Lauren Thompkins
Prof. Heiniger
Fairy Tales FRE2991
21 April 2014
Where for art thou Kiss?
A kiss is not always necessarily needed in order to break a spell but according to Disney
it is a lot better than throwing a frog against a wall. Societies need for a woman to be soft and
domestic rather than aggressive and independent plays a role in the differences between the
Grimm’s version of the Frog Prince and Disney’s version of the Princess and the Frog. Through
slight tweaks, twists, and modifications to the original tale and its characters Disney once again
was able to keep the implication of what a woman’s role in society should be as well as that of a
man and his need to forever be superior over her.
In the Grimm’s version of the tale written in 1812, we see a young rich princess playing
near a well with her golden ball. Once day she tosses the ball high into the air but instead of the
ball returning to her as it usually does it goes into the well and she is unable to retrieve it. Due to
this terrible occurrence of events the princess begins to wail with grief and despair until a voice
calls out to her asking her why she cries. The Grimm’s tale states that when the princess looks in
the direction of the voice she is not surprise, shocked or scared to see that the frog had spoken to
her and she replies to said frog as to why she is upset. When the frog hears that she wants her
ball back so badly he decides to use this to his advantage and asks the princess what she will give
him in return if he was to retrieve the ball for her. She offers him her clothes, her jewels, and
even her crown in exchange. The Tatar would note that there may have been a play on roles
within society meaning that the rich princess was trying to appeal to someone who she felt was
lower than she was with material possessions. The frog replies however that he does not want
any of that but rather he wants her as a companion and playmate. The princess who is so
desperate to get back what she had lost agrees to his terms never actually intending to follow
through but rather will say and do what she feels she needs to get what she wants. When the frog
has retrieve the ball however the princess runs away quickly ignoring her promise to the frog,
When she explains to her father what she had promised the frog when the frog comes hopping to
the palace that she emphasizes that she never thought that the frog would leave the water. The
frog presence however would allow her to realize that she is expected to follow through on her
end of the deal and even after telling her father of the situation. Hoping that her father would
release her from her agreement with the frog but when instead he does not does she realize that
when one makes a deal they are expected to keep it regardless of to whom it is with. The play on
who has the authority is very presence here. We see the father with the ability to protect his
daughter from the slimy frog but instead he gives her to the frog. This emphasizes how in the
past a father had the right to give his daughter to whomever he wanted and the daughter really
had no say in the matter.
The princess reluctantly takes in the frog. We see her feeding the frog, carrying the frog
which play a part in the mindset of a woman’s role to nurture and provide. The frog then begins
to irritate the princess wanting more and more from her in regards to closeness and intimacy and
when he asks to sleep in her bed with her this is where she feels he has crossed the line and she
picks up the frog and hurls him to the wall. The frog then transforms back into his true form-a
prince. He explains that he was under a spell that was place upon him and how he was grateful to
her for breaking it and how he wanted to take her back to his kingdom and marry her. The
princess agrees and they live happily ever after.
There so much to be said about this tale, the princess, the prince, and the king are all very
interesting characters that bring up a lot of good questions. The princess for starts was so not
scared of the fact that she was talking with a frog as long as she got what she wanted, and she
was even willing to sacrifice her dignity in order to get. Zipes notes that her quickness to agree to
the frog terms would be because of the patriarchal society in which they lived in would require
her to be obedient. But once the frog started to increase his sexual advances it was only the
response of a proper bourgeois girl that she rejects his advances and in the end get rewarded
because of this. Once the frog has turned back into a prince however the princess is now satisfied
with his appearance and accepts his marriage proposal. This for me is where my questions begin
to arise. The fact that she is willing to marry and go home with someone who one she just met,
two hated enough to hurl him into a wall ten seconds prior, and three just because he claims to be
a prince of another kingdom. I understand the fact that he was a frog which may have had some
effect on his character but he still is the same pervy person who was trying to get in bed with her.
So what makes him okay now? This could be trying to emphasize that a proper lady should wait
for a promise of marriage before getting into bed with a man. The fact that she totally
disregarded what he put her through and fell for him because he has a pretty face says a lot about
how society viewed the external aspects of a person rather than the internal at that time.
