As you probably know
The
Princess and The Frog is my favourite Disney movie. One of the very first
posts on this blog was about
how awesome Princess Tiana is. I watched
Princess and the Frog again about a week
ago and it struck me how this movie deserves so much more than it gets. So here’s
some things that I would like to see if Disney ever decide to give
Princess and the Frog more attention.
A Sequel
·
The ending of Princess and the Frog neatly tied up Tiana and Naveen’s story
however there’s still potential for more from them.
·
Tiana got her restaurant at the end of The Princess and the Frog but what came
next? Would her restaurant be a success?
·
Tiana marrying into royalty and Naveen steeping away
from his royal status and settling down in New Orleans could create interesting
situations for the two of them that could be a source of emotional conflict in
a sequel.
A Prequel
·
Generally Disney Prequels have a bad reputation
but I think some sort of prequel for the Princess and the Frog could actually
be very interesting.
·
At the start of Princess and the Frog we saw that Tiana has been best friends with
Charlotte La Bouff since they were both very young. This is friendship between a
rich white girl and a black girl in America in the early part of the 20th
Century, which has so much potential to be explored further!
·
Another possible sequel could be more about the
villainous Dr. Facilier. Facilier is a voodoo witch doctor that got his powers
from his ‘friends on the other side’ and yet throughout the movie he seems to
be scared of their power. Usually I don’t think villain origin stories are
needed however I think Facilier’s could be fascinating.
TV Series
·
If Tangled
can have a TV Series why not Princess and
the Frog? Some of the ideas I mentioned for both a prequel and a sequel
could be incorporated into a TV Series. There’s more stories to tell about
Tiana and Naveen and probably more than just one movie could do justice to.
·
I’d be interested to watch episodes about the
day to day adventures of Tiana running her restaurant and more of her
friendship with Charlotte. Showing Tiana and Charlotte’s friendship would be
interesting as Disney Princesses tend not to have female friends.
·
A TV Series could also be a good way to explore
other voodoo threats which might be lurking down in New Orleans. There’s
definite potential for villains of the week with new and interesting voodoo
powers.
Stage Show
·
The songs are fun and upbeat. There’s lots of
scenes that are bright and colourful. Both of these are things that I think
would mean that Princess and the Frog
would translate well onto the stage.
·
Perhaps the most difficult part of translating Princess and the Frog onto the stage
would be the animals and magic from the film, however given Aladdin, The Lion King and Frozen
are all already/going to be stage shows I don’t think it would be too difficult
for Disney to do.
Live-action Remake
·
The biggest thing a live-action remake could do
for Princess and the Frog is have Tiana stay human for longer. A lot of people
are (rightly) annoyed that Disney’s first black princess spent half the movie
as a frog so that’s something a remake could fix.
·
Some of the aspects I mentioned for a prequel - Tiana’s
friendship with Charlotte and Facilier’s ‘friends on the other side’ – could also
be developed further in a remake.
·
Disney’s live-action remakes tend to look grand and
spectacular. Princess and the Frog is already a very aesthetically pleasing
movie and a remake could use that with the movie’s setting of New Orleans.
A Ride
·
Obviously opening Tiana’s restaurant want be the
most obvious way to incorporate the film into the Disney Parks however I’d
personally like to see a ride as well so that if you didn’t want to have a meal
you could still get to experience the film.
·
Disney have already done dark rides based on
princess films (like Snow White and The Little Mermaid) before so it
wouldn’t be hard to imagine something similar for Princess and the Frog.
·
However I personally would like to see a Splash
Mountain style water ride. A water ride feels like a good fit based on the part
of the film where Naveen and Tiana travel through the Bayou.
So if it’s not obvious I love Princess and the Frog. It’s a
great movie but it’s one that Disney often overlooks in its animated cannon
which is such a shame as there’s real potential for more instalments.
