What do you mean first princess?

[eastofthemoon]

Recently, there apparently was a special in which a tour was given of the studio where the Princess and the Frog movie is being made.

This is part one, and I enjoyed seeing some more of the clips for the upcoming movie. However, one line said by the tour guide made my raise my eyebrow a bit. The tour guy mentioned how Tiana is the first Disney princess who is not be waiting for her prince to come.

...Um...not really. You can argue that Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora and Ariel were waiting for their princes, but a lot of the golden age Disney princesses weren't exactly waiting for their prince. To name a few, Belle was just wanting adventure, Mulan was too busy fighting to protect her county and Jasmine would try to feed any prince that came near her to her tiger.

Anyway, besides that bit, the special is neat and it gives a bit more detail on the other characters in the movie besides Tiana and Naveen.

Comments

[beccastareyes]

Huh. Well, it could be said that Tiana was the first one to take a proactive role in romance, maybe* -- Belle, Mulan and Jasmine weren't especially interested in romance, though all three were proactive characters. All three ended up meeting interesting people (including love interests) as a result of being proactive, rather than going out and seeking romance.

(I'm trying to remember if Nala was proactive in romance. She did seek out help and ended up rediscovering Simba, and I'd say was the one initiating the relationship, because Simba had Issues thanks to Scar and his daddy's death. Ariel as well, was interested in the surface world, but also in Eric, though he was pretty smitten with her as well. So even if we go with that theory, the ladies of our childhood Disney aren't passive, even in romance.)

* I don't know that much about the plot, besides that it's set in New Orleans, features a foreign prince and a black female lead, and involves the Frog Prince fairy tale.

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

In the the movie, they've said that Tiana's dream is to build and run her own restaurant and thus she's been working for years to achieve it.

In this special, we see the scene of when she has to kiss the frog and apparently she did it not because he claimed to be a prince (she was rather grossed out at the thought of kissing a frog) but because the prince said he was from a wealthy family and could reward which Tiana could use to build her restaurant.

Anyway, the comment just surprised me because they made it sound like she was the first Disney princess who wasn't just looking for romance but had other goals in mind, which I just don't see as being true.

[beccastareyes]

Oh, heavens, yes. Most of the Disney ladies I grew up with were very much the heroes of their own stories, even if a lot of times the stories followed a pretty formulaic path.

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Actually, you're wrong. Even Belle, Jasmine and Mulan were wanting to find love.

Belle: in her song she sings after the encounter with Gaston she even says, "And for once it might be grand, to have someone understand." Belle does want love, she wants to find someone that can relate to her on the same level. Not someone like Gaston and the other townsfolk who are only attracted to her looks.

Jasmine: She doesn't want to be forced to marry someone she doesn't love, she wants to choose who she marries specifically for love. When she met Aladdin she was quick to become attracted to him, despite the fact he was nowhere near the noble he'd have to be for her to marry him. A main plot of the movie is the fact that Aladdin wants to be royalty so that he can wed Jasmine, when all she wants is to be able to marry that street rat she met. ^_-

Mulan: At the very beginning we get to see her go to the matchmaker in the hope of finding someone to marry so that she can bring honor to her family. Due to her less than ladylike ways she's instead told she'll never be able to bring honor to her family, a major blow in Eastern cultures. Later when she's traipsing around as a guy she even adds in to the song, "How 'bout a girl who has a brain, who always speaks her mind?" She's putting out feelers hoping the guys will agree, but of course is shot down. Don't forget that Shang does catch her eye, and the movie ends with him following her home to meet the parents, to which Mulan is more than happy.

I can't honestly thing of any Disney princess who hasn't had a want for love somewhere in the course of the story. That's what brings us to our happy endings, after all, since without love you might as well just focus on one of the characters and not the other at all. (Even Giselle in Enchanted finds her true love in a world where true love isn't supposed to exist.)

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Nala and Simba both were quick to reciprocate their love for each other. They had been best friends growing up, and not seeing each other for a long time had only deepened that love. It's not until Nala mentions Simba returning to Pride Rock that he goes distant on her since he does in fact have that secret shame he's afraid to admit to Nala - not to mention the rest of the pride.

The plot for The Princess and the Frog is based on The Frog Prince: frog meets princess, frog asks princess for kiss, after a lot of avoiding it the princess finally kisses the frog to reveal a cursed prince. It has a Disney twist to it of course.

[beccastareyes]

Good point.

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

*nods* Okay, good point.

I guess I just didn't care for how they worded it in the special. It just sounded to me that they were implying that the past Disney princess were ONLY focus on finding love. Yes, finding love has been part of the past Disney princess's movie, as you said that's what led to the happily ever after, but it wasn't as if that was their only goal in the movies either. I just wished they had worded it a bit better.

[rowenathewitch.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Frog and the Princess *___*. I already love the frog XD
The tour guy mentioned how Tiana is the first Disney princess who is not be waiting for her prince to come.
I think they just want to sell the movie...don't forget that according to the producers each Harry Potter movie is much darker than the previous ones *giggles*

An even better movie would be something with a female main character who is NOT a princess nor marry a prince in the end >_>, or even better, a movie with 3,4 female characters mixed with other male ones and almost no romance, but that's too much to ask XD

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

The frog is awesome! Despite the one line, I can't wait for this movie! I'm also liking Tiana more and more too.

And yeah, you're probably right. They're going to try to use every angle to get people to see this movie.

An even better movie would be something with a female main character who is NOT a princess nor marry a prince in the end

Well, you never know, it could happen. It just probably won't be any time soon. ^_^;

[witch-of-the-si.livejournal.com]

I dunno if anything could beat Beauty and the Beast for me, but I suppose it looks interesting...

...

Wait... how come I don't have a copy of my favorite disney movie?