The issue of language variety and accent was made somewhat easier for
Disney because all the characters – humanoid and animal – speak a variety
of English marked, at the very least, as Southern. It’s important to
recognize that the film makers made an effort to acknowledge the wide
variety of language and language varieties spoken in New Orleans and
environs in that time period: beyond African American English, there are
also speakers of Southern American English, Cajun and French Creole.
How well they handled these various languages is a subject worthy of
close examination, and cannot be undertaken here.
The language of the main African American characters is only slightly
distinct from that of their Anglo counterparts, in part because the voice
actors restrict themselves to intonation patterns. There are no AAVE
grammatical constructions or idioms that would make that Anglo/African
American differences more distinct. One of the strongest speakers of
AAVE – Tatiana’s father – dies before the story ever really starts.
The issue of language variety is sidestepped in the case of the Prince, as
well. The character, while charming and handsome, as are all the Disney
princes, is also not American. Neither is he African American, nor is he
Anglo. The voice actor is a native of Brazil, which freed the writers and
directors of dealing with the issue of AAVE. Many critics and
commentators took note of this equivocation, pointing out that by turning
both prince and princess into frogs, the issue of color could be set aside.
Some see this as a maneuver by Disney to anticipate and nullify the
potentially explosive topic of miscegenation (Gehlawat 2010: 424). Others
took a more sarcastic tone: “They say it ain’t easy bein’ green, but it’s
certainly a hell of a lot easier than being black” (Foundas 2009).
Commentary on the web was often emotional and angry, as was the case on
Black Voices, an AOL discussion forum where commentators faulted the
prince’s light skin color. Commentator Angela Bronner Helm wrote:
“Disney obviously doesn’t think a black man is worthy of the title of
prince. His hair and features are decidedly non-black. This has left many
in the community shaking their head[s] in befuddlement and even rage”
(as quoted in Barnes 2009).
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