Princess Tiana


 * “The only way that you can get what you want in this world is through hard work.”
 * ―Tiana

Tiana is the protagonist of Disney's 2009 animated feature film, The Princess and the Frog. She was a waitress and gifted cook living in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the Jazz Age, with a dream of opening her own restaurant.

Tiana is the 9th official Disney Princess.

Disney.com Description

 * Tiana dreams of opening her own restaurant. She works hard to try and make that dream come true. In a twist of fate, she kisses a frog and goes on an adventure through the New Orleans bayou.

Development
Tiana made history as the first African American princess in the Disney Princessfranchise.

Early in development, Tiana was originally called Maddy and worked as a chambermaid in the La Bouff household. However, public criticism eventually caused her character's name to be changed to Tiana and her job, a waitress. Disney spokeswoman Heidi Trotta later stated "Princess Tiana will be a heroine in the great tradition of Disney’s rich animated fairy tale legacy, and all other characters and aspects of the story will be treated with the greatest respect and sensitivity." This reworking of the story itself was greatly inspired by the life story of New Orleans chef Leah Chase, and she in turn would contribute to the "Tiana's Cookbook" that was published when the film came out.

Ron Clements and John Musker decided not to hire "big stars" to voice the film's main characters because "it can help with the identification of that animated character with the voice if you don't get an instant mental picture of the real actor." Several well-known African American actresses and singers had expressed an interest in voicing Tiana, among them recording artists Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys, as well as actress and fashion model Tyra Banks. After enduring three auditions, the role ultimately went to American actress and singerAnika Noni Rose, with whom Hudson and Knowles co-starred in the musical filmDreamgirls.

A longtime fan of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Rose had always wanted to voice a Disney animated character. When the film was brought to her attention, she was drawn to it more by its "story of the young woman" than by the fact that she would be voicing Disney's first African American princess. Rose told The Rootthat the film "wasn't really pitched to me that way...I don’t think the cultural significance hit me until later". Rose was also fairly confident in the role. "To be perfectly honest, I thought it was for me from the moment I got the audition."

Rose described the recording process as "very solitary work" that required her to do much research. To prepare herself for the role, Rose "called people in New Orleans...listened to their voices to hear what they sounded like...did a lot of reading up on the city, and listened to a lot of music in the jazz era." Rose only met with her co-star Bruno Campos twice to record a few scenes together. At her first session, Rose recorded all her dialogue "from top to bottom" in a session that lasted eight hours.

Mark Henn served as the supervising animator for Tiana. Henn was hired by John Lasseter because he had animated nearly every Disney Princess since The Little Mermaid 's Ariel. Describing Tiana, Henn said that she is following "a new trend in our princesses," likening her to Ariel from The Little Mermaid. "When animating Tiana, Henn was inspired by voice actress Anika Noni Rose, borrowing from her dimples and left-handedness. Henn was also inspired by studio employee Jaimie Milner, a film intern who was working in post production." The fact that Tiana is African American was "never a big issue" for Henn when it came to animating her, but drawing her as both a human and a frog proved difficult." Tiana appears in the movie in so many different forms...she's a little girl, she's an adult human, and then she's a frog."

Personality

 * “She's a strong woman who doesn't need anyone to do things for her. She wants to do things for herself.”
 * ―Anika Noni Rose

Tiana is an intelligent, resourceful, and highly talented young woman. However, at the start of the film, and mostly throughout, she can be overly uptight and far too absorbed in work ethics to focus on relaxing, family, and friends. Though she notices this and appears to have some regret over her busy schedule, her obsession with bringing her dream of opening her own restaurant into fruition overshadows it all. She also, for the most part, has appeared to accept that over the years, as seen when she and Eudora visited the old sugar mill in preparation of its purchase.

With a strong sense of honor and integrity, Tiana firmly believes nothing deserves to be obtained in the world unless it's done through hard work, a view she's brought up when dealing with her excessively dreamy and immature best friend,Charlotte La Bouff, as well as the party-loving Naveen.

Aside from her workaholic nature, Tiana has another side to her; one that's passionate, imaginative, and ambitious. She enjoys humor, music, quality time with loved ones, and dancing (though not at first). She becomes excitable whenever mentioning her restaurant, lighting up when she does, as Naveen puts it, and although she initially had very little knowledge over romance, she values it highly once she starts to fall for Naveen, to the point where her restaurant was no longer the most important part of her life.

Tiana is also heroic, and is shown to be quite capable in dangerous situations and moments of physical conflict. Throughout the course of the film, she continuously rescued Naveen from life-threatening situations, fending off predators within the bayou, and even Dr. Facilier and his hoard of sinister shadow demons. Her heroism is ultimately put into the forefront during the film's climax, where the city of New Orleans is hurdled into a high state of peril, with the only hopes of its survival being Tiana's own will-power and aforementioned sense of honor.

She's also incredibly strong-willed, and doesn't take lightly to being undermined or insulted by anyone. Despite her poor background, she sees something far greater in herself and jumps at every opportunity available to prove so, whether it be to the sleazy Fenner Brothers or the originally arrogant Prince Naveen, who initially looked down upon the woman because of her occupation as a waitress and uptight attitude, only to be proven there's far more to her than meets the eye.

Physical appearance
Tiana is a 19 year old African American woman. She is tall and slender with a sculpted figure, has dark skin, medium-length, wavy, black hair usually tied in a low ponytail, light brown eyes, a bright smile and dimples. For most of the movie, Tiana is transformed into a frog. Compared to Naveen she's a lighter green, skinnier, and like Naveen the only human feature she retains is her eye color.

