{"id":2856,"date":"2010-07-14T11:37:34","date_gmt":"2010-07-14T10:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=2856"},"modified":"2010-07-14T11:37:34","modified_gmt":"2010-07-14T10:37:34","slug":"the-princess-and-the-frog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/the-princess-and-the-frog\/","title":{"rendered":"The Princess and The Frog"},"content":{"rendered":"
Spending so much time in airplanes, I had a chance to catch up on several of the movies I missed in theatrical release. I was particularly enchanted by Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. This delightful animated film is the best romantic comedy of the last couple of years. It hits all the most important emotional beats that make Romantic Comedies so satisfying. It’s funny, has a lush gorgeous design and a wonderful New Orleans score.<\/div>\n
Despite some terrific performances the other films released this year in the genre fall into one of more the Rom Com Pitfalls. Here is how The Princess and The Frog avoided all the emotional stumbling blocks.<\/div>\n

\"princess-tiana-and-paa4781\"<\/a>Spending so much time in airplanes recently, I had a chance to catch up on several of the movies I missed in theatrical release. I was particularly enchanted by Disney’s The Princess and the Frog<\/strong>. This delightful animated film is the best romantic comedy of the last couple of years. It hits three of the most important emotional beats that make Romantic Comedies so emotionally satisfying. In addition, t’s funny, has a lush gorgeous design and a wonderful New Orleans score. \u00a0The film was nominated for 3 Oscars. It won 6 other awards<\/a> (including a number of critic’s awards and image awards) having 24 major nominations<\/a> in all.<\/p>\n

Fundamental RomCom Elements<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are a number of fundamental elements that make successful romantic comedies emotionally appealing. (These elements are just as important in a romantic subplot or any other emotional partnership or buddy relationship.) \u00a0Despite some terrific performances, the other films released in the genre fell short in these key areas. Here is how The Princess and The Frog<\/strong> hit the most important three and scored a big hit:<\/p>\n

Conflict<\/h2>\n

1. There must be a real \u201cbattle\u201d for a \u201cbattle of the sexes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

In classic romantic comedies, the love interests take an instant dislike, have a deep distrust or are separated by major philosophical or personal differences. Love interests should have opposite World Views and views on what life and love is or should be. They should not agree on anything. Their values and views should be diametrically opposed.<\/p>\n

A character’s World View is how the character believes the world works, his or her perceived role in the world, the character’s philosophy of life and love and a definition of what constitutes a personal goal worth pursuing.<\/p>\n

The heroine in The Princess and The Frog<\/strong>, Tiana (voiced and sung by Tony-winner Anika Noni Rose), is a Power of Conscience<\/a> character. \u00a0She is the daughter of a seamstress, Eudora, (voiced by Oprah Winfrey) and James, a day laborer (voiced by Terrence Howard). \u00a0Tiana believes in hard work, personal responsibility and setting the bar high for herself. \u00a0 She is a dutiful daughter and is single-mindedly persistent in the pursuit of the dream she and her father shared.<\/p>\n

Tatiana’s Frog Prince Naveen of Maldonia (voiced by Nip\/Tuck<\/strong>‘s Bruno Campos) was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has never worked a day in his life. \u00a0He is a playboy Power of Excitement <\/a>character who loves parties, music and dancing. \u00a0 He is handsome and witty and never met a responsibility he couldn’t charm his way out of, avoid or dodge. \u00a0He is angling for a prize that will help him maintain his carefree lifestyle.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE<\/a> to read how recent RomComs The Proposal<\/strong>, It’s Complicated<\/strong> and The Ugly Truth<\/strong> fell short in this regard.<\/p>\n

Goals<\/h2>\n

2. \u00a0The lovers must have a goal other than just falling in love or finding love.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each of the character must be in pursuit of something other than love. \u00a0They both must have an over-arching ego-driven goal (one that benefits each personally). \u00a0Unless the character wants something specific for themselves there is nothing to give up or sacrifice for the love of the other person.<\/p>\n

