Why do people hate Princess and the Frog so much?

[Disney's Divinity]

There was a lot of executive interference on TP&TF. The title used to be “The Frog Princess” and the story was about a girl named Maddie and her mother who were maids to Charlotte’s family (and Charlotte was a spoiled brat in that early version, not Maddie's friend). A lot changed, and I don't believe those were organic changes. I wish M&C had been left alone to do their thing on TP&TF, but I do love Tiana and her story in the finished product (I also love Tiana and Charlotte's friendship, which wasn't a part of the story as it was early on). The only thing I don’t really care for about TP&TF are some of the swamp scenes--and the music could be much better, ofc.

I still wish the title had remained The Frog Princess; that's much less of a mouthful and better advertises the plot, imo. Partly I think they were scared of calling the first black princess the "frog" princess, but I believe they also changed the title in part to connect the film to the Disney Princess brand as much as possible, too, which backfired (and that's why Tangled/Frozen [early trailers anyway]/Moana downplayed the heroines and the music while overemphasizing the action/male characters when they were being advertised). Although I'm really happy that Anika Noni Rose voiced Tiana and not Beyonce/JHUD (who were competing for the role), I wonder if the film might've attracted more interest--especially among children--if Beyonce had been involved?

[DisneyBluLife]

I still wish the title had remained The Frog Princess; that's much less of a mouthful and better advertises the plot, imo. Partly I think they were scared of calling the first black princess the "frog" princess, but I believe they also changed the title in part to connect the film to the Disney Princess brand as much as possible, too, which backfired (and that's why Tangled/Frozen [early trailers anyway]/Moana downplayed the heroines and the music while overemphasizing the action/male characters when they were being advertised). Although I'm really happy that Anika Noni Rose voiced Tiana and not Beyonce/JHUD (who were competing for the role), I wonder if the film might've attracted more interest--especially among children--if Beyonce had been involved?

Yeah, I like both "The Frog princess" and "The Princess and the frog
I would have liked these titles:
Disney's The frog in New Orleans
Disney's The bayou princess
Disney's The frog kiss

[Farerb]

I think using the word Princess is irrelevant to the film since Tiana only becomes a princess at the end. I think the most accurate title would have been The Frog Prince, but I think Disney is affraid to use the word Prince more than the word Princess.

[Disney's Divinity]

Well, there’s several reasons I don’t agree with that. The film centers on Tiana and she does marry the ‘frog’ prince at the end of the story, becoming a princess. The end of Facilier’s curse also hinges on the fact she becomes a princess. Moreover, the film is based on The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker.

[Disney Duster]

I think Tangled and Frozen are better. If I have to pick I think Frozen is better just because I like it better. I am more entertained by it. So I think now anyway.

I think The Princess and the Frog is a slightly better title than The Frog Princess simply because it's like calling the first black princess a frog princess and it feel negative.

I would think having the word princess in both titles means both titles marry it to the Disney Princess brand...? Maybe you mean not The Frog Princess because little girls don't want a "frog princess"...?

The breaking of Facilier's curse didn't hinge on Tiana becoming a frog at first, at first it was Charlotte becoming the Mardi Gras princess.

[JeanGreyForever]

I remember there was controversy on the title "The Frog Princess" because apparently the French were offended by it. To this day, I still haven't been able to figure out why the French felt insulted by this title.

I agree though that Musker and Clements should have been able to go with their version of the film. I think the storytelling would have been tighter and overall the film would have been better. It's no wonder that after this film, Disney stopped sharing so much information about their films so early on.

[Disney Duster]

Disney probably shared much information about the film on purpose to try and see how they should make it to offend the least.

I think the French thing was because the French have been called frogs my Americans in the past as a pejorative. Or maybe you already knew that and wonder why the French would associate that with the title?

[JeanGreyForever]

Wasn't it standard for Disney to release a lot of information on their upcoming films years before they would be released? I think TPATF was the last one to do this because Tangled was more heavily guarded.

I wasn't aware that the French had been called frogs in the past by Americans. Wonder why they got that nickname.

[DisneyBluLife]

Disney probably shared much information about the film on purpose to try and see how they should make it to offend the least.

