorph]] conflict.

[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]

[[Category:The Princess And The Frog]]