Tiana’s goal is to open her own restaurant, the dream she and her father shared. \u00a0She works double-shifts. \u00a0She forgoes parties and dates. \u00a0She saves every dime to make her dream come true. \u00a0Tatiana never allows herself any fun or frivolity. She doesn’t have time for romance or falling love.<\/p>\n

Prince Naveen’s parents have cut off his funds and he needs to find someone else to finance his amusements. \u00a0He is looking for a a wealthy American wife to bankroll his fun-loving spendthrift ways in exchange for a royal Princess title. \u00a0Naveen’s goal is to avoid responsibility and look good while doing it. He has never allowed himself to care for anything (or anyone) enough to really work or sacrifice for it.<\/p>\n

Gifts<\/h2>\n

3. Both love interests must grow or change through their relationship with one another.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Something profound should be missing in each love interest\u2019s life, character and or personality. This missing piece is an important personal deficiency leading to overall unhappiness. The problem isn\u2019t just that the character is missing someone to love. It should be key to his or her difficulties in life.<\/p>\n

In contrast to this major deficiency, each character has an abundance of some other over-developed trait. This should be something the other love interest has \u201cto a fault.\u201d One person has too much of one thing and gives a gift of a bit of that quality to the other.<\/p>\n

In The Princess and the Frog<\/strong>, Naveen falls under the black-magic spell of the evil Dr. Facilier (Keith David). The kiss Naveen cons Tiana into giving him turns her into a frog as well. \u00a0(After a catering accident Tiana puts on a spare princess gown and left-over tiara from her childhood friend Charlotte (voiced by Jennifer Cody) and \u00a0Naveen mistakes Tiana for the princess he seeks.)<\/p>\n

The quarreling amphibians flee into the bayou\u00a0to escape Facilier’s nefarious scheme and evil clutches. Among the swamp denizens they meet in the murky swamp-land are\u00a0a cowardly lion-like, trumpet-playing alligator,\u00a0Louis (voice by Michael-Leon Wooley);\u00a0a gap-toothed hopelessly romantic Cajun firefly,\u00a0Ray (voiced by Jim Cummings); and the old-as-the-bayou-herself blind seer and witch doctor Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis). \u00a0It is the seemingly vague lessons that Madame Odie teaches that have the power to restore Tiana and Naveen back to humanity.<\/p>\n

Along the way, \u00a0Tiana learns to relax and to value what is really important– a balance of love and work. She is ready to give up her goal to save the man\/frog she loves. \u00a0Naveen learns to work like a sous chef, slicing and dicing, and offers to sacrifice himself and his own happiness to rescue Tiana’s dream. \u00a0A clever twist at the end involving a missed kiss and true self-acceptance, completes the exchange of gifts that sets the story and the lovers right.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE<\/a> to read how The Proposal<\/strong>, It’s Complicated<\/strong> and The Ugly Truth<\/strong> fell short in the gift-giving department. \u00a0 In contrast, this simple story of The Princess and The Frog<\/strong> hits three of the most crucial elements that make frothy RomComs such a satisfying emotional experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Princess and the Frog is the best romantic comedy of the last couple of years. It hits three of the most important emotional beats that make Romantic Comedies so emotionally satisfying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,53,54],"tags":[372,373,25,26,375,376,27,28,377,30,31,378,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,977,41,42],"class_list":["post-2856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies-character-development-screenwriting-screenplay-script-blog","category-power-of-conscience","category-power-of-excitement","tag-animation","tag-cartoon","tag-character","tag-characters","tag-children","tag-disney","tag-emotional-toolbox","tag-etb","tag-family","tag-film","tag-films","tag-kids","tag-laurie-hutzler","tag-movies","tag-nine-character-types","tag-screenplay","tag-screenplays","tag-screenwriting","tag-script","tag-scripts","tag-scriptwriting","tag-the-princess-and-the-frog","tag-tv","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"ttshowcase_normal":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",125,94,false],"ttshowcase_small":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",75,56,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"Image Size 500x500":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",500,375,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-600x450.jpg",600,450,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Laurie Hutzler","author_link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Princess and the Frog is the best romantic comedy of the last couple of years. It hits three of the most important emotional beats that make Romantic Comedies so emotionally satisfying.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}