Who's going to see Disney's the Princess and the Frog

[frogboy4]

Thanks, I actually thought the trailer was sort of funny, hehe.

I is a good trailer, but it doesn't say much about the movie except how it looks and maybe the tone. I like the lightning bug. He kind of looks like Pepe but talks like Zippity-Zap!

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah I agree with you Drtooth, I've been reading about this movie for about a good year now, and I heard about how she was suppose to be a chambermaid and all, but people got upset, . That's lame, Snow White and Cinderella were chamber-maids as well. But be that as it may.

All I can say is, they complained that all the princesses were caucasian, and once they made an Amfrican American princess, they had to treat her with kid gloves. I mean, really? The Princesses all had some big struggle somehow or another... Cinderella and Snow White had abusive families, Belle was ostracized for being bookish, Pocahontas had to suffer major historical inaccuracies... And yes, most of the Princesses where white... why? because most of these fairy tales were European. The princesses only started showing signs of ethnicity when they moved away from Europe, and did Middle Eastern and Chinese stories. There are plenty of wonderful African tales that could have worked much, much better. I'd kill to see Disney do an Ananzi the Spider movie.

That said:

Disney's last 2D film was "Home on the Range" and it didn't do very well. I think they thought, well if a Disney 2D film didn't do well, than that means people don't want to see 2D films anymore, they just want CGI. Maybe Home on the Range was just a bad movie, which it was, very poorly written.

Pretty much the reason why they had to move back to princesses, isn't it? After a while, Disney was getting bemoaned by critics for doing princess movies, and once they moved out of it, they got berated for notdoing Princess films. I think that Lilo and Stitch was their only non-Princess hit. Atlantis didn't do too well, and the rest of them tanked...(Treasure Planet was a terrible idea). I still think Brother Bear is a billion times better than Pocahontas, though.

 

[CensoredAlso]

You know Charles Schultz once said he was afraid to do an African American character because he might not be able to do it right. Of course he eventually made Franklin. And of course it was often commented that he never did very much, heh.

But just like with the presidential election, I'm going to concentrate on whether the movie is good or not, rather than race.

 

[JJandJanice]

All I can say is, they complained that all the princesses were caucasian, and once they made an Amfrican American princess, they had to treat her with kid gloves. I mean, really? The Princesses all had some big struggle somehow or another... Cinderella and Snow White had abusive families, Belle was ostracized for being bookish, Pocahontas had to suffer major historical inaccuracies... And yes, most of the Princesses where white... why? because most of these fairy tales were European. The princesses only started showing signs of ethnicity when they moved away from Europe, and did Middle Eastern and Chinese stories. There are plenty of wonderful African tales that could have worked much, much better. I'd kill to see Disney do an Ananzi the Spider movie.

That said:


Pretty much the reason why they had to move back to princesses, isn't it? After a while, Disney was getting bemoaned by critics for doing princess movies, and once they moved out of it, they got berated for notdoing Princess films. I think that Lilo and Stitch was their only non-Princess hit. Atlantis didn't do too well, and the rest of them tanked...(Treasure Planet was a terrible idea). I still think Brother Bear is a billion times better than Pocahontas, though.

Excatly, that's how I felt, people should just think it's awesome that Disney now has Anfrican princess, but she's should get better treatment just for that reason alone. Curse this over P.C. world we live in now a days. That's also why we may never have Song of the South on DVD, I mean I understand that by today's standards that isn't PC, but come on, that movie is an animation milestone.

Oh and I agree Pocahontas is one of my least favorite Disney animated movies, I'll buy it something, just cause I want to collect all the original Disney animated films, but it will probably one of the DVDs I have that would just be sitting on my DVD rank collecting dust, lol.

 

[Drtooth]

Excatly, that's how I felt, people should just think it's awesome that Disney now has Anfrican princess, but she's should get better treatment just for that reason alone. Curse this over P.C. world we live in now a days. That's also why we may never have Song of the South on DVD, I mean I understand that by today's standards that isn't PC, but come on, that movie is an animation milestone.

May I also add that the US is pretty much the only country that concerns itself with being PC? Japan drew Africans like we did in the 40's for years. Well into the 90's at least. You know I'm a big Lucky Luke fan, right? There's an episode with very questionable Chinese caricatures... and it was made in 2000. Even the Canadian English dub was pretty brutal.

Not saying we should be that bad, mind you. I'd hate to see that. But give non-white non-males personality.

Oh and I agree Pocahontas is one of my least favorite Disney animated movies, I'll buy it something, just cause I want to collect all the original Disney animated films, but it will probably one of the DVDs I have that would just be sitting on my DVD rank collecting dust, lol.

