The Princess and the Frog
Like Winnie the Pooh, The Princess and the Frog feels like a relic of the past compared to other movies on this list. The last 2D animated film featuring a Disney Princess remains a sore spot for some in the studio’s canon because it has been wielded in debates about the company’s trajectory and the perceived marketability of films starring a Black woman protagonist. But on its own, The Princess and the Frog is a delightful, classic Disney affair that shuns the company’s usual musical theater sound in favor of a gospel-infused, soulful, jazzy soundtrack fitting for its 1920s New Orleans setting. The Princess and the Frog turns a fairytale standard into a period piece, following Princess Tiana’s rise from rags to riches. It’s one of Disney’s most interesting spins on the fairytales it usually draws from, and despite the bullshit that surrounded it, Tiana has had staying power alongside her Disney Princess contemporaries.