I think the French thing was because the French have been called frogs my Americans in the past as a pejorative. Or maybe you already knew that and wonder why the French would associate that with the title?

If the movie was taking place in France (like if it was Beauty and the frog or The Aristofrogs) I would understand the controversy, but not why they would be angry with anything with "frog" in the title. Or maybe France has some of its history in New Orleans?

[thedisneyspirit]

Frog is an insult to the French due to their cuisine often involving frogs in their recipes, and the slur came from Americans (or other Europeans?) dismissing their food/culture due to it.

And yes, New Orleans had a large french influence! I think many French citizens immigrated to the city when the state was first being conceived. That led to the creole movement rising in New Orleans.

[Atlantica]

For me personally I don't connect too much to the animal movies that Disney produces. Therefore having her as a frog for more than half of it ( it feels like ), it just didn't hold the emotional connection for me.

The songs were just dire, and the score severely lacked Menken's magic touch.

I also feel the plot lost its way half way through; the swamp sections seem to go on forever. Though that could be me not enjoying it too much and it just felt like an age.

And Tiana herself feels quite hard work as a character. She has her moments for sure, and working hard for what she wants is a wonderful thing to portray in the movie. But after Mamma Odie's song 'Dig A Little Deeper' she still doesn't get the message its a moment for me where I really disconnect to the character. And I also don't believe her love story with Naveen.

How much of the plot changed when M&C had to make some changes ? Or was it the Maddie / being a maid that were the main elements ?

[thedisneyspirit]

The movie got a lot of criticisms from the start: that it whitewashed history, that portraying Tiana as a Mammy/Maddy being a maid was an outrage, that the prince shouldn't be X race cause either way would be offensive (hence why Naveen ends up being sorta racially ambiguous in the final product), that making a film set in New Orleans was an insult considering hurriance Katrina just happened...

I mean, some of the criticisms were valid, but it's no wonder the film ended up rather half-baked. You could see the scissor-marks all over it.

[Mooky]

The Princess and the Frog is probably in my Top 3 Disney films of the last 10 years and Tiana is an amazing character. Still, you can tell that the filmmakers/studio tried very hard not to step on anyone's toes leaving the final product somewhat banal and corny. One thing that really bothered me when I first watched it was the humor; it wasn't up to usual Disney or Musker and Clements standards. It was very mellow and unsophisticated and obviously aimed at really young children, the type of humor you'd find in a cheesy Disney rip-off from the '90s. In fact, it felt more like a Don Bluth film than a Disney one. There were no instances that would make me chuckle or laugh out loud like Belle/Beast exchanges, Meg's or Hades' sardonic quips, or even Cinderella's "Maybe I should interrupt the *music* lesson". The funniest line in the film was Charlotte's "I'm sweating like a sinner in church" and even that was more due to the delivery of the line.

I think the film was made at a wrong time, honestly. Had it come out in the '90s, on the heels of Mulan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and no special attention was drawn to Tiana’s race, it wouldn't heave been nowhere as scrutinized as it was 10 years ago. There were just too many cooks and risks and agendas and safeguards involved -- Disney's first black princess, Disney's return to hand-drawn animation, the use of New Orleans as the setting after the hurricane Katrina, cries about racism and tokenism, so it's no wonder they played it as safe as possible. The film was kind of doomed from the start because the expectations were through the roof and Disney didn't really help things by pretty much announcing and promoting the film as a "black princess" film first and foremost. Even with emphasis on that, the marketing was sub-par -- if you tout something as a landmark, you go all out advertising it to the masses. It wasn't even talked about on The Oprah Winfrey Show. End-credits song wasn't recorded by a superstar artist and didn’t receive much airplay. They used a visibly-bored John Lasseter of all people to speak about the film’s production. For all intents and purposes, the film ended up being just a vehicle for a new addition to the Princess line, and not something that was meant to stand on its own.

The title itself is a misnomer that doesn't even make sense within the context of the film -- Tiana's not a princess until the end. The film should have been called either The Frog Prince (meta reference should have been cut, and the film could have been Naveen's story as much as Tiana's, but I guess they didn't want to make their first black heroine a deuteragonist*) or Tiana and the Frog Prince and that would have made a huge difference. In fact, I think that or a similiar title was used in the Spanish-speaking countries.

