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Abstract
A sense of inevitability seems to pervade this discourse, not only ("finally") in the making of the film but also in the way it has been made, not only in terms of its content (featuring an ostensibly black princess) but also its form; yet the 'perfect fit' of the animated medium (and that, too, in twodimensional 'vintage' Disney style) to this story belies the problematic confluence of form and content.1 While human-to-animal/hybrid transformations have previously appeared in works of theatre and film-think, for instance, of Nick Bottom in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream-they have also historically tended to be associated with errancy and/or foolhardiness.2 When (human) characters become animals it is seen as reflecting some character flaw-think, for instance, of Pinocchio and his friends becoming donkeys, or of Beast, and the reason he is a beast-man, i.e., bestial. While the "seemingly celebratory ending scene" features Tiana and Naveen (again, as in the beginning, in human form) whirling about in beautiful clothing, this final fantasy image "betrays the film's geopolitical limitations" (Seshagiri 2003:193), themselves invoked at the outset in a paradoxical attempt by Disney to invoke an air of "authenticity." [...]while Tiana now has her own "place," one not only wonders where that place is but how it has been attained. In this silent performance, then, one can trace the mutually recognized-and respected-color line, by both the white driver and the other white passenger who sits in the front, and Tiana, her mother and the other black passenger, seated behind. 9 While we do not actually see Tiana's father enlist, his subsequent photo in a WWI uniform, on Tiana's chest of drawers, along with his subsequent absence, leads one to infer that he participated and died in this war. 10 Most predominant among these troubling connotations would be that of David Duke, white nationalist and former Grand Wizard of the KKK, as well as a former Republican state representative in Louisiana, who advocates voluntary racial segregation and white separatism. 11 Tiana, who since a young age has professed a disgust towards the act of kissing a frog, is only convinced to do so when Prince Naveen (as frog) offers her "some type of reward" in return, noting his (alleged) financial assets and her own desire to open a restaurant, a dream she lacks the capital to fully finance. 12 This is the only reference-albeit oblique-to Tiana's race in the movie. Needless to say, Naveen's (ambiguous) racial identity has also created somewhat of a stir, with some, such as Angela Bronner Helm, writing for Black Voices, an AOL website dedicated to African American culture, claiming that "Disney obviously doesn't think a black man is worthy of the title of prince," that Naveen's "hair and features are decidedly non-black," and that "this has left many in the community shaking their head [sic] in befuddlement and even rage."