In the Princess and the Frog we see Disney try to use their creativity to put an interesting
twist on the tale but in doing so they created their own societal issues. Instead of a princess
kissing a frog and the frog being turned into prince we see a kiss turn a pretend princess into
frog. The story starts out with two young girls that are being told the story of the Frog Prince in
which the kiss breaks the spell of the frog. One of the girls Charlotte who is wearing a princess
costume is clearly engorged in the tale and the other Tiana is clearly disgusted with the thought
of kissing a frog even if it is to turn him into a prince. Charlotte declares then that she would kiss
a thousand frog if that were to mean that she would get to be a princess, Tiana however
announces that she would never kiss a frog no matter what. Here we see both girl take their own
stance in regards what they do and don’t want. We later can clearly see class divisions right off
the bat. As Tiana and her mother leave we see them take a tram to the lower division of the
South where mansions transform into side by side shack like homes. We see Tiana’s dad getting
off of work late and we see Charlotte’s dad clearly not having to work prior. We do not really get
told what Charlotte dad does but it is noted in the synopsis that he was probably in the business
of making sugar canes. Tiana’s dad tells her of his dream of opening up a restaurant which of
course never happens because he is ‘poor’ and emphasizes to her when hearing that she believes
that wishing on that it takes hard work to get what you want in the world but it is important to
remember what is truly important in the world (he means love but the story clearly notes how she
misses this and take a while to get it).
Later we see the girls grow up Tiana comes in early morning wearing a uniform and
places some coins in a can in her drawer which is already filled with multiple cans of coins. This
would note how little she is getting paid for her job and her place in society. As she lays down to
rest however it is only a few seconds later that her alarm goes off and she must get ready for her
second job. She is smiling on the way there which would note that she is either happy with the
circumstances of her life or rather used to it and accepted it as the norm. We also see Charlotte
being picked up by her dad who purchases a newspaper for way more than it cost which would
emphasize how exceedingly wealthy he is. We also are introduced to the Prince who clearly is
not happy with his status and would rather be among the commoners having fun. We also see the
Voodoo man who makes his living taking advantage of what others want in life, despite him not
making a lot of money doing so as we see him glare at the Charlotte’s dad Mr. LaBouff.
At Charlotte’s ball where the prince is supposed to make his special appearance and
make Charlotte a legit princess we find her waiting impatiently and refusing to dance with
anyone that asks her noting that she does not see them as worthy of her, only the prince.
Meanwhile Tiana is serving up her beignets and when the bankers come to get one they inform
her that someone else has put up more money for the restaurant than she has been saving up for
and wanting. Here we can see a clear point to put those who are deemed unworthy in their place
They also inform her that a woman of her background wouldn’t have been able to handle the
restaurant anyway and when she tries to get them to hear her back she falls and spills stuff all
over her dress. Charlotte upon seeing her takes her upstairs and gives her one of her dresses and
then set off again for her princess because of course that is the most important thing-finding the
one who hope to spend the rest of your life with. Tiana goes to the balcony succumb with grief
and when she looks down she sees a frog and when she asks the frog if he wants a kiss she is
clearly is surprised when he answers that, ‘kissing would be nice, no?’ she screams and attacks
the frog with various objects as the frog is trying to explain that he is the prince who has been
tricked and turned into a frog. This can be compared to the Grimm’s version when the princess
hurls the frog at the wall, we can see Tiana clearly not wanting anything to do with something so
slimy and thus taking her stance. However when she throws the Frog Prince story at him he tells
her that if she kisses him that he would turn back into the prince under the impression that Tiana
is actually a ‘real’ princess. This part of the movie is very interesting because it brings up the
question of what a ‘real’ princess is thought to be. When she kisses him however she is turn into
a frog noting that because she is not wealthy she is not considered to be a real princess. The fact
that she even kisses him will not her need to sacrifice her stance in life to get what she wants-in
this case the money for her restaurant. The movie then follows them on a journey to trying to get
their true forms back with some help of a Cajun somewhat uneducated firefly by the name of
Ray, an alligator by the name Louis who plays the trumpet and wants to be in a Mardi Gras
concert who clearly lacks sense as well, and a blind voodoo lady by the name Mama Odie who
tries to lead them onto the correct paths of their lives as well as show them what’s truly
important. In the end Tiana and Prince Naveen fall in love and get married as frogs not caring
whether or not they have to live the rest of their lives as frogs or not, but once they are married
however the kiss that follows transforms them back into their true forms of humans and live
happily ever after.
