50 Fun Facts About The Princess and the Frog

In which US city is the film set?

The directors chose it as an American fairy-tale setting, for its 'magical' qualities, and because it was John Lasseter's favourite city; they spent ten days in Louisiana before writing.

What is Tiana's job at the start of the film?

The heroine was originally a chambermaid named Maddy; both the name and the job were changed in 2007 after criticism from African American media outlets.

Which two directors, who also made The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, directed the film?

They had left Disney in 2005; John Lasseter brought them back and let them choose between hand-drawn and CGI.

The film was Disney's first traditionally animated feature since which 2004 film?

Disney had declared that film its last hand-drawn feature; after the Pixar acquisition, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter reversed the decision.

Who composed the film's songs and score?

Menken was first reported for the job but was busy with Enchanted; Newman, a jazz composer who grew up in New Orleans, was hired instead and cameos as Ray's 'Cousin Randy'.

Which 2002 novel by E. D. Baker partly inspired the film?

In Baker's book Princess Emma kisses the frog Prince Eadric and turns into a frog herself; the film even used The Frog Princess as its working title.

Which actress voices Tiana?

All four were reported as contenders; Beyoncé was asked to audition but declined because she expected an offer.

Which media mogul voices Tiana's mother, Eudora?

She was hired first as a technical consultant on the film, which led to the voice role.

Prince Naveen is the prince of which fictional country?

He is a 20-year-old playboy cut off from the family fortune, which is why he plans to marry the wealthy Charlotte La Bouff.

What is Dr. Facilier's nickname?

Keith David voices him; his supervising animator jokingly called him the 'lovechild' of Cruella de Vil and Captain Hook.

What instrument does Louis the alligator play?

His name honours Louis Armstrong, and the actual playing was recorded by trumpeter Terence Blanchard.

Ray the Cajun firefly is in love with 'Evangeline'. What is Evangeline really?

The name nods to Longfellow's 19th-century poem; Ray is named after pianist Ray Charles and voiced by Jim Cummings.

How old is Mama Odie, the blind voodoo priestess who acts as the film's fairy godmother?

She was supervised by veteran animator Andreas Deja, who also animated her pet snake, Juju.

What is the name of Charlotte's wealthy father, voiced by John Goodman?

Eli 'Big Daddy' La Bouff owns a sugar mill and is crowned king of Mardi Gras, which briefly makes Charlotte a princess.

Who is Lawrence, whom Facilier transforms into a double of the prince?

His design drew on Jasper and Horace Badun and Mr. Smee; the transformation is powered by a talisman filled with Naveen's blood.

What is the name of Tiana's father, voiced by Terrence Howard?

He instilled her work ethic and her dream of the restaurant, and his philosophy that food brings people together drives the story.

Which real Louisiana restaurateur partly inspired the character of Tiana?

Clements and Musker met the former waitress turned restaurant owner on their research trip; celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse voices an alligator in the film.

Who wrote and performed the end-title song 'Never Knew I Needed'?

It was the soundtrack's commercial single, released to radio with a video by Melina.

Which song is Tiana's solo about her dream of the restaurant?

Its dream sequence used an Art Deco style based on Harlem Renaissance painter Aaron Douglas and was animated on paper without the clean-up department.

Which Louisiana singer performed The Princess and the Frog's opening number at Disney's 2007 shareholder meeting?

Randy Newman and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band backed him while pre-production art played on screen.

Which song is Dr. Facilier's villain solo?

Christianity Today's review objected to the horror elements of the sequence, part of a wider controversy over the film's use of Louisiana Voodoo.

How many Academy Award nominations did the film receive?

Best Animated Feature went to Up, and both song nominations lost to Crazy Heart's 'The Weary Kind'.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide, a figure Disney considered an underachievement?

Disney considered it an underachievement, and it led the studio to rename Rapunzel as Tangled to avoid the word 'princess'.

The 11 December 2009 wide release came one week before which blockbuster, blamed for overshadowing it?

The original Christmas Day date was abandoned to dodge the Chipmunks sequel, only to land in the path of James Cameron.

Which record did the film's first wide weekend take, previously held by Beavis and Butt-Head Do America?

It opened at number one across 3,434 theatres after a two-cinema limited run in New York and Los Angeles.

In what year does the film's story take place?

