Tiana is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

The Princess and the Frog ''The Princess and the Frog'' is a 2009 American animated musical fantasy romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 49th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on th ...

'' (2009). Created by writers and directors

Ron Clements Ronald Francis Clements (born April 25, 1953) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He often collaborates with fellow director John Musker and is best known for writing and directing the Disney films ''The Grea ...

and

John Musker John Edward Musker (born November 8, 1953) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He often collaborates with fellow director Ron Clements and is best known for writing and directing the Disney films ''The Great Mo ...

and animated by Mark Henn, Tiana, as an adult, is voiced by

Anika Noni Rose Anika Noni Rose (born September 6, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for voicing Tiana, Disney's first African-American princess, as seen in ''The Princess and the Frog'' (2009). She was named a Disney Legend in 2011. ...

, while Elizabeth M. Dampier voices the character as a child. She will appear in the

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

series ''Tiana'', which is set to debut in 2024. She is loosely based on two princesses: Princess Emma, the heroine of

E. D. Baker Elizabeth Dawson Baker is an American children's novelist who made her international debut in 2002 with ''The Frog Princess'' which was a Texas Lone Star Reading List Book, A Book Sense Children's Pick, a Florida's Sunshine State Readers List pi ...

's 2002 novel ''

The Frog Princess The Frog Princess is a fairy tale that has multiple versions with various origins. It is classified as type 402, the animal bride, in the Aarne–Thompson index. Another tale of this type is the Norwegian '' Doll i' the Grass''.D. L. Ashliman ...

'', and the princess from the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...

fairy tale "

The Frog Prince "The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (german: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 1). ...

", which inspired Baker's novel. The character also was inspired by famed New Orleans chef

Leah Chase Leyah (Leah) Chase (née Lange; January 6, 1923 – June 1, 2019) was an American chef based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An author and television personality, she was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, advocating both African-American art an ...

. Tiana is depicted as a hardworking waitress who dreams of opening her own restaurant. She finds her progress stalled when she transforms into a frog after desperately kissing a prince who has been turned into one by an evil witch doctor. Tiana has been mostly positively received with critics praising her personality and values. However, the depiction of Tiana and her community has been criticized for lacking "emphasis on racial issues". The decision to depict the two main characters, Tiana and Naveen, as frogs for the majority of the film has also caused controversy, with some saying that it downplays the characters' identities. She is the ninth

Disney Princess ''Disney Princess'', also called the ''Princess Line'', is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who ha ...

and is known for being the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

princess in the Disney Princess franchise.

Character development

Conception and ethnicity

According to co-director

, adapting the fairy tale "

" by the

into an animated feature film had been a subject at

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fr ...

for 18 years. The project was repeatedly shelved because the studio was unsuccessful in creating a version with which they were satisfied. Disney bought the rights to ''

'', a novel by

that is based on the fairy tale, in 2006. Co-directors Ron Clements and Musker were then hired to lead the studio in yet another attempt at adapting the fairy tale, choosing 1920s

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

as its setting. Although originally conceived as a

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

film, Clements and Musker fought for ''The Princess and the Frog'' to be traditionally animated. Tiana is loosely based on both Princess Emma, the heroine of Baker's novel, and the princess who appears in the Grimm fairy tale. Clements described Baker's ''The Frog Princess'' as "a kind of fairy tale with a twist" because in it "the princess kissed the frog and instead of him turning into a prince she turned into a frog." Clements and Musker pitched the idea for the film to

CEO

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios ...

"as a hand-drawn film with an

heroine", conceiving Tiana "as someone who would never have been a big fan of Disney fairy tales." The character was inspired by famed restaurateur

, who Clements and Musker met on their research trip to New Orleans. Clements elaborated, "There's a woman in New Orleans named Lee (sic) Chase who was a waitress and ultimately opened a restaurant with her husband … we met with her and we talked with her and she went to kind of into her story, her philosophy about food, which is a big element of the movie." Tiana is recognized for being Disney's first African American princess. As the film's writers and directors, Clements and Musker claim that their decision to depict Tiana as an African American young woman came naturally simply as a result of the location in which the story takes place. Clements explained, "We didn't realize it was that big of a deal," and originally gave the character the French name "Madeleine"—"Maddy" for short. However, when the name drew controversy and speculation as a result of alleged racial connotations—according to various sources, the name "Maddy" was commonly used as a "

slave name A slave name is the personal name given by others to an enslaved person, or a name inherited from enslaved ancestors. The modern use of the term applies mostly to African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans who are descended from enslaved Africans who ...