Really. Ugh. What were they thinking? Fairy Tales are one thing. You can leave them up to interpretation as much as you like. Why, look at Disney's Jungle Book... that's pretty far from the original book. But they were messing with history there. And that's a no-no. Plus the whole thing was an epic preachfest with NO humor and stereotypical Disney princesses. You know the episode of Animaniacs where they did a brutal parody of the movie, singing about how all their heroines are the same? They were dead on with it. And also, in a deleted scene, when they were singing the ice cream song, the original line was: "Hey, there wasn't a song like this in the movie." "I know. This one's good."

 

[CensoredAlso]

You know the episode of Animaniacs where they did a brutal parody of the movie, singing about how all their heroines are the same? They were dead on with it. And also, in a deleted scene, when they were singing the ice cream song, the original line was: "Hey, there wasn't a song like this in the movie." "I know. This one's good."

Lol, I LOVE that! "Just the same old heroine!" As much I love Disney, I had been saying that for years!

I will say though, there has to be a balance. I think we've gone crazy with political correctness, it's not helping anything. But I think there's a reverse reaction to PC nowadays where people look back at old cartoons and stereotypes and try to say they weren't that bad, which concerns me.

I mean, every group was stereotyped in the early 1900s (included African Americans) and for the most part, no one was trying to be malicious. But it was a little different with African Americans, because in addition to all that, they were being denied equality in real life. It was not entirely all in good fun.

So I'm not saying we should be all PC (definitely not! Lol), but neither should we try to sugar coat history. We have come a long way and we are more unified and sensitive than we used to be and that's a good thing.

 

[Drtooth]

I will say though, there has to be a balance. I think we've gone crazy with political correctness, it's not helping anything. But I think there's a reverse reaction to PC nowadays where people look back at old cartoons and stereotypes and try to say they weren't that bad, which concerns me.

I mean, every group was stereotyped in the early 1900s (included African Americans) and for the most part, no one was trying to be malicious. But it was a little different with African Americans, because in addition to all that, they were being denied equality in real life. It was not entirely all in good fun.

Oh, yeah. They WERE bad. Trust me, I've seen them all, and I just couldn't stop blushing. Bugs Bunny pretending to be a slave, and then turning into Abraham Lincoln and scolding Yosemite Sam.... Though, I did laugh at the Abe Lincoln part , I can't lie. And Mighty Heroes... with those random villains with generic Asian henchmen that have the same voice... yikes. I mean, you look at the stuff that gets people up in arms today, and it's nickel and dime stuff. That commercial that was pulled because Pandas had mild Asian accents... you can't even do accents anymore. And you know those exact same countries are harping on us like mad in their shows.

I still say they went about the wrong way, using a European tale, and not making up an original fairy Tale, or using an African tale. I always hated that they want to have nwnm put into shows, and when they're there, they don't actually do all that much, or say all that much. I love how Codename Kids Next Door handled the 2 girls (one Asian, one black) and gave them distinct personalities and episodes about their own problems.

That's why cartoon animals are so much easier. They aren't a specific race at all.

 

[CensoredAlso]

That's why cartoon animals are so much easier. They aren't a specific race at all.

Well, heh, except when Disney very obviously had animals meant to be specific races in some of their older movies.

But anyway, about Disney princesses. I think the older princesses get such a bum rap for being old fashioned and obsessed with finding a husband. First of all, that's the way it was back then for women, they had no choice.

Second, the older Disney princesses had strengths that are rarely appreciated. They are emotionally tortured and abandoned by society, yet they remain kind and generous people. That's quite a feat for any human being, and an inspiration. With the newer Disney princesses/women, there's too much emphasis on independence and not enough on compassion (I mean Belle comment on "this poor provincial town" was awfully snobby!).

 

[Drtooth]

But anyway, about Disney princesses. I think the older princesses get such a bum rap for being old fashioned and obsessed with finding a husband. First of all, that's the way it was back then for women, they had no choice.

Pretty much what the original fairy tales had in mind when they were first written too...

Second, the older Disney princesses had strengths that are rarely appreciated. They are emotionally tortured and abandoned by society, yet they remain kind and generous people. That's quite a feat for any human being, and an inspiration.

Their strength comes from struggle... what I was getting at earlier is if this new Princess doesn't struggle somehow, how can she be that rounded of a character? If there's one thing I hate, it's flat characters that are just there and do nothing... not even to get a laugh... and when you make one of them the star, you know something is up. I'm just hoping this movie lives up to the hype, and we see many other 2-D films come along from Disney. Well thought out ones, and not just serive to animation buffs.

That said, anyone remember when the Disney movies started coming around in 1989, and how we were actually buried under forgotten and often forgettable 2-D movies? Ones by random companies as well. No, I'm not talking classics like American Tale or the original Land Before Time... I'm talking stuff like Thumbellina, Sinbad... and others that completely escape me at the moment. The CGI stuff is hardly new, since third parties have been trying to latch onto Disney's turf for years.

 

[erniebert1234ss]

I'm CERTAINLY seeing this one when it comes out!

Although I'm getting better excited for Disney/Pixar's Up, while Toy Story 3's "official" plotline shows that Pixar ran out of ideas for the Toy Story characters.

BJ