The casting call described an American fairy-tale musical set in the 1926 Jazz Age.

What does Charlotte pay Tiana to make for the masquerade ball, funding her sugar-mill bid?

Tiana is later outbid for the mill by a buyer paying cash, which sets up her desperate kiss with the frog prince.

Why is Charlotte briefly a princess, making her kiss able to break the spell before midnight?

Tiana realises it just in time; the group hitches a ride back to the city on a steamboat.

What finally turns Tiana and Naveen human again?

Because Tiana is now married to a prince she is truly a princess, so the kiss works and they open Tiana's Palace.

What is the name of the restaurant the newlyweds open at the end of the film?

Disneyland converted its French Market Restaurant in New Orleans Square into a real Tiana's Palace, which opened in September 2023.

Which Disney film's style did the directors take as their main model for the city scenes?

Bambi served as the template for the bayou backgrounds, capturing what it feels like to be in the forest rather than the forest itself.

Which software replaced Disney's outdated CAPS system as the main package for the film's animation?

Backgrounds were painted in Photoshop and much architecture modelled in Maya; the ink-and-paint work was outsourced to Florida, Toronto and São Paulo.

What was the heroine's original name before protests led to the change to Tiana?

Critics objected to its similarity to 'mammy'; the title The Frog Princess was also dropped in May 2007.

Tiana was which number character added to the Disney Princess franchise?

She is also the most modern princess in the line-up, and the first African American member.

Which veteran animator, who had drawn nearly every Disney Princess since Ariel, supervised Tiana?

He based her partly on Jaimie Milner, a film intern working in post-production at the studio.

Eric Goldberg won an Annie Award for character animation for which character?

Lasseter cited the believability of the big alligator's movement as a reason hand-drawn animation was worth reviving.

Jennifer Cody won the Annie Award for voice acting for playing which character?

Her spoiled but big-hearted debutante gives up her own chance to be a princess when she sees Naveen and Tiana are in love.

Which insurance company's ad had frog Naveen chatting with its gecko mascot?

Tiana costumes sold out before Halloween 2009 and a Carol's Daughter hair-care set sold out in seven hours.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure replaced which long-running Disney park ride?

The old ride was themed to 1946's Song of the South; the retheme was announced in June 2020.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure opened at Magic Kingdom on 28 June 2024. When did the Disneyland version follow?

For the opening, Disneyland's Critter Country was renamed Bayou Country.

How tall is the climactic drop on Tiana's Bayou Adventure?

Riders hit about 40 mph at a 45-degree angle before arriving at Tiana and Naveen's party.

What was the live show that debuted at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland in late 2009 to promote the film?

At Disneyland the cast boarded the park's steamboat on the Rivers of America; the Florida version lip-synced.

A live-action Tiana played by Mekia Cox appeared in the seventh season of which TV series?

Her cursed Seattle counterpart, Sabine, runs a food truck selling beignets.

Who did Disney announce in July 2026 was in talks to write a live-action spin-off film featuring Tiana?

The planned Disney+ series 'Tiana' had been shelved in March 2025 over production costs, in favour of a short-form special.

Which Disney film was originally planned as a hand-drawn follow-up before being switched to CGI?

Disney had hoped to release a hand-drawn film every two years, starting with Winnie the Pooh in 2011; the Snow Queen project became Frozen instead.

Ed Catmull later said keeping which word in the title was Disney's 'own version of a stupid pill'?

Marketing had warned it would make audiences think the film was for girls only, and research afterwards found viewers saw it as old-fashioned.

What are the names of the three bumbling frog hunters, often compared to the Three Stooges?

Two of them are voiced by story head Don Hall and Paul Briggs, who went on to direct Big Hero 6 and Raya and the Last Dragon.

Which celebrity chef voices one of the hungry alligators, Ian and Marlon?

The New Orleans chef shares the pair with Kevin Michael Richardson.

Facilier's design is modelled on which figure from Haitian and Louisiana Vodou tradition?

Hence the tailcoat and top hat; the film's portrayal of Voodoo drew criticism from Christian and non-Christian groups alike.

Which Pixar pitch about The Frog Prince, set in gangster-era Chicago, was merged into the film?

Jorgen Klubien separately claimed his Pixar idea The Spirit of New Orleans was an inspiration.