Critical reviews for Disney’s The Princess And The Frog have already started to trickle in and they are mostly positive. There are a couple of beefs I had with this movie once I knew the storyline, mainly that Disney re-purposed a fairytale from the Grimm tradition instead of using a story from Black or African folklore. The other issue I had was the prince, once I saw him. My first reaction was that he was not Black (that instinct was correct) and would it be too much for Disney to depict two Black main characters in a romance?
Now neither of those things bother me, since I’m a sucker for classic Disney animation and fully intend to see this movie, in spite of the fact that I strongly dislike children and dislike children in movie theaters even more. Let me repeat, I do not have a problem with the prince not being Black. Tiana and Prince Naveen both spend the majority of the film as frogs anyway, and this device within the narrative allows them to appreciate each other in the absence of race. Hopefully that aspect of the story resonates with people and teaches kids (and adults) a valuable lesson.