EXCLUSIVE: Disney's The Princess and the Frog Directors Address Racial Concerns
Disney's The Princess and the Frog marks the studio's long-overdue return to hand-drawn animation, and those hands belong to Ron Clements and John Musker -- two animation veterans responsible for later-era classics like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. From the beginning, Disney proudly trumpeted that Frog would feature their first African-American princess with Tiana, a gesture that would go a small way towards righting the wrongs of all the yarn-spinning uncles, jive-talking crows and Neverland savages that came before her.
But as scenes trickled out, there were murmurs of concern. Princess Tiana would be paired with Prince Naveen -- a royal of seemingly South American lineage, voiced by Brazilian-born actor Bruno Campos -- raising eyebrows and ire among a segment of the African-American blogosphere. Then we were introduced to Mama Odie -- a blind, swamp-dwelling voodoo witch doctor. Dated caricature? Lovable sidekick? Both?
Movieline had an opportunity to talk to Clements and Musker today at a series of Disney Animation roundtable interviews at Comic-Con. Both are chipper, unassuming men with a cute tendency of finishing each other's sentences. Telling us the film is close to finished -- just digital coloring is all that's left in the animation process -- we then broached concerns over its minority representations. Here is what they said:
MOVIELINE: Have you heard any of the race-related criticisms about The Princess and the Frog, that Disney's first African-American princess has not been paired with an African-American prince, and that Mama Odie comes across like a stereotype? How do you react to that?
RON CLEMENTS: The first thing is that all the criticism of the movie has been from people who have not seen the movie, who don't know the context of the movie, who don't know the story. From the very beginning, when the project was first announced, there have been these issues. From the very beginning I think we wanted to be certainly as sensitive as possible with what we were doing. I mean, really early on it was clear that this was a major, major thing.
So we did a lot of consulting, and our co-writer on the film Rob Edwards was African-American, and we talked to many African-Americans. We took them through the story, we showed them things, and we've since previewed the movie. The reaction we've gotten from everyone who's actually seen the movie, and knows the story, has been very, very positive, and that's been very encouraging to us. We've gotten notes and we've addressed some things, but I say overall people who know the context of the movie --
JOHN MUSKER: And that includes multiracial audiences -- African-American and otherwise. And in fact the numbers coming out of our preview are high across the board -- it didn't matter.
MOVIELINE: You have Oprah Winfrey's stamp of approval.
RC: Oprah's a character, and she does a great job. Terrence Howard did a great job. So it's been kind of tough for us, and the Internet is at a place where it wasn't necessarily a few years ago. Speculation tends to run rampant, but the only thing I can say is that if people have concerns, just see the movie and I think a lot of the concerns will go away.
The issue with the Prince, the Prince is not African-American, and he's not white. He's played by a Brazilian actor and he's definitely a person of color. Again, it's the context of the movie, and the context of the story -- that's very important in terms of how the story works, and how things sort of work out...
When people will see the movie, the reasons for things will be more clear. Not that there won't be issues. I'm sure many people will have issues, but we feel good about the movie, and I think we feel that it works for all audiences the way we hoped it would. Because certainly you don't want to do this kind of movie and have it divide people. You want to bring people together. That's always been the intention. ♦
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Comments
Get a life people...it is a MOVIE...for KIDS, the only racial preconceptions here are the ones you bring to the theater with you...show some self esteem and stop labeling yourself as a member of a group, stop looking for slights every chance you get...you'll live longer, and people will like you better.
I am so pleased that such a project is being done, and I look forward to allowing my daughter, nephews and nieces to view the film once it comes out. I hope that it will show Black people in a positive light in which they should be shown. It's true that there are many Black Princesses that did exist and still do, as well as, Black Queens. So I am proud to be a supporter, please allow me to come to a premier if at all possible. Thank you kindly and God bless you.
Pastor Clyde S. King
Someone please inform Clements and Musker that Brazilians ARE "white." We are caucasian, and no different from other Mediterranean-origined people such as the Greeks, the Italians, and the Spanish, all of whom are racially "white."
I get annoyed at liberals, in the name of "diversity", creating bogus "races" out of anyone who does not have blue eyes and blonde hair.
As a person with dual cultural identity, certainly I felt
compelled to respond to this article. The days of
people's grunts and complaints over racial sensitivity
may not ever come to an end. We know this.
Particularly for Black Americans and Indigenous Peoples
of the Western Hemisphere. Anyone complaining on the
union of Princess Tiana and her Brazilian significant other,
need to do a thorough research of the long standing relationship
between Africans and Brazilians. The country of Brazil alone
has always been a haven for dual cultural identities.
Most notably, Brazilian people that are both African and Brazilian.
Any time there is a dual cultural identity that exist, anywhere in
this world, it can be traced back to the ills of slavery.
Black African people were sent throughout every part of this world
during the Passage. Know your History.
There are also Brazilians that are "black" not every Brazilian looks like Giselle!
we talked to many African-Americans
Heeeeey, if some random black people said it's okay, it MUST be true!
And while it is certainly true that there are Brazilians of color - many Afro-Brazilian - there's nothing we've seen so far to suggest that this prince is a man of color. Let me put it like this: what race is the actor during a "random" police stop?
The problem is they never wanted to use a authentic creative story developed outside of the Disney machine. When I talk among my family and friends, they always comment about how all the other major princess's had there same race prince. Black people, believe it or not believe we come from a proud lineage of African Kings and Queens. When Disney decided not to use a Black King or Prince, they dropped the ball. Remember Coming to America. Tyler Perry, and the late Robert Johnson (Ebony & Jet) realized when others ignore your black prospective, we will have to do it ourselves.
You can definitely see your expertise within the work you write. The sector hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren't afraid to mention how they believe. At all times go after your heart.
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