"—they decided to change it to the Greek name "Tiana", which rhymes with " Diana" and "

rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a historica ...

" (). Anmerkungen zum Froschkönig der Brüder Grimm. Though "Tiana" () does not translate as "princess" (), it can be decoded as a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsRob Edwards, who is African American. In order to add emotional weight to the story, Clements and Musker placed further emphasis on Tiana's relationship with her father, James, who originally "wasn't as much in the picture."

Voice

Directors Ron Clements and John Musker opted against hiring "big stars" to voice the film's main characters, explaining, "It can help with the identification of that animated character with the voice if you don't get an instant mental picture of the real actor." Several well-known African American female entertainers expressed interest in voicing Tiana, including recording artists

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

and

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

, and actress and fashion model

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

. The role of Tiana ultimately went to actress and singer

, who co-starred alongside Knowles and Hudson in ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

'' (2006). When Rose was personally contacted by Disney about voicing Tiana, her expectations were not particularly high. She explained, "I wasn't planning on being a princess. I thought I'd be like a weeping willow or something." To prepare herself for her audition, Rose made sure that she "had a voice ready." Rose auditioned for the role of Tiana a total of three times. Both "thrilled" and "ecstatic" by the fact that she would be voicing Disney's first African American princess, Rose, a longtime fan of Disney who had always wanted to voice a Disney character, was "surprised by some of the things that the community took issue with." When the film was brought to her attention, Rose was drawn to it more by "the story of the young woman" rather than Tiana's ethnicity. "I don't think the cultural significance hit me until later," she told ''

The Root "The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, ''Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...

''. Rose described the recording process as "very solitary work" that required her to do much research and preparation. She elaborated, "I called people in New Orleans; I listened to their voices to hear what they sounded like. I did a lot of reading up on the city, and listened to a lot of music in the jazz era." Rose gradually received the film's screenplay "in pieces". During her first recording session, Rose read through and recorded the entire script in eight hours, describing the experience as "exhausting, but wonderful." She and co-star

Bruno Campos Bruno Campos () is a Brazilian-American lawyer and former actor, best known for his roles of Dr. Quentin Costa on the award-winning television show ''Nip/Tuck'', the voice of Prince Naveen in the animated film ''The Princess and the Frog'', an ...

, who provided the voice of Prince Naveen, recorded the majority of their dialogue separately.

Design and characteristics

Mark Henn served as the supervising animator for Tiana. Henn was hired by Lasseter because he had animated nearly every Disney Princess since Ariel from ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a ...

''. Describing Tiana, Henn said that she is following "a new trend in our princesses," likening her to Ariel from ''The Little Mermaid''. Henn was inspired by studio employee Jaimie Milner, a film intern who was working in post production. The fact that Tiana is African American was "never a big issue" for Henn when it came to animating her, but drawing her as both a human and a frog proved difficult. He said, "Tiana appears in the movie in so many different forms … she's a little girl, she's an adult human, and then she's a frog". Rose's thoughts, ideas and concerns were taken into consideration when it came to finalizing Tiana's design. "I … said I wanted it to look like she ate and wasn’t skinny, and she has a full mouth and a little round nose and curly hair and these are all things that made her look distinctly herself," she said. Rose didn't want Tiana to resemble "a cookie-cutter princess who had been coloured in brown. When I saw her for the first time and realized how much she looked like me I was really blown away." Rose also served as a form of visual, live-action reference for supervising animator Mark Henn as he worked on Tiana, videotaping her as she recorded her lines and incorporating some of her distinct characteristics, such as her dimples and left-handedness, into Tiana's design.

