The Princess and the Frong

[SemiCharmedQuark]

I ran out to see this on Friday because I've been a Disney nerd since 1989 when I saw the Little Mermaid. And I LOVED it. I wish she'd been one of the princesses who debuted when I was a kid. Belle was cool, but Tiana is cooler. Smart girl, hard worker, doesn't take shit from anybody and the prince has to give up HIS dream to be with her, not 'tother way around. I'm sorry that she spends about 1/2 the movie in frog form, but better half the movie in frog form than the whole movie in spoiled brat idiot form (ARIEL! AURORA! SNOW WHITE! I'm looking in your direction).

BUT! a couple things...

First, the theater was mostly empty and almost everyone in there was African American. Every other Disney cartoon I've seen has been jammed packed with kids. Maybe it was a bad time of day? Maybe a bad theater? Or maybe people aren't ready to have their kids root for a black lead character? I hope it's not the latter.

But the good news: The smiles on those kids faces was so cool to see. I remember desperately wanting a Disney heroine that looked like me when I was a kid and not having one. The closest they ever got was Belle with her light brown hair and light brown eyes (And apparently even THAT was too much because for the Belle dolls and toys her eyes are changed to green.)

Anyway, today I was grocery shopping and I saw a lovely little blonde girl with a Tiana shirt on. It surprised me more than I would have thought--I guess I'm so used to the standard of white characters gracing everything. I'm so happy that for ONCE, in a movie meant to appeal to wide audiences, the minority is not a comedic sidekick, a villain, a stock character, a best friend...but the actual main character. I almost got a little teary.

We've gone from this:



to this:

[Number23]

1. What a sweet story. I am praying that this makes its way to Australia

This will be my precious baby's (aged 3) first movie. Most definitely. :)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. It's such a small thing, but...

When I was a kid, there was Barbie and then Barbies loser minority friends "Teresa" (for us) and "Christie" (for African Americans). Teresa had blue or grey eyes when I was a kid! What the shit was that!? 99% of us have dumpy brown/black hair (that is usually thick, course and/or curly) and brown eyes.

Look at this bullshit!



It's Barbie in a freaking WIG!

Kids aren't stupid. Even at 6 I could tell that "Hispanic" Teresa was an afterthought.

But I was at the store the other day, and now the Tiana doll stands alone. Actually, it's arranged front and center with all the other Disney Princess Dolls around her. Someone on Deviant Art snapped a picture.



And yeah...race shouldn't matter, etc. etc. etc. But that's not reality. The reality is that minorities have always been sidekicks, villains, comic relief, friends, or if they do manage to snag a leading role, they have to be surrounded by a cast that is almost exclusively white(See Will Smith movies), lest the movie get the kiss of death -the "ethnic" label.

[Number23]

4. Oh, I can definitely understand your frustration with "Theresa"

For the life of me, I will never understand why so darn many black/Asian/Hispanic dolls have to have green or blue eyes. Black dolls tend to have flowing waist-length hair too.

I understand that there are plenty of black people with blue and green eyes but it's really amazing how prevalent that trait is amongst dolls. It's like the idea of us having traditionally black features (brown skin, dark hair and eyes) is just not quite good enough.

But then again, you look at those Bratz dolls and EVERY one of them has stereotypical "black" features (the shape of the lips and eyes) even if they're blue-eyed and blonde!
The doll industry is obviously full of weirdos. :)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. Also, they always show her dressed like a Princess, but she actually spends most of the movie like

this:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3809135/the_princess_and_the_frog_almost_there/

[Number23]

5. OMG! Semicharmed, I just saw an ad! It's coming Down Under January 1!!

:bounce:

My baby's first movie! :bounce: I think I'm more excited than she'll be!! lol

[Kind of Blue]

6. Yeah, that was my original beef about the movie. n/t

[Kind of Blue]

7. "I hope it's not the latter." It just might be the former as

far as attendance. I heard that it's Number 1 at the box office.
I just hope the next African American Disney character will remain a human being for the whole movie.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. i wish i had a child to take to this. i have been wanting to see it

but its a little creepy for me to go by myself.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. LOL! I'm 26...

:blush:

[Karenina]

10. When I arrived at the theater

The ORDNUNGSAMT was there in their black jackets. I asked the ticket-taker if they came because the princess was black. She assured me that was NOT the case. I bought popcorn and had nearly devoured half of it when she came in to announce "technical difficulties" which would require our patience, I asked if the ORDNUNGSAMT had anything to do with it. She assured us that was NOT the case. 20 minutes later we were all given our price of entry back, plus comps to return as the first half of their print had somehow met a premature death. As I had already chatted up the audience about having waited 50 YEARS to see a BLACK DISNEY PRINCESS, my claims of "ordnung" and suspicions of the ORDNUNGSAMT were properly understood. Hilarity ensued. :rofl: Tomorrow is another day.

[noiretextatique]

14. jesus fng christ

a black woman as a princess is a problem...everywhere :eyes:

[Karenina]

19. Particularly IRL!!!

I just wanted everyone in that theater to know I'd been waiting for a black Disney princess for a HALF A FUCKIN' CENTURY!!! They all "got" my goofy little improvisation and wordplay. I LOVE THIS TOWN!

