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Recently rumors swirled that Disney is eying to remake the animated film “The Princess and the Frog” in a live-action format following “The Little Mermaid,” “Peter Pan & Wendy,” “Snow White,” and “Lilo and Stitch” remakes.
“The Princess and the Frog” is notable and made an impact with the Black youth of Gen Z and Millennials growing up as it featured the first African American Disney Princess — Tiana.
While the film has gorgeous character designs and a memorable soundtrack that captures the era of 1920s jazz, some Black animated fans were divided by it storywise due to Tiana spending half the movie in her frog form as opposed to other Disney princesses. The live-action remakes that Disney has done so far have altered the previous stories to make them fresh and enhance the tale for a new generation. While it does feel soon to compare the timeline of the original release to a live-action version – it’s more than a decade old compared to other live action remakes – it may work considering more Black talent involved behind the scenes can help improve upon the original.
Singers Ari Lennox and singer/actress Coco Jones have posted videos of them informally auditioning for the role of Tiana with them singing her standout signature song “Almost There,” sung originally by Anika Noni Rose.
The videos have circulated heavily, most notably with Black users on Twitter with many debating and listing their options on who should play Tiana. Most listed either well known Black singers or preferring an unknown from the stage or small screen to obtain the role. Some mentioned that the voice of Tiana in the original film, Rose, should play her mother in the remake.
What do you think?