Appearances

''The Princess and the Frog''

Tiana works two jobs in order to raise enough money to turn a rundown sugar mill into a restaurant, a promise she made to her father, who was killed in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. As a result, Tiana has become absorbed with her work and doesn't have time for anything else. Tiana finds hope when her wealthy childhood best friend Charlotte pays her a lump sum of money to make and serve

beignet Beignet ( , also , ; ) is a type of ''fritter'', or deep-fried pastry, usually made from yeast dough in France, possibly made from pâte à choux and called Pets-de-nonne, nun's fart, in France, but may also be made from other types of dough, i ...

s at a masquerade ball she is hosting for the handsome but disinherited Prince Naveen. That night, Tiana's hopes are crushed when the realtors of the mill tell her that she was outbid by someone for the sugar mill and that it is probably a good thing given her 'background'. When Tiana accidentally ruins her costume, Charlotte is kind enough to replace it with one of her own. Out of desperation, Tiana wishes on a star, only to be greeted by a talking frog, who claims to be Prince Naveen. Mistaking her for a princess because of her costume, Naveen promises to give Tiana the money she needs if she turns him human again by kissing him. After some persuasion, Tiana succumbs, but becomes a frog instead. While on the run from hungry alligators, Tiana strikes a deal with Naveen, demanding that once he marries Charlotte, he will use the money he gets from her to help Tiana buy the restaurant. Things change, however, on their journey to end the spell. They both meet a jazz-playing alligator named Louis and a Cajun firefly named Ray, who help them reach the voodoo priestess Mama Odie. Tiana and Naveen help each other escape from frog hunters and Tiana teaches Naveen to help her cook. As Ray sings an ode to his true love "Evangeline", Naveen shows Tiana how to dance, something that she has never done before because she was afraid to. Both frogs find themselves falling in love with one another, but are unsure how to say it. Eventually Tiana comes face to face with Facilier himself, who promises to make her dream of "Tiana's Place" a reality if she hands over a voodoo charm which plays a significant role in his plans. After reminding her of all the work she has done and the people who held her back, he shows her an image of her late father, telling her that she can make sure the dream he never lived to see come true. Seeing her family together, Tiana finally realizes what her father had meant that he never got what he wanted but he had love, what he needed. Tiana is able to smash the charm and leaves Facilier at the mercy of the angry voodoo spirits. Tiana finds Naveen, who is promising Charlotte that he will marry her but only if she will give Tiana her restaurant. Tiana stops him and finally admits that she loves him. Moved, Charlotte says she will kiss Naveen, "no marriage required", but it is already midnight and she is too late to break the spell. Tiana and Naveen get married in the bayou. Once they kiss, they finally become human again because Tiana is finally now a princess and is shown wearing her princess ball gown. Louis "terrifies" the realtors into accepting Tiana's offer. Together, Naveen and Tiana open the restaurant, now named "Tiana's Palace" and dance under the stars. Tiana's singing voice is also provided by

Theme parks

On October 26, 2009, "Tiana's Showboat Jubilee!" debuted with appearances from Tiana, Naveen, Louis, and Dr. Facilier, at the

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

; and later at the

Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks ...

. Tiana and Naveen are also in the " Festival of Fantasy Parade" at Walt Disney World's

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...

. Tiana and Naveen are also doing meet and greets at Walt Disney World's Liberty Square, and in other parks in the “

Frontierland Frontierland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Disneyland-style parks run by Disney around the world. Themed to the American Frontier of the 19th century, Frontierlands are home to cowboys and pioneers, saloons, red rock buttes and gol ...

” area. She joined Disney's " Once upon a Dream Parade" at

Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, Seine-et-Marne, Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disney ...

in April 2010 as part of the " New Generations Festival". Tiana also joined ''

Fantasmic! ''Fantasmic!'' is a nighttime show at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show formerly operated at Tokyo DisneySea. It features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, searc ...

'' in early January 2010 during the finale with the

Mark Twain Riverboat The Disney riverboats are paddle steamer watercraft attraction ride vehicles operating on a track on a series of attractions located at Disney theme parks around the world. The first was the ''Mark Twain'' Riverboat, located at the Disneyland t ...