So Tuesday I picked up Sophie (9) and we headed out for her first Englisch film. It was harder than I'd imagined to figure out when I needed to translate for her as the pictures were so intense but in large part self-explanatory. However, she was able to tell me when she felt she'd missed a part of the story line and had me fill in further details on the way back home. What was really funny was my inability to understand even a third of Ray's lines!
I am SO looking forward to watching it with her dubbed in her mother-tongue. She quite enjoyed the Disney TM spectacle of it all.

So did I!

During the obligatory tragic moment I had Bambi flashbacks. (I was 5-6 when I saw it. My mother told me I'd been quite out-of-sorts afterward, intermittently clutching onto her leg like a growth for weeks.) The rec says 6. Tante K. says 8. If your 6-7 year-olds tend to be angst-prone, this is not a film for them. Too many chase scenes.

I went to see it again today. My verdict is this is a spectacularly beautiful Disney TM film. I LOVE IT.
And ya know what? I just might go see it again tomorrow. The BIG SCREEN is another dimension. It would be so cool to be able to see Fantasia on a big screen again right about this time in my life...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gZbMOq_Ge8

At 18 I watched it tripping on acid. At 21 I played "Rite of Spring" under the direction of Alfred Wallenstein at Alice Tully Hall. What a l-o-n-g STRANGE trip it's been da dodi-i di dadada...

[noiretextatique]

11. my friend's husband is the screenwriter

i'm so happy this movie is a success for them.

[Number23]

12. Congrats to your friend! That's fantastic. But now that I think about it

have you or anyone here actually seen the movie yet?? Can you let me know if it might be too scary for a three year old??

She's been to a few concerts (we just hit The Wiggles Big, Big Show! a few weeks ago) but has never been to a movie. If there are any scary bits or something, I'd love a heads up. Thanks! :hi:

[noiretextatique]

13. ii am going to see tomorrow

so i will let you know. so far, my friend is saying that 40 yo black women approaching her husband, in tears because of seeing their image on the big screen, not as whores or junkies. :cry:

[Number23]

17. That is so sweet and so terribly sad all at the same time.

I'm sad now because it looks like I won't be taking my munchkin to go see it after all. I'll buy it on DVD and show it to her when she's 5 or 6 but it won't be the same, you know?? :(

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. I think it might be a little scary for a three year old...

The parts with voodoo shadows are a little creepy.

I dont know...I'm a wuss. My first movie was "The Boy Who Could Fly" and apparently I broke into tears because I thought the boy couldn't fly.

[Number23]

16. *sigh* Well it looks like you may be right

According to commonsensemedia:

"But while the movie is kid-friendly on the whole, the villain and his shadowy spirit henchmen can be quite scary, and one important character does die, which makes it a little too intense for the youngest viewers."

They rated it aged 6 and up. http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/princess-and-frog :(

I'm a big ol' wuss my damn self. That's why I was wondering about the "intensity" level of this movie. I still have nightmares about a movie called "The Mouse and his Child" that I saw many, many years ago. Apparently the mouse beat his kid so bad and it upset me so much that my mother had to carry me out of the theater. Who needs the boogey man when you've got children's theater?? :)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

20. Oh man! When we were kids, animation was scary as hell!

Did you ever seen Watership Down? Secret of Nymh? Those films scared the living crap out of me when I saw them the first time.

"Awww, a cute little girl bunny! I love her OHMYGODTHEBIRDJUSTATEHERISSHEEVERCOMINGBACK?!??!"

[Karenina]

18. Leave Babykins at home.

Visually, it's too much.

[FrenchieCat]

21. My 19 year old saw it twice already! She's in love.

The 2nd time around, she took the 22 year old who is visiting for the holidays,
and She loved it too!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

22. I'm going to go see it again this weekend. I have no desire to see Avatar and when I saw it the

first time, there were "technical problems" so we were given free passes.

[Karenina]

23. I saw it for the THIRD time tonight!!!

When are y'all gonna start reporting back??? :bounce:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

24. I wanted to see it again...but my hubby wanted to see Avatar

x(

[Karenina]

25. So WHEN are we gonna TALK ABOUT IT???

:bounce::bounce::bounce:

I see from your pic above that after buying the doll I'll need to REMAKE the damn dress! :eyes:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

26. They totally cheaped out on the dress. If they were going to do that, the should have just gone

with the blue dress.

[Karenina]

29. BUT she was just a make-pretend princess then!

And cheaping that one down would have been even worse!!!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

30. LOL

What about the princess wedding dress?

[Karenina]

31. THAT one is all about

Choice of fabrics, shade/hue AND ACCESSORIES. I'll have to consult Sky. She's all up in the B-stuff biz. That shit for sale is nassycheesy and a backtrack from the movie's message. Folks get paid good money to make all kind of bekloppt decisions...

Never mind. We'll make her a proper gown representative of that in the OP.

[Number23]

27. DON'T TALK ABOUT IT UNTIL AFTER I'VE SEEN IT!!!

It's not coming even here until 1 January!! :banghead:

If I promise to go see it on opening day/night, will you wait until then to really talk about it??

[Karenina]

28. OK, OK, Oka-a-ay!

:loveya: