Of Black Girls and Princess Dreams, Disney Style

When I saw an extended preview of "The Princess and the Frog" at a conference this summer, I just couldn't get that excited. It wasn't the mouse's fault. I mean, Disney knows how to throw a party, and this one featured music, streamers and an appearance by Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Tiana, the first black princess in a line of cartoon royalty that reaches back to Snow White.

We've had an Asian princess (Mulan), a Native American one (Pocahontas), Aladdin's Jasmine, and even a heroine with a fishtail (Ariel). Now, a black princess. This was big news. So why wasn't I jumping up and down?

"The Princess and the Frog" which opened last Friday, has just claimed the No. 1 box office spot, earning $25 million. Nearly one in five moviegoers came to the theater without children, according to Disney exit polling, reports USA Today, proving adults are getting caught up in the magic.

Families are organizing viewing excursions, for entertainment and pride. But I'm still making excuses not to go.

The thing is, I've never gotten into the whole princess hoopla, even when I was young enough to wish upon a star.

I love the movies. But real life moved me more than cartoons. I hummed the Disney music, but even then I was a critic, enjoying most of "Dumbo" while giving a disapproving thumbs-down to the black crows singing in dialect ("I be done seen 'bout everything when I see an elephant fly," indeed.)

OK, so I was a serious kid.

My parents, while loving and protective, believed in preparing me for real life. So the thought of being rescued by a prince never entered my mind. "Get an education," my mother said over and over. "No one can ever take that from you."

"Always have your own money," was another favorite saying. And "you have to work twice as hard to get half as far." I could dream all right; I also had to have a plan. Happily ever after? Maybe, with a lot of hard work. It was better to do than to dream. (The Disney writers must have done their homework; Tiana is one no-nonsense princess.)

My dad did allow me the occasional princess moment. I remember a backyard birthday party with a papier-mâchè wishing well. Dad was less a prince than the king in my world.

But usually, we were so grounded in the reality of life as black Americans, fantasy was not an option. You could always see the sweat behind the "magic" -- the second and third jobs and the slight disappointments along the way.

So many black parents feared their children might have their hearts broken. Did they paint life a little too harshly? I know I didn't feel deprived of joy. Quite the opposite. I felt lucky to be surrounded with support, to have family that loved me enough to be honest about how the world worked.

I think I became a journalist because the history being made around me was much more exciting than princesses in long, flowing gowns. Someone had to write it all down.

But looking at the faces of the children who are lining up, dressed in their Tiana regalia, is weakening my reserve and loosening up this stickler for truth. Everyone can use a little fantasy, especially little girls who have never seen a princess quite like Tiana. That's why I haven't joined those complaining that Tiana spends too much time as a frog or her hair is too straight or the prince isn't black enough or racism isn't front and center.

It's a Disney movie, and a beautifully drawn one at that. It's enough that Princess Tiana sings nice songs and wears pretty dresses and gets the guy in the end. So, she's a green amphibian for much of the film. At least it's a cute, feisty one! If Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" allows little black girls (and the princess in all of us) to dream even silly dreams, that's plenty.

Even feet planted firmly on the ground deserve to slip into tiny bejeweled slippers every now and then.