. Tiana, along with Naveen, Doctor Facilier, and Ray each make a cameo appearance in Disney's ''World of Color'' at Disney California Adventure Park. Tiana and the other Disney Princesses have an attraction at the

called ''Princess Fairytale Hall''. When visiting

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

visitors originally spotted Princess Tiana under a shady, forest gazebo at the edge of Liberty Square. Since June 2016, Tiana has been doing meet-and-greets at Princess Fairytale Hall. In June 2020, it was announced that the Splash Mountain attraction at

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

and

would be rethemed to ''The Princess and the Frog''. The ride's storyline will take place after the events of the film, and will involve Tiana, Naveen, and Louis preparing for a

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fa ...

performance. In June 2022, Anika Noni Rose mentioned during an interview on ''

Live with Kelly and Ryan ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'' that she has been involved with discussions with Disney on what they want the attraction to be like. In July 2022 during the ESSENCE festival in New Orleans, Disney announced that the ride would be titled

Tiana's Bayou Adventure Tiana's Bayou Adventure is an upcoming log flume attraction at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom in the United States. It is based on Disney's 2009 film ''The Princess and the Frog''. The attraction is scheduled to open in 2024, and will be a redesign ...

and would open at both parks in late 2024. During the

D23 Expo D23: The Official Disney Fan Club is the official fan club for The Walt Disney Company. Founded in 2009, the organization is known mainly for its biennial exposition event, the D23 Expo. The name ''D23'' refers to ''D'' for ''Disney'' and ''23'' ...

in September 2022, it was confirmed that Rose would be reprising her role of Tiana the ride.

''Sofia the First''

In 2014, Tiana made a guest appearance on ''

Sofia the First ''Sofia the First'' is an American animated fantasy children's television series. The show follows a young peasant girl named Sofia (Ariel Winter), who becomes a princess after her mother marries the king of Enchancia. Episodes focus on her adv ...

'' in the episode " Winter's Gift".

''Once Upon A Time''

A live-action character inspired by Tiana is a main character in the seventh season of '' Once Upon a Time'', and she is played by

Mekia Cox Mekia Cox (born November 18, 1981) is an American actress and dancer, known for her recurring role as Sasha in the second and third seasons of The CW drama '' 90210'', Dr. Robyn Charles in the NBC medical drama ''Chicago Med'' and her role as a ...

. In the New Enchanted Forest Tiana is the Queen of her kingdom, but then everyone in the realm is cursed and taken to a Land Without Magic. A new area of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

called Hyperion Heights is created and everyone including Tiana are sent there with new memories. Her new counterpart Sabine was a fast-food chef, but is now a food truck owner who sells beignets. Eventually, the Dark Curse is broken and Sabine regains her memories. In the series finale, Tiana is seen attending Regina Mills' coronation as the Queen of the newly United Realms.

''Ralph Breaks the Internet''

Tiana, alongside the other Disney Princesses, appeared in the film ''

Ralph Breaks the Internet ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 57th animated film produced by the studio and the sequel t ...

'', as it was announced at the 2017 D23 Expo.

''Tiana''

In December 2020, it was announced that Tiana would have a self-titled spin-off TV series debuting on

in 2023.

Reception and legacy

As a character, Tiana has been mostly positively received. Helen O'Hara of ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' wrote positively of the character, describing her as "a hard-headed heroine who works hard and displays a focus and drive". Catherine Shoard of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' praised Tiana, congratulating Disney for creating "a heroine who's an actual character; a woman whose three dimensions you don't need to don daft specs to see." Betsy Sharley of ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' wrote positively of Tiana, describing her as both "beautiful" and "boisterous". Carey Bryson of

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

gave Tiana high praise, calling her both "a fabulous new princess" and "a decent role model". Tiana is notable for being Disney's first black princess. The studio's decision to create a black heroine was met with mixed reception. While some critics, such as Richard Watson, praised the film for offering a long-awaited "break in tradition", others received it with much criticism and speculation. Rachel Bertsche of ''

O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

'' called the arrival of a black Disney princess "barrier-breaking" and "long overdue".

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

of ''The Guardian'' wrote, "these avowedly black people spend an awful lot of the movie being adorable, unthreatening little green creatures. Disney may wish to reach out to people of colour – but the colour green wasn't what we had in mind." Bidisha of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' was fairly mixed in her review, calling Tiana a "one-dimensional" but "clever, strong woman", while criticizing the film's light-hearted plot and lack of emphasis on racial issues.

