Disney’s The Princess and the Frog depicts the long awaited first African American princess in Disney’s mainstream filmmaking.  Many other racial groups have been represented thus far, there have been princesses of native american, asian, and even middle eastern descent throughout Disney’s history.   Reception of Princess and the Frog has been mixed, and the ongoing struggle with representing African Americans in mainstream media is obvious.  NPR explored this phenomenon and a controversial review written by Scott Foundas, entitled “Disney’s ‘Princess and the Frog’ Can’t Escape Ghetto.” Foundas says that “It seemed puzzling to me that after all of this pressure over many years from various groups to create an African-American princess, that when they finally got around to doing it they decided to put her in Jim Crow-era Louisiana, hardly a shining moment in the history of African-Americans in the U.S. in terms of their standing in society.”  Other comments reflect the disappointment in that Tiana is not actually a princess in the typical Disney manner, that her “prince” is very light-skinned, and that she seems to have straight hair.  But others, particularly African-American filmgoers, were delighted by this development and felt that it was the result of a long fought battle for representation in mainstream media for children.   A Disney store manager in Culver City teared up when the live version of “Princess Tiana” came to meet people and shake hands, saying “”I have worked for the Disney company for 16 years, and this is something that this community — and I can include myself — has been waiting on.”

There is no question that Disney and other mainstream film studios who market to children play a large role in the formation of our next generation’s ideals and values when it comes to race.    The Princess and the Frog is an important step toward broadening racial representation in children’s media, but still poses an important question about the manner in which African-Americans are depicted.