Disney Facts! Volume 2

Facts 151-180: The Princess & The Frog

"When you find out who you are, you'll find out what you need,
Blue skies and sunshine, you gotta dig!"

One of my favourite Disney films of all time! It's time to travel to New Orleans and get some food at Tiana's Palace, cause we're going over the facts for The Princess & The Frog!

Fact #151
This is Disney's first 2-D film in which all of the voice actors do both the speaking and singing parts since Beauty and the Beast back in 1991.

Fact #152
While the film takes place in the mid-1920s, the time when Prohibition was still enforced until 1933, alcohol is seen being served in Tiana's restaurant, on the riverboat, and at the La Bouffs' masquerade ball. Prohibition was widely ignored in the U.S., generally, and particularly in New Orleans, so this is not very surprising.

Fact #153
The Mama Odie character was inspired and patterned after the late famed New Orleans storyteller Coleen Salley, even down to the character's voice. Coleen consulted with the director several times, but never lived to see the completed movie. Her name is mentioned in the films credits. Mama Odie can even be heard saying a famous line from those stories, "You ain't got the sense you was born with!"

Fact #154
New Orleans celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, who is famous for his Cajun and Creole cuisine, plays the voice of Marlon, one of the alligators who tries to eat Naveen and Tiana in the swamp. He uses his signature "Bam!" line in some of his character's sentences.

Fact #155
Dr. Facilier looks very similar to the Voodoo god of magic, ancestor-worship, and death, Baron Samedi. Baron Samedi is often described as being very thin, wearing a top hat and tuxedo, and having a skull face. When Dr. Facilier casts his spell on the Prince, you can see a skull appear on his face, solidifying the connection.

Fact #156
The animation style was influenced primarily by Lady and the Tramp for the city scenes, and Bambi for the bayou scenes.

Fact #157
The colored symbols that float around during the song "Friends on the Other Side," and that appear on the floor during Dr. Facilier's bargaining with his "friends on the other side," are based on actual vodou symbols called vévé. One main symbol is the voodu goddess of love, Eruzile's, heart vévé.

Fact #158
One notable similarity between Dr. Facilier and Keith David, who provided his voice, is that both have a prominent gap in their front teeth. The animators also incorporated David's expressions and gestures into the character.

Fact #159
Naveen is an Indian name, meaning "new", which suggests that Maldonia is a Eurasian country. The name of Maldonia is a mix between Malta and Macedonia.

Fact #160
During the "Down in New Orleans" montage, the newspaper mentions in print that Maldonia cannot be found on any map.

Fact#161
The prologue takes place in November of 1912, as indicated by the newspaper with the headline, "Wilson Elected," referring to President Woodrow Wilson.

Fact #162
Animator Bruce W. Smith described Dr Facilier as "the love child of Peter Pan's Captain Hook and 101 Dalmatian's Cruella DeVil."  

Fact #163
Dr. Facilier is Disney's first black villain since Bill Sykes from Oliver & Company back in 1988.

Fact #164
Dr. Facilier is the only character in the film to refer to himself by that name. All the others call him "The Shadow Man."

Fact #165
In the graveyard scene, there are three headstones that appear with stone faces before the voodoo masks break out. The center face is that of Madam Leota, a character from Disney's Haunted Mansion.

Fact #166
A code title used during production was "Orpheus."

Fact #167
For much of the film, Naveen calls Tiana "Princess" and later "Waitress", symbolizing his objectification of women as a whole. He doesn't call her by her real name until after the song 'Ma Belle Evangeline', when he starts to fall in love with her. 

Fact #168
During the opening musical number, Big Daddy holds up a newspaper while in the car revealing a number of headlines including "Ford Corporation Introduces Trimotor" and "Gertrude Ederle Readies to Swim the English Channel." Neither of these events, nor Mardi Gras for that matter, took place on the newspaper's supposed date of April 25th 1926. The Trimotor first flew in June 1926, Ederle wouldn't swim the English Channel until August 6th, and Mardi Gras in 1926 fell on February 16th.

Fact #169
There are at least two references to "Bananas Foster," a dish wasn't introduced in 1951.

Fact #170
When Tiana and Ray were at the parole watching Charlotte and "Naveen" (Lawrence in disguise) about to get married, Tiana ran away in tears, thinking Naveen has betrayed her, even when she knew there was a fake Naveen, as she said when she first met the frog prince: "If you're Prince Naveen, who's that dancing with Lottie?".

Fact #171
In the final scene you see the Mississippi River behind St. Louis Cathedral. In actuality the Mississippi River is in front of the Cathedral.

Fact #172
The Princess and the Frog is the first animated feature in the Disney Revival, just like The Little Mermaid was the first animated feature in the Disney Renaissance, back in 1989, which both films are directed by John Musker and Ron Clements.

Fact #173
As Tiana is seen in Charlotte's room, a prince doll that resembles Prince Charming wearing his outfit from Cinderella II: Dreams Come True is seen on the toy shelf.

Fact #174
Several dolls on Charlotte's shelf look like the Disney Princesses before Tiana.

Fact #175
During the credits, the riverside shack from the Disneyland version of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride appears.

Fact #176
It took three and a half years to make the film.

Fact #177
Directors Ron Clements and John Musker pitched the film to Oprah on a trip to Disneyland, just for fun. She loved the idea so much that she asked to be a part of it.

Fact #178
The women who fawn over Prince Naveen at the beginning of the film are all caricatures of women who work at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Fact #179
"Achidanza," a word Naveen says in the made-up language of Maledonian, means, "cool!"

Fact #180
Ray was animated by Mike Surrey who also animated Timon in The Lion King.

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I hope you all enjoyed these facts as much as I did!