LITTLE ROCK — Disney’s 1920s New Orleans fantasia The Princess and the Frog is fast fading from theaters and will have had a disappointing run. Once again, Disney betrays its beautiful animation by falling back on formulaic storytelling, which renders this film as bland as gumbo without the spice.
The dreariest thing about Disney animated movies is how they always depend on the hero or heroine overcoming adversity by drawing on inner reserves of strength. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but it does tend to force all its film narratives into a self-help straitjacket. And it renders Disney with nothing interesting to say about religion, despite strong religious themes in the story.
This is how Princess, a picture that deals with the powers of spiritual darkness with a powerful sense of melodrama, ends up ruining the storytelling opportunities afforded by the mysterious setting. The villain, Dr. Facilier, is a big, bad French Quarter voodoo daddy who tries to manipulate evil spirits to do his bidding. When Prince Naveen and Tiana fall victim to Dr. Facilier’s spell, who do they turn to for help?
This being New Orleans, you might think that a representative of that city’s other rich, venerable religious tradition, Roman Catholicism, would be called on.
Anyone who has been to New Orleans knows the place is saturated in the myths and rituals of Catholicism. You have to work hard to avoid seeing what is in front of your face.
Bizarrely, Disney creates-wait for it-a good voodoo priestess, Mama Odie, to serve as the film’s avatar of white magic and the cursed pair’s spiritual guide.
Right, you don’t expect Disney films to preach the Gospel. But is the historical expression of New Orleans Christianity so offensive to Disney that they have to substitute a kooky Atchafalaya Oprah?
My complaint is not religious, but artistic. Disney’s politically correct aversion to Christianity hollows out the potential for spiritual grandeur that ought to have infused this lovely film-and made it something that could stand up against Pixar’s best.
It’s not so much anti-Christian prejudice as it is fear of real faith, and a failure of imagination. And when it comes to creating film fantasy, that’s an unforgivable sin.
Rod Dreher is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist.
Editorial, Pages 16 on 12/29/2009