Big congratulations to The Princess and the Frog for rocking the number one spot at the box office this weekend with over 25 million. According to Hollywood.com, Princess set a record for the “biggest debut for an animated film in December.”  The screen life will last throughout the holiday season so hopefully the Disney flick will reach the 100 million mark.

Here is a review of The Princess and the Frog and an interview with the princess herself, Anika Noni Rose.

In related news, Rose had a hot battle for the role of Tiana. According to The View, where Rose appeared this past Friday, the Tony winner beat out heavyweights like Alicia Keys, Tyra Banks (hmmmm…), Beyonce Knowles and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson.

How do you think the other four would’ve worked as Disney’s first African-American princess?

I had the pleasure of getting a sneak peek of the highly anticipated Disney film The Princess and the Frog.  The first African American princess makes her well overdue debut, carving out a place in animated history, joining the ranks of a bevy of beauties destined to sing and dance their way to the ever elusive utopia of “Happily Ever After.” The children in the audience woke up my inner child with their laughter and squeals of delight. They unknowingly gave me the okay to watch with a child’s eyes. No falsehoods. No facades. I was once a little brown girl that dreamed about meeting a prince. I am now a bigger, even older brown girl who still finds myself dreaming, all while trying to forget a few nightmarish dates and relationships.

I hoped that Walt’s crew would teach me all of the ways to catch and keep a prince. I listened to every song like “When We’re Human,” “Almost There,” and “Down in New Orleans.” I watched every dance step with eagerness and anticipation. I was even willing to dethrone Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” as my “Girl, it’s okay to be alone!” anthem.

The romantic and unyielding city of New Orleans was the perfect back drop for this tale of promise and perseverance. Flashes of the French Quarter filled with jazz bands, jambalaya, music and magic brighten up the screen. Anika Noni Rose was the Dreamgirl chosen for this dream job of bringing Tiana to life. Bruno Campos brought passion to Prince Naveen with his buttery smooth Brazilian accent.

I don’t know any women who would hesitate to follow a smooth talking, good-looking man anywhere in the world — even if that means following him into a swamp! You might just have to swat away a few mosquitoes while being serenaded by crickets and crocodiles. Hey, not a bad date — you are out of the house!

Anyone who is still playing the arduous dating game knows you have to kiss a few frogs in your quest for love. We know there are evil forces that keep us from totally connecting with our true love, like long distance, feuding families, conflicting schedules, camera phones, caller ID, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. In Tiana’s case, the wicked forces came in three forms: a self absorbed Southern Debutant whose world solely consisted of parties and fashion; a disobedient servant who desperately longs to be a prince rather than serve a prince; and a voodoo man who keeps company with scary spirits while scamming his way to profit and power. Luckily, Tiana arms herself with good friends, common sense and old fashion upbringing. (You can’t go wrong when Oprah Winfrey is your mother!) She also befriends a blind voodoo priestess (Jenifer Lewis) who is more than willing to share her good juju. You can’t forget the feisty Cajun firefly that threatens to light his butt if anyone ticks him off.

Sadly, no magic words were found to help me cast a love spell. However, the message of self-love was revealed, all while Tiana was getting closer to her unexpected yet inevitable fairy tale ending with Prince Naveen. She had already successfully found love with herself, her life and made a clear path to her personal dreams and career goals. Tiana was “Almost There;” the Prince was simply a surprise to her already-fulfilled life. He was not the reason for her joy and happiness; he was a welcomed addition. Powdered sugar on the beignet!

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J’Nara Corbin is a New York City-based actress and model. She is starring in the film, Finding Me, which is available  on DVD.  To read more of J’Nara’s work click here for Good Hair: Am I Good Enough?

Summary: The Princess and the Frog is the story of Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) from New Orleans, Louisiana, a childhood dreamer-turned-waitress who has aspirations of owning a swanky restaurant.  Her life is turned into Disney chaos when she is kissed by Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), who was turned into a frog by voodoo and accidentally turns Tiana into a frog.  Naveen and Tiana travel through a colorful swamp to break the curse and eventually find themselves.

Review: The Princess and the Frog has received the critical eye since the moment the public heard Disney (finally) decided to do an animated film about an African-American princess — a first for the over 80-year-old corporation that is known for lily White images like Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and fictional worlds where African Americans do not exist.  Disney has betrayed African Americans for decades (I am going to avoid ranting about the disgustingly offensive Song of the South and the producer of the 1946 film quoted as saying, “”The Negro situation is a dangerous one.”), so it shouldn’t be a shocker that some are unsure about this Disney concoction.

As the cliché goes, you can’t make everyone happy and The Princess and the Frog will surely feel the fire of that line.  There will be questions about the Southern accents, the toothless firefly, Tiana’s best friend (a diaphanous, privileged White girl named Lottie), the frog having more screen time than Tiana, Prince Naveen not being “brown enough” and other intricacies that I didn’t care to analyze.

More than anything, The Princess and the Frog avoids race as much as possible.  How could Disney properly tackle it? While some might find it cowardly, I am not sure how lessons of race could be entertainingly delivered to a movie that is geared toward children, who hopefully aren’t as tainted with discrimination as adults. The film is set during the Louisiana Jazz Age, which is the 1920s, but you won’t see Jim Crow, the horror of lynchings, or the reemergence of the Klu Klux Klan  — all things that were huge in the 1920s and especially Louisiana.  That said, the script definitely relies on the cultural bearings of African Americans; this animated flick has some soul and not just characters who “happen to be Black.”