One thing I've noticed is that Disney gives their non-white heroines a more serious personality than their Caucasian ones. That could be one of the reasons why they don’t really capture kids’ attention. But then that doesn’t explain Elsa’s popularity lol.

*That’s why I hate how Disney acts like Beauty and the Beast is just Belle’s story, when the Beast is the one who actually had more of a character development.

[Sotiris]

The title itself is a misnomer that doesn't even make sense within the context of the film -- Tiana's not a princess until the end. The film should have been called either The Frog Prince (meta reference should have been cut, and the film could have been Naveen's story as much as Tiana's, but I guess they didn't want to make their first black heroine a deuteragonist*) or Tiana and the Frog Prince and that would have made a huge difference.

I always believed they should have kept "The Frog Prince" as the title. It doesn't matter that the protagonist is Tiana instead of Naveen because in the Grimm fairy tale the lead was the princess and not the frog prince. So, they wouldn't need to change the lead to keep the original title.

But then that doesn’t explain Elsa’s popularity lol.

The fact that she has superpowers does! If she didn't she wouldn't be as nearly as popular.

[Farerb]

I think "The Frog Prince" is a good title. The titular character is not necessarily the protagonist as it can be seen in Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty and Coco.

I wanted to point out as well that I don't hate the film and I think people make it seem a lot worse than it is. I think it is enjoyable and has a lot of good elements in it. I think it is the second best film to come out from WDAS in 00's after The Emperor's New Groove.

[thedisneyspirit]

One thing I've noticed is that Disney gives their non-white heroines a more serious personality than their Caucasian ones. That could be one of the reasons why they don’t really capture kids’ attention. But then that doesn’t explain Elsa’s popularity lol.

Ah, I thought I was the only one who noticed it. Perhaps they do that as a way to not get criticism. The white princesses already often get scrutinized for being "bimbos", so I imagine an air-headed black princess would just be asking for trouble.

Elsa is something else I think. Most people like her for her relatability in terms of her anxiety rather than due to being serious. There's also the thing of the dress, the magical hair and powers, the song...Really easy marketable stuff that I think captures the kids' more than her quiet nature.

[Atlantica]

Ah gosh Mooky I forgot that line, "I'm sweating like a sinner in church !!' One of my absolute favourites in a Disney, one which I have been known to use in real life !

[DisneyFan09]

I just don't see the problems with the plot as everyone else does. Yes, the plot was overfilled, but I've never thought of it as hampering as the majority does. Frozen had a overfilled plot and nobody never calls it out for it.

Otherwise, I've never saw thought that TPAFT was exactly hated, just overlooked when the other Revival films saw the day of light. Yes, it had it's controversy, but it's not as it didn't have it's fanbase when it was released. TPAFT was cute enough, just not great. Besides, the critics for TPAFT were more favorable than those for Tangled.

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't think there's anything wrong with TP&TF's plot, at least in so far as the same problems with the forced roadtrip structure hampers all of the Disney movies released under Lasseter (including Tangled and Frozen) to varying degrees.

[JeanGreyForever]

The Frog Prince, not only would have been a more accurate title, but it also would likely have had less of a negative connotation than princess did with young male viewers.

Frog is an insult to the French due to their cuisine often involving frogs in their recipes, and the slur came from Americans (or other Europeans?) dismissing their food/culture due to it.

Ah, that makes more sense. I still didn't realize that frog was considered pejorative to the French though, but I suppose the New Orleans connection must have been too much.

One thing I've noticed is that Disney gives their non-white heroines a more serious personality than their Caucasian ones. That could be one of the reasons why they don’t really capture kids’ attention. But then that doesn’t explain Elsa’s popularity lol.

I don't think the non-white heroines are necessarily more serious as much as they just tend to be in more serious movies. Pocahontas is a very adventurous and spirited young woman at the start of her movie with a playful sense of humor that is reminiscent of Ariel. However, she's also a more somber person with a more subtle personality that reminds me of Walt's early princesses. This is why she gets so much flack for being boring, because she came on the tail of Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine, whereas a lot of her personality has more in common with Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora.