FAQ

The Princess and the Frog is loosely based on the The Frog Prince, also known as The Frog King or Iron Heinrich, one of the fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859), in their collection of Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales). The film also uses elements from E.D. Baker's 2002 young adult novel "The Frog Princess". The fairy tale was adapted for the movie by directors Ron Clements and John Musker and screenwriter Ron Edwards, along with the Disney storyboard department.

Yes. The The Frog Prince is in the public domain, and there are numerous sites that house translations of the story.

This film takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the 1920s, the middle of the jazz age.

Disney has always had two groups of princesses: those born with the title (e.g. Aurora, Ariel) and those who marry into it (e.g. Cinderella, Belle). Tiana, an African-American and the heroine of this film, marries a prince from the fictitious country of Maldonia, thus becoming a princess of Maldonia.

Disney has purposely made Prince Naveen racially ambiguous, hailing from the fictional country of Maldonia, which has no known location.

He was originally slated to do it. However, the producer, John Lasseter, thought that since Menken scored the Disney film Enchanted (2007), the music might be too repetitive. Lasseter remembered Randy Newman, whom he had previously worked with, and replaced Menken with him. Newman is a jazz composer and grew up in New Orleans, making him compatible with the project (Newman had also written the music for another jazz-based animated feature, Cats Don't Dance (1997), and he has done the songs for Toy Story (1995). Menken also did the songs and music for Tangled (2010).

Yes. Disney marks their return to the Broadway-style musical with The Princess and the Frog, meaning that the characters themselves sing the songs and that the songs will directly relate to what is going on in the film. Characters and their songs include: Almost There (Tiana), I Got Friends on the Other Side (Dr Facilier), Dig a Little Deeper (Mama Odie), and When We're Human (Louis).