Patricia Williams Patricia J. Williams (born August 28, 1951) is an American legal scholar and a proponent of critical race theory, a school of legal thought that emphasizes race as a fundamental determinant of the American legal system. Early life Williams recei ...

of ''The Guardian'', who conceded harboring a general dislike of Disney animated films and the characters featured in them, including the princesses, accused Disney of being "unforgivably late" in their creation of a black heroine. Williams did, however, find Tiana to be "spunkier than most princesses", comparing her to

Princess Fiona Fiona is a fictional character in DreamWorks' ''Shrek'' franchise, first appearing in the animated film ''Shrek'' (2001). One of the film series' main characters, Fiona is introduced as a beautiful princess placed under a curse that transforms ...

of the ''Shrek'' franchise, and reacted positively to Tiana's portrayal as a tireless feminist restaurant tycoon. Writer Brooks Barnes from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' highlights the two different issues for Princess Tiana, in her article "Her Prince Has Come. Critics, Too" that shows Disney with a good standing than with a negative standpoint, with the help of other writers expressing how, "Disney should be ashamed", said William Blackburn, a former columnist at ''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

''. "This princess story is set in New Orleans, the setting of one of the most devastating tragedies to beset a black community." Harvard teacher Michael D. Baran, a cognitive psychologist and anthropologist, expressed how children learn about race, and how Disney has a stereotyping history, "Because of Disney’s history of stereotyping, people are really excited to see how Disney will handle her language, her culture, her physical attributes" said Michael D. Baran. On August 19, 2011, Anika Noni Rose was presented with a

Disney Legends The Disney Legends Awards is a Hall of Fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1987, the honor was traditionally awarded annually during a spec ...

award at the

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, to commemorate her work on ''

''. At the same ceremony, actresses

Jodi Benson Jodi Marie Benson (née Marzorati; born October 10, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for providing the voice of Ariel in Disney's 1989 animated film '' The Little Mermaid'' and throughout other films, including its seq ...

Paige O'Hara Paige O'Hara (born Donna Paige Helmintoller; May 10, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and painter. O'Hara began her career as a Broadway actress in 1983 when she portrayed Ellie May Chipley in the musical ''Showboat''. In 1991, she made her m ...

Linda Larkin Linda Larkin (born March 20, 1970) is an American actress, best known for her role as the speaking voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney's 1992 animated feature film ''Aladdin''. Career Larkin began her career in 1990, with the film ''Zapped Agai ...

, and

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga (; born February 22, 1971), known professionally as Lea Salonga, is a Filipino singer, actress, and columnist. Nicknamed "Pride of the Philippines," she is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplyi ...

were also honored with awards for their individual contributions to Disney, having each at some point loaned their voice to a Disney princess. On March 12, 2012, Sociological Images published a post arguing that using the Disney character Tiana to advertise watermelon candy perpetrated the racist

watermelon stereotype The watermelon stereotype is a stereotype that African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Afric ...

. This criticism was reported on some other blogs. Upon the releases of the trailers on ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'', in which Tiana and the other Disney Princesses would appear, there was criticism regarding Tiana's appearance changed with a lighter skin tone, a narrower nose, and European features compared to her actual appearance in ''The Princess and the Frog''. In response to this controversy, Disney invited Tiana's voice actress Anika Noni Rose and the advocacy group

Color of Change Color of Change is a progressive nonprofit civil rights advocacy organization in the United States. It was formed in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in order to use online resources to strengthen the political voice of African Americ ...

to redesign Tiana's appearance in ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' to make sure she resembles more closely to her actual appearance in ''The Princess and the Frog''; the updated character model was revealed in the second trailer.

References

External links

Official ''The Princess and the Frog'' website

Tiana
at Disney Princess {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiana, Princess The Princess and the Frog Disney Princess characters Black characters in animation Black characters in films Film characters introduced in 2009 Fictional African-American people Fictional characters from New Orleans Fictional chefs Fictional waiting staff Fictional female businesspeople Fictional frogs