In the Grimm’s version of the tale we see a story emphasizing a few things, We see the
princess’ father once finding out about the promise to the frog ordering his daughter to keep her
promise no matter who it is to, and even after the princess throws the frog against the wall and he
turns into the prince you see the prince ordering the princess to return to his kingdom despite the
fact she was clearly happy in her own. Her father who has clearly not be on the side of the
daughter since the very beginning encourages her to go with the prince and of course with no
other choice she does. Why? Well because he is a prince now and so now worthy of her and at
the end of the day that’s what a father wants-someone worthy of his daughter’s hand- and the
fact that he is rich too can’t hurt. The story says that she is happy with him but how can one see a
character as a nuisance one second then as a charming and lovable prince the next? The tale
hints to look beyond appearances to get to know the person beneath but the time that the princess
spent with the prince in the Grimm version when he was a frog is noted to not be enjoyable. Also
the story doesn’t say that he changed or treated her any better than before just that when she saw
that he was a prince she agreed to marry him. In regards to the Princess and the Frog version by
Disney, they tried to go someplace they had never been before, making an attempt to create a tale
involving a black princess who find a prince and in the end lives happily ever after however
according to Moffit and Harris’, Negation, Princess, Beauty and Work: Black Mothers Reflect on
Disney’s Princess and the Frog, the black audience clearly believes that Disney could have done
a better job. They note that how Disney had made a poor attempt since the so called princess was
a frog for a huge duration of the movie and so barely could be considered a princess or a human
for that matter. Also the fact that her friend Charlotte was supposed to be the princess to break
the spell and it was only when the Prince fell for Tiana instead do we see Tiana as having the
power to break the spell casted on them. Also the women are displeased with the amount of work
Tiana is seen doing at the beginning of the film they note that, “You don’t see any princess work
that hard so how come the black princess has to?” They would note that the movie tried to
emphasize that hard work was an equalizer and that those who are seen as unworthy have to
work twice maybe even three times as hard to get their happy endings.
So an interesting question to be brought up is where does the kissing frog come from?
Actually no one really knows. It was not a part of the tale by Grimm’s or the tales thereafter but
somehow it appeared and became the key to breaking spells of enchantment. The Grimm’s
version originates from Germany, there’s a Scottish version where the frog begs the princess to
chop off his head and in doing so he is transform into the prince but there is no account to where
a kiss to a frog is needed to break the spell. In the version written by Edgar Taylor who translated
the Grimm’s’ German version we see him making a few changes to the tale but all he really does
is remove the violence which instead allows the frog to sleep in the princess’ bed for three days
and on the third when the princess would wake up she would see a handsome prince instead of
an ugly frog. My research would come to an abrupt halt when I couldn’t find the originator of the
tale of the princess and the frog that is told in children’s books today that involve the kiss. I think
this shows us a lot about the message society wants to send. The tale that once emphasized the
need for keeping promises that you make and sticking to the values you set for yourself has been
transform into the need for finding true love. Why? Well, because it is seen to be better than the
alternative. The need for women to be passive, domestic, and innocent can’t be truly acquired if
we have princess throwing princes’ into walls or finding their happily ever after without a prince
so changes were needed to be made in order to adapt to emphasize the new theme and messages
society wanted to convey.
Also we see in both tales the need for nurturing as an important theme. In the Grimm’s
tales after the princess was forced to keep her promise to the frog he begins to demand to be
taken care in attempt to be closer to her. In the tale he wants to feed from her bowl and be carried
to her bed. This can be seen as society’s way of telling women that your job is to take care of all
male figures. In Disney’s version we seen Tiana taken care of Prince Naveen throughout because
he is not accustomed to doing it himself, but not only does she take care of him but the other
males in the tale as well. It is also interesting as to how at the end of the tale Tiana is not seen to
take on the princess role but rather get her restaurant where she so happily is serving others. She
may have gotten what she wanted but it still has societal implications in the background
regardless that she needs to serve and assume that role of taking care of others. These two tales
despite their differences and similarities bear one simply conclusion, at the end of the day the
princess will always bend and serve the patriarchal society in which she lives because that is the
action of a proper lady.