Believe it or not, it’s been over 10 years since there was a Disney movie about a princess. Anyone with a young daughter is probably familiar with the “Princess Collection” line of merchandise, but the most modern princess in there, Mulan, came to us all the way back in 1998.
Those same people with young daughters are probably anxiously awaiting The Frog and the Princess, a 2009 Disney release that boasts the distinction of starring Disney’s first African-American princess. A story set in New Orleans during the Jazz Age, Frog and the Princess stars Princess Tiana, a girl going on a journey of self-discovery with the help of a singing crocodile and some good ol’ Cajun magic and voo-doo.
Disney released the first image of Princess Tiana today; you can see the full-size version over at ComingSoon.net. Don’t even pretend to be surprised that Princess Tiana looks virtually just like every other Disney princess—ridiculously tiny waist, opulent dress, enormous eyes. I could get all gender and race theory on you—I went to a liberal arts college!—but really, I’m just excited to be seeing another Disney movie about girls. It’s been since Lilo & Stitch, way back in 2002, that there was an animated Disney movie about a girl, and we all know that movie was really about the Elvis-loving alien anyway.
The Disney princesses have all sorts of problems of their own, but at least the latest incarnations—Pocahontas and Mulan—have been self-sufficient at some level and, in one case, totally kick ass with swords. Keep your fingers crossed that Tiana is a Mulan and not an Ariel who, we must remember, managed to get the guy without speaking a single word. Tiana, you’re from the part of America with the most personality—make sure and possess some of that character yourself.