Being realistic, Disney’s socially shaky structural underpinnings are not going to vanish with one movie that stars brown characters. In order to enjoy The Princess and the Frog, viewers need to let go of some of Disney’s history, which represents all things white as angelic and all things black as wicked. The Princess and the Frog is not offensive. This is a harmless, animated musical and as close to getting it socially right as Disney will ever get.

Setting aside the social issues, The Princess and the Frog is told in classic Disney style.  Even the smallest of children will be able to predict the moral lessons and the happy ending. But, the movie does its job in beautifully repackaging a redundant plot.  In addition, the hand-drawn 2D animation is refreshing in comparison to the overly polished animation of today’s movies.

The Princess and the Frog is packed with voices from well-respected actors like Jenifer Lewis, Anika Noni Rose, Terrence Howard and Oprah Winfrey.  Decorated with excellent musical numbers, The Princess and the Frog radiates on the screen, especially with some power vocals from Rose and Lewis.  Plus, there is Keith David, who is probably the most impressive as the voodoo villain, Doctor Facilier — adding a little grime to a sugary sweet film.

Will The Princess and the Frog have the same impact as Snow White or Aladdin? No. However, this is still a good animated film — too bad it’s about 40 years late.

The Princess and the Frog is in theaters Friday, December 11th.

Disney’s first Black princess, Tiana, is hitting theaters in December in The Princess and the Frog.  Disney provided BET.com with an exclusive image of the movie poster.

The voice of Tiana is Tony winner and Dreamgirls star Anika Noni Rose.  Other voices include Jenifer Lewis, Keith David and Oprah Winfrey as the princess’ mother.  As I’ve said before, I haven’t looked forward to a Disney film in years so be sure to check back here at BET.com for more info on the movie.

The Princess and the Frog begins exclusively at the Walt Disney Studios Theater in Burbank and Ziegfeld Theater in New York City on November 25th and arrives in theaters nationwide on December 11th.

Are you looking forward to The Princess and the Frog?

After all the controversy about the Princess’ significant other, Prince Naveen, being too light and wavy, the movie poster and trailer has finally been released for The Princess and the Frog.  This is the first Disney movie to feature an African-American princess, which stars Tony winner and Dreamgirls star Anika Noni Rose.  The animated film includes voices from Jenifer Lewis, Keith David and Oprah Winfrey as the princess’ mother.

On the movie poster, Disney has no depiction of race  and I don’t blame them.  Originally, Disney was slammed for Princess Tiana’s original name, which was Maddy — some claimed it sounded too much like “mammy,” a term widely used during slavery and Jim Crow.

Then, another controversy brewed when there were complaints that Prince Naveen resembled too much El Debarge and needed to be more chocolate.  Now, in the trailer, (I’m sure Disney is trying to avoid any more racial backlash), when Prince Naveen is shown, he looks like he got a lil’ more color. I don’t know — maybe that Louisiana sun made him a bit more butter pecan!

Either way, the storyline for this Disney flick seems interesting.  I am looking forward to seeing the movie and haven’t anticipated a Disney film in ions.  But, I’m sure after these “racial” controversies Disney is going to stick to plot lines with characters who look like Barbie!

Check out the trailer and let us know what you think!

Some folks are upset at Disney’s first Black princess not having an “obviously” African-American prince. He is racially ambiguous with El DeBarge-Cab Calloway-Rick Fox bone structure and complexion… people are demanding chocolate, not the swirl!

The Princess and the Frog will be released later this year but controversy is already stirring. Previously, some were frustrated that the name of the princess was “Maddy” and she was a chambermaid who worked for a young White woman in 1920’s New Orleans. Critics shouted racism and comparisons to slavery. The princess went from Maddy to Tiana…

Now, we have the complexion of her other half, Prince Naveen of Maldonia—he is just too damn light-skinned for people’s taste. Some are saying Naveen looks straight up White! **gasp** That doesn’t look like a White prince to me. The film is based in New Orleans so I instantly thought he was Creole. Naveen resembles the love child of Jasmine Guy and El DeBarge.  Is that a bad thing?  Don’t Black folks come in all shades?

Racism in animation…. okay. This is the complexion of a cartoon character, not even a real person. Maybe this is more commentary on our long history of light-skin versus dark-skin versus racism at Disney.

This is a cartoon character from a movie that will not grapple with racism or constructs of color – we’re dealing with the land of Disney not The Boondocks.  The Princess and the Frog will be a fluffy children’s movie where racism doesn’t exist and the prince and the princess will eventually live happily ever after… there are more gender constructs to be upset with in this movie.

I understand the strain of complexion in our community — but instead of thinking children will focus on the light-skinned prince, how about the image of a beautiful, brown Black princess? There definitely aren’t enough brown sisters in the media. For those asking why aren’t they showing “Black love”—are we really looking for Black love in a Disney movie?

I’m sure Disney is saying, “Why the hell did we do this movie? We need to stick to characters who are blonde and blue!”

Are you offended by Prince Naveen?