“…I’m intrigued by Disney’s efforts to use the material culture of Tiana’s environment to distance her from characters like The Bluest Eye’s Pecola and Sapphire’s Precious. The single brown doll in Tiana’s room as a child is juxtaposed against the suite of her wealthy white friend, Charlotte La Bouff, whose shelves are overflowing with brand new white princess dolls and dozens of unworn princess dresses. Some refer to Charlotte as a parody of the southern belle, but I’m drawn to the idea that her thick accent and spoiled silliness disguises a larger critique of our generation’s relentless and unthinking consumption of the Disney narrative. (Seriously, why is Cinderella on our baby diapers?) Tiana may appear to be too poor and too black to participate in this narrative, but the hard truth is that self-destructive fantasies are all too freely available to those of us who have been taught that what we have – and who we are – isn’t good enough.”

“…On one hand I think the scenes portraying Voodoo will really scare young children. On the other hand, I was concerned that both children and adults unfamiliar with Voodoo would come away from ‘The Princess and the Frog’ believing it to be evil rather than a belief system akin to Buddhism or Hinduism or what have you. I didn’t appreciate the African masks in the one Voodoo scene either. It indirectly linked Africa to evil... Although the character who practiced Voodoo—Dr. Facilier aka Shadowman—is clearly evil, the woman Tiana and Naveen visit to undo his work (turning them into frogs) is portrayed as a wise, caring old woman.”

“The opportunity presented itself for us to present our company to Disney as a potential partner with this film, with making products associated with the film.  And it was one of those situations where it was great to have the meeting and it was great to be in the room.  If something comes of it, great, but, wow, wasn’t it a great step to at least have the meeting. My marketing team left the meeting with a deal in place.  Not all the details worked out, but [they had] an agreement to move forward.  It was amazing to have that opportunity and to be affiliated with something as the first African American princess.  It’s wonderful. To have the opportunity to make products that Mom doesn’t have to worry about, that perform… there are so many levels as to why I’m excited to be a part of this project:  the history of it, collaborating with a company like Disney, getting to make products for kids that are great that have a really nice fragrance.  I have a three-year-old daughter:  she tested everything, so she had a lot of fun.”

a mother-(5-year-old) daughter conversation about the film