The Princess and the Frog -- Morality

Stories are an often-used mode for teaching children morals and lessons—don’t trust strangers, don’t lie, don’t be greedy. The musical numbers in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog (2009) serve as thematic beats, summing up the flaws and developments of each character as they learn, and are especially memorable for children as the melodies and lyrics are memorized. The film uses story, in both the traditional and musical forms, to teach children that a full life balances both hard work and fun.

Although The Princess and the Frog uses traditional polarization of the villain to firmly confirm to young viewers that he is completely wrong and evil (though a degree of justification is available for adult viewers), it also uses a type of polarization between Tiana and Naveen. Tiana is obsessed with work and scoffs at wishes and hopeful thinking, while Naveen completely shirks any and all work in favor of a charmed, care-free life. Ironically, both are very concerned with money as a means to realize their dreams. The lesson is learned when Tiana and Naveen balance their polarities and find true joy in combining both work and fun.

The song “When We’re Human” uses polarization to first establish this theme of balancing work and freedom. Naveen sings of returning to his old life of riches and freedom, stating that “life is short, when you’re done, you’re done. We’re on this earth to have some fun and that’s the way things are.” On the other hand, Tiana sings, “I’ve worked hard for everything I’ve got and that’s the way it’s supposed to be…If you do your best each and every day good things are sure to come your way.” Both are presented positively to the audience, but their natural opposition to each other emphasizes their incompleteness.

While their overt goal is to become human, their true goal is to learn how to balance their lives and discover what they need, as Mama Odie sings in her song, “Dig a Little Deeper.” Before the song begins, Naveen says “what we want, want we need is all the same thing, yes?” This outlines the moral he learns—that want and need are separate, as one requires sacrifice but yields greater rewards. Naveen learns that “Money ain’t got no soul, money ain’t got no heart” and what he needs is hard work and self-control, found in the form of Tiana, to find true happiness. Tiana, though she doesn’t realize it until the Shadow Man tempts her into choosing her restaurant over those she loves, needs to learn that love and family, in the form of Naveen, is more important than being commercially successful.

In tandem, the film also emphasizes that happiness doesn’t come from money. As stated before, both Tiana and Naveen were convinced that their happiness could be achieved by obtaining money—a thought shared by the film’s villain, Dr. Facilier and his accomplice, Lawrence. The two models of happiness in the film, Tiana’s father and Ray, both have love and little else yet are very happy with their lives. Conversley, it was Facilier’s greed for the power money brings that was his downfall, and it was Tiana and Naveen’s abandonment of money (and all human commodities) that led to their happiness.

The Princess and the Frog is a moral story that conveys its lessons very effectively through its music and characters, the two most prominent aspects of film that children focus on the most. It teaches that true happiness in life is found in the balance between work and fun, responsibility and freedom, and not in the commodities money brings.