This is my personal, and what some my seem overly emotional reaction to the new Disney film The Princess and the Frog.

Let me first say that Im not going to judge this as a critique of the actual medium of 2D animation. That part of the film was fine, and subject to whatever flaws the art form allows. No, my emotional reaction was to the story itself, or rather the execution to which I thought could have been monumentally better if not for the rearranging of a few of the existing plot devices. Because as any artist knows, without a sound foundation (story), the final painting will always be flawed.

I was truly emotional when I head this project was announced. I came to Los Angeles with the hopes of being able to work on this film. Seriously. It contained three of the most important things in my life; my identity as a black woman (and from the south), my passion to have a carreer in 2D animation, and my love for WWI and WWII lifestyles.

Im under no ruse, I know Disney is simply flushing out their Princess line to add a neglected demographic, capitalizing on the traditional and nostalgic medium of 2D animation that in the past had been so rewarding for them.

Sure, Im all for it.

But seeing as how my dream didnt come true, in that I wanted to work on the film, I was stuck with this compulsory emotion to a project that I knew would affect me profoundly. So I kept it at arms length, literally feeling anguish during its opening weekend.

I had read reviews, and the ones that were positive, and there are many, commented mainly on the precedent of the story, not the story itself. The reviews that I read on the story all said pretty much the same thing; there was too much going on, not enough princess and way too much frog.

I would concur.

Let me first say that my initial reaction of people saying that the story had been politically corrected to the point of farce is untrue. There are aspects of black culture that were presented here that were fairly good, if not over romanticized, but you cant get mad at that. What you can get upset about is that this girl, the new princess Tiana, is only in this 95 min movie for all of 25 minutes.

I was mad about that. I wanted to see her expressions, her emotions, her falling in love, her comedic moments, with her brown face, nose and large eyes, not through the body of a frog! A fantastic way that they could have reprised their original forms was when they went to the Mama Odi's home. In her home, outside magic doesn't work. Simple plot device. They would have been human. They would have been human long enough for them to have their moment of stillness, like the dance in Beauty and the Beast, the carpet ride in Aladdin, 'Kiss the Girl' in the Little Mermaid. Every Disney princess has had those moments, and I felt robbed of it in this one.