For as controversial a film as The Princess and the Frog is, as it is Disney's first film with an African American princess, it makes sense that much of the response has been negative. Among these is Richard Breaux who examines the topics of race and gender in his essay "After 75 Years of Magic: Disney Answers Its Critics, Rewrites African American History, and Cashes In on Its Racist Past." Given the title, it isn't hard to see that Breaux comes down quite hard on the Disney Company. According to him, while the film does represent Disney's attempt to be more progressive, by being less racist and having more positive role models, it is done through Disney's selfish motives that is coupled with a lack of refinement. He states that Disney fails to acknowledge its racist past in the film, thereby presenting itself as a politically correct company.
The organization structure employed by Breaux makes for a strong, logical argument. He introduces his thesis early on and quickly mentions his road map for the essay with three distinct sections to the paper: (1) Disney's attempt to address complaints about its lack of diversity in previous films; (2) representations of animated black women in film; and (3) Disney's profit-driven attempt to ignore its racist past in The Princess and the Frog. Each section includes an easily apparent subheading followed by strong mini-theses. This attention to detail likely represents the highlight of the paper.
Even with the good organization and logical argument, Breaux nevertheless had me scratching my head and some points in his paper. Mainly his rambling and getting off topic proved especially problematic. He goes into a deep historical explanation of the NAACP's reaction to A birth of a Nation, for example, has an oddly deep analysis of the bottles in Mama Odie's house, and, most strangely, shows great enthusiasm in comparing the film to Our Friend, Martin, which has no apparent relevancy at all.
The essay definitely had its good qualities, but was ultimately marred by a lack of focus.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Sarah Turner Response
As The Princess and the Frog represents Disney's first movie that has a black princess, there has obviously been much debate surrounding the film. Some believe Tiana, the princess, isn't black enough while others believe the movie is too black. This argument has gained much academic attention, including by Sarah Turner who in her essay "Blackness, Bayous, and Gumbo: Encoding and Decoding Race in a Colorblind World" examines the role of race in the film.
For Turner, it becomes apparent that she believes Disney considers The Princess and the Frog a truly colorblind film. She cites a number of instances in Disney being especially careful in regards to race. For example, it hired correspondences to watch and critique the film (which actually ended up in the naming of the princess's name from Maddie to Tiana), included prominent African Americans in the film (such as Oprah Winfrey), and had a relative lack of race in the actual plot line. While Turner considers this "coding" of the movie to be inconspicuous enough, the decoding by the audience poses another side of the argument, which she asserts is not as overwhelmingly colorblind and positive.
Turner cites a number of instances in the film where race could and has been considered to be a prominent factor by the audience. These include the antithesis of Charlotte, the typical white princess characteristic of most Disney films, with Tiana, Tiana's job as a waiter in a generally black restaurant, the ambiguous ethnicity of Naveen, and the idea of if being frogs marginalizing "blackness." All these assertions definitely express the concerns many people have shown towards the film.
Nevertheless, although she never explicitly states it, Turner seems to believe in Disney's intentions of creating a colorblind, inspirational story, even if their ultimate goal is to make as big a profit as possible. Through an overall logical argument, inclusion of relevant evidence, and the usage of outside opinions and perspective, this assertion becomes especially strong for Turner.
For Turner, it becomes apparent that she believes Disney considers The Princess and the Frog a truly colorblind film. She cites a number of instances in Disney being especially careful in regards to race. For example, it hired correspondences to watch and critique the film (which actually ended up in the naming of the princess's name from Maddie to Tiana), included prominent African Americans in the film (such as Oprah Winfrey), and had a relative lack of race in the actual plot line. While Turner considers this "coding" of the movie to be inconspicuous enough, the decoding by the audience poses another side of the argument, which she asserts is not as overwhelmingly colorblind and positive.
Turner cites a number of instances in the film where race could and has been considered to be a prominent factor by the audience. These include the antithesis of Charlotte, the typical white princess characteristic of most Disney films, with Tiana, Tiana's job as a waiter in a generally black restaurant, the ambiguous ethnicity of Naveen, and the idea of if being frogs marginalizing "blackness." All these assertions definitely express the concerns many people have shown towards the film.
