Tiana (The Princess and the Frog)

She is loosely based on two princesses: Princess Emma, the heroine of the 2002 novel The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker, and the princess from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Frog Prince", which inspired Baker's novel. The character also was inspired by famed New Orleans chef Leah Chase.


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".^[1] 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.^[2] She is the ninth character added to the Disney Princess franchise, and is known for being the first African American member in the franchise. She is also the most modern princess in the lineup, as her story takes place in 1920’s New Orleans.

Reception and legacy[edit]

As a character, Tiana has been mostly positively received. Helen O'Hara of Empire wrote positively of the character, describing her as "a hard-headed heroine who works hard and displays a focus and drive".^[50] Catherine Shoard of The Guardian 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."^[51] Betsy Sharley of The Los Angeles Times wrote positively of Tiana, describing her as both "beautiful" and "boisterous".^[52] Carey Bryson of About.com gave Tiana high praise, calling her both "a fabulous new princess" and "a decent role model".^[53] In 2022, Matthew Stewart and Paul Sheehan of Gold Derby ranked Tiana as the fifth best Disney Princess writing, "No matter how humble her beginnings or what setbacks she experiences, Tiana never stops working as hard as she can toward her goal of becoming a successful restaurateur. She does, of course, come to a point of frustration when it seems as though her frog transformation will never wear off, but the way she bounces back only adds to her positive characterization."^[54]


Tiana is notable for being Disney's first black princess.^[1][55][56] 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",^[55] others received it with much criticism and speculation.^[56] Rachel Bertsche of O, The Oprah Magazine called the arrival of a black Disney princess "barrier-breaking" and "long overdue".^[56] Peter Bradshaw 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."^[2] Bidisha of The Observer 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.^[1] Patricia Williams 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 of the Shrek franchise, and reacted positively to Tiana's portrayal as a tireless feminist restaurant tycoon.^[57] Writer Brooks Barnes from The New York Times 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. "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.^[58]


On August 19, 2011, Anika Noni Rose was presented with a Disney Legends award at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, to commemorate her work on The Princess and the Frog.^[59] At the same ceremony, actresses Jodi Benson, Paige O'Hara, Linda Larkin, and Lea Salonga were also honored with awards for their individual contributions to Disney, having each at some point loaned their voice to a Disney princess.^[59]


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. This criticism was reported on some other blogs.^[60][61][62]


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.^[63][64] In response to this controversy, Disney invited Tiana's voice actress Anika Noni Rose and the advocacy group Color of Change at Walt Disney Animation Studios 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.^[64][65][66]