The Princess and the Frog is the first Disney feature animated film with a black princess, which has a lot of people in a snit over racial stereotypes and social equality.
The game, though, looks just like every other Disney Princess video game even if the one in the ball gown is black. The Wii version of The Princess and the Frog is all about multiplayer mini-games where players dress up Princess Tiana and other characters from the movie, cook recipes and collect Mardi Gras beads to trade for dresses and recipes and stuff. The DS version actually has a plot, it looks like, with 27 levels set in the bayou where Tiana and the frog prince, Naveen, have to avoid obstacles and find ingredients – presumably for a cure to frog-ness.
What has me worried about the games isn't the potential for racism – it's the ""New Orleans-inspired" recipes they feature. What does that even mean? If it means authentic Cajun food recipes, I'm in – if it means sugar, hot sauce and rice in some pathetic mockery of gumbo, forget it. I take my cooking games very seriously.
Both the DS and Wii version of The Princess and the Frog come out this holiday season right around when the movie releases.