Nevertheless, although she never explicitly states it, Turner seems to believe in Disney's intentions of creating a colorblind, inspirational story, even if their ultimate goal is to make as big a profit as possible. Through an overall logical argument, inclusion of relevant evidence, and the usage of outside opinions and perspective, this assertion becomes especially strong for Turner.
Live-Action Mulan
I read an article online that confirmed Disney will be making a live-action version of the 1998 hit Mulan. Although there has not been a decided-upon release date or any casting announcements, the script Disney ordered for the film has Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star Ming-Na Wen voicing the titular role. This live-action film has become a common trend for Disney who is currently enjoying the success of its remade Cinderella which has grossed nearly $350 million world-wide since its release last month. Additionally, Disney also has a live-action Beauty and the Beast in the makings which will feature Emma Watson and will debut in 2017, while another Alice in Wonderland is set for 2016. A new The Jungle Book is also set to come out in 2016, and a live-action Dumbo directed by Tim Burton is said to be being made right now.
The Princess and the Frog
Although The Princess and the Frog came out in 2009, this past week was the first time I had seen the film. Known Disney's introduction into having a black princess, the movie was immediately shrouded in controversy. Some thought the princess, Tiana, wasn't black enough while others though she was too black. Since its release nearly six years ago, more debate has surged with reviews, articles, and even entire books questioning the role race plays in the movie.
Obviously this aspect of race is vital to the discussion of The Princess and the Frog, however putting this issue aside, the movie just felt different than all the other Disney movies I've watched before. Maybe its because this was my first time seeing it, eliminating the possibility of having any nostalgia for film, or maybe it was the movie itself, but everything seemed flat and predictable. Don't get me wrong; I'm no idiot - all Disney movies are predictable for the most part - but it seemed like I could've written the script after everything was introduced in the first five minutes. Although hard-working and positive, Tiana, although the most charismatic character, still was a relatively static character. And even though Navine has a minor epiphany, he still is boring.
This isn't to say the movie was all bad. I really did appreciate Disney's attempt at giving the movie an actual setting, 1930s New Orleans, which is something that isn't characteristic of most of its films. I found that playing off this provided some of the most intriguing parts of the film. Although some people consider some of these parts to add to the race controversy, I thought it added a more genuine sense to the movie, such as the inclusion of Raymond, Louis, and Mama Odie.
All in all, The Princess and the Frog was good, but definitely not great.
Obviously this aspect of race is vital to the discussion of The Princess and the Frog, however putting this issue aside, the movie just felt different than all the other Disney movies I've watched before. Maybe its because this was my first time seeing it, eliminating the possibility of having any nostalgia for film, or maybe it was the movie itself, but everything seemed flat and predictable. Don't get me wrong; I'm no idiot - all Disney movies are predictable for the most part - but it seemed like I could've written the script after everything was introduced in the first five minutes. Although hard-working and positive, Tiana, although the most charismatic character, still was a relatively static character. And even though Navine has a minor epiphany, he still is boring.
This isn't to say the movie was all bad. I really did appreciate Disney's attempt at giving the movie an actual setting, 1930s New Orleans, which is something that isn't characteristic of most of its films. I found that playing off this provided some of the most intriguing parts of the film. Although some people consider some of these parts to add to the race controversy, I thought it added a more genuine sense to the movie, such as the inclusion of Raymond, Louis, and Mama Odie.
All in all, The Princess and the Frog was good, but definitely not great.
Disney Endings
I know we've read a couple of the original stories some Disney movies were based on and discussed how dark some of them were. I came across this on the Internet the past week and thought it was appropriate.
Colorscripts
While I was doing research for my final essay, I came across this really cool book called “The Art of Pixar: The Complete Colorscripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation” by Amid Amidi. The book contains no commentary, it simply presents the colorscripts (drawings that set the color, lighting, emotion, and overall design of a movie) of all 12 Pixar films. It was interesting to see how the art styles in each of the movies differed. The Incredibles, my movie for the essays, was especially different, with sharp, blocky images that resembled a comic book. I'll put an image of the colorscripts below but I'd definitely recommend picking up the book at the library and taking a look for yourself.
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