Can Mickey Bite His Tongue?

This is a big week for Disney. Not only will they try and prove that 2D animation is still a hot commodity, but all eyes will be on the corporation as it unveils with The Princess and the Frog its first African-American heroine in nearly ninety years of filmmaking.

This Friday marks Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation, a method abandoned after the box office failure that was Home on the Range in 2004. The Princess and the Frog will be the 49^th addition to the “Walt Disney Animated Classics” line of films, a list ripe with Disney favourites like Alladin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. It is also a list lined with prejudice, sparking many critics to ask whether their new heroine, Princess Tiana, can finally repair Disney’s reputation for stereotyping.

For years, the brand most often associated with innocence has been panned by cultural critics for its representations of race and gender. One of the more notable incidents surrounded the music of Aladdin in 1993. The lyrics of the film’s opening song drew criticism from Arab groups saying its depiction of the Middle East was offensive: “Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face/It's barbaric, but hey, it's home” goes the film’s signature tune. Later versions of the film and soundtrack were slightly altered.

The production of The Princess and the Frog was one riddled with controversy from the beginning. The original plot featured the main character as a chambermaid working for a wealthy white debutante. She was then to win the heart of a white prince who saves her from the clutches of her superior. This was quickly scrapped after critics slammed its clichéd depiction of subservient black workers. Revisions to the script are still being met with concern. Will it be able to rectify the image of African-Americans in Disney classics like The Jungle Book and Dumbo? Will the film approach its setting of New Orleans with sympathy considering the recent events of Hurricane Katrina? Still, others will undoubtedly ask: “What is the big deal?”

Many grew up on Disney and remember it as a fond childhood memory. After all, it is entertainment. But the Walt Disney Company is first and foremost a business – the world’s largest media conglomerate, to be exact. The ways in which race or gender are represented is not of immediate concern for the company. Disney’s strong hand in shaping childhood culture is very evident. Even this Halloween, months before The Princess and the Frog was to be released, Princess Tiana costumes were already being marketed to children. According to a study released last month, girls as young as six identified that they worry about body image, and that making their hair blonde and skin white would help them become better princesses. Princess Tiana seems to be a positive step forward, but the ways that Disney uses their influence on a highly impressionable child audience cannot be ignored.

Considering the massive global influence that the company exerts, Disney bears a great responsibility for defining the ways in which children are exposed to the culture of their race and others’. In the Obama-craze of today, The Princess and the Frog looks to be another step forward. This Friday will tell if Disney can live up to the hype.