Throughout the movie, Tiana undergoes various outfit changes. The first of which being her work outfits. When working her night shifts, Tiana wears a blue outfit, brown shoes, as well as a headband style maid's hat. When working her day job at Buford's Diner, Tiana wears a yellow dress over a white shirt, a white apron, with brown shoes. She also owns a dark green coat, with a matching hat which she wears on her way to the diner in the mornings. With this outfit, Tiana wears a low ponytail, wrapped up in a green band.

Originally, at Charlotte's masquerade ball, Tiana wore a Renaissance costume, with honey yellow and a light green/brown as its primary colors. Later than same night, she dons her iconic blue princess gown, loaned to her by Charlotte. The dress also came with a matching tiara, as well as a necklace, complete with a blue diamond. During her confrontation with Dr. Facilier, Tiana was put in a white, sleeveless gown, with golden straps, diamond earrings, a golden necklace, and a white feather, resembling the classic 1920s swinger outfits. Along with this came a beige fur shawl.

Tiana's iconic lily pad outfit is a green, sparkling, strapless, sleeveless ball gown. The gown's petticoat is a light yellow color. Along with the gown, Tiana wears light green opera gloves, green shoes to match the gown, a light blue, diamond necklace with matching earrings, and a lily pad tiara to top it all off. With this outfit, Tiana's hair is pinned up in an updo bun.

Tiana's wedding outfit was a beige dress (that reveals her back), with a matching Juliet cap, transparent gloves, as well as a green tiara. Her dress also consist of green linings, with a flower on the shoulder. During the finale opening of Tiana's Palace, she wore another green sweater outfit, with a golden tiara, complete with an emerald on the top.

Abilities
From early in the film, it is revealed that Tiana is a natural expert in the culinary arts. She is able to dice and chop a variety of vegetables at incredible speeds, and cook a delicious meal out of very little. She can recognize the ingredients needed for the dish, and Tiana was even able to transform Mama Odie's nauseous soup to perfection. The fact that Tiana baked five hundred beignets for Charlotte's masquerade ball that was the next day means Tiana is a competent enough cook. Tiana's gift has been pointed out on several occasions, by her father and by Naveen.

From working as a waitress, Tiana has excellent balance and hand/eye coordination. She could balance four trays of food on her head, hands, and right foot that were tossed one after the other before balancing three trays on her head and hands.

Tiana has intelligence, too, because she built a raft when it doesn't appear she was taught how to build one. She was smart enough to flick her tongue out to grab Dr. Facilier's talisman to break it. Tiana is the only princess with a real job, and considering she didn't go to college, has knowledge of economy to run her business, even though people underestimated her.

Tiana showcased her relatively quick adaptability as a frog; she could hop fast enough to get away from Stella considering she became a frog not long before that. Tiana avoided getting eaten by a crane, one of the natural predators of frogs. When a group of alligators tried to eat her and Naveen, Tiana swam away without being caught and, unlike Naveen, found a hiding spot. Furthermore, Tiana had enough physical strength as a frog to escape from a hunter's grasp by bending back his fingers with her feet.

In the chapter book continuation of the film, The Stolen Jewel, it is revealed that both Tiana and Naveen hold the ability of communicating with animals, having kept that ability from their time as frogs.

Humble Beginning

 * “...remember, Tiana, that old star can only take you part of the way. You got to help him with some hard work of your own. And then... Yeah, you can do anything you set you mind to. Just promise your Daddy one thing? That you'll never, ever lose sight of what is really important. Okay?”
 * ―James to Tiana
 * The film begins during Tiana's childhood where we see her and her best friendCharlotte La Bouff listening to the classic tale "The Frog Prince" read by Tiana's mother Eudora while she finishes Charlotte's newest princess gown. Whilst Charlotte adores the tale and openly wishes to find a prince and one day become a princess, Tiana shows that she's somewhat unamused with the story, considerably the kissing finale between the princess and the frog she was disgusted by. After the story's completion, Tiana and her mother depart, heading for home where they greet Tiana's father, the hardworking James. Later on, with the help of James, Tiana makes their favorite dinner, gumbo. Tiana gives her father a taste of some of her gumbo which she hopes to be the prime attraction when she and her father open their very own restaurant "Tiana's Place". That night, as Tiana was being put to bed, the young girl makes a wish on the evening star in hopes of getting her restaurant dream come true. James, however, tells Tiana that wishing can only get her halfway to her dream, and hard-work is also needed, which she understands.

Almost There

 * “How can I let up now when I'm so close? I've got to make sure all Daddy's hard work means something!”
 * ―Tiana to Eudora
 * Years later, it is revealed that a now adult Tiana is still struggling to reach her dream even after her father passed away. Since childhood, she has become a mature young woman, though she has discarded her original childhood imagination of wishing and such, and has become an overly practical workaholic instead. She works as a waitress at two local diners during the day and night. The desire to open the restaurant prevents Tiana from going out with her friends as she must work extra for more pay. Meanwhile, the handsome Prince Naveenarrives in New Orleans to marry Charlotte. To celebrate, Charlotte plans on throwing a masquerade ball and hires Tiana to make dozens of beignets, paying her with enough money to buy her restaurant. Excited, Tiana and her mother place a bid on an old run down sugar mill that Tiana's father had talked about many times before and had planned to use as the location. Though the building is extremely worn out and practically falling apart, Tiana couldn't have been more excited with her dream coming closer and closer to coming true.

The Frog Prince

 * “Just... one kiss?”
 * ―Tiana to Naveen, after the latter's proposition is given

Later that night at the ball, Tiana discovers that she's been out bid and unless she earns enough money in two days, she loses the restaurant (though it is possible the restaurant was being withheld from her due to her race, which is historically accurate given that the movie takes place in the Southern United States, but this is never elaborated on). After a mishap, Tiana ruins her outfit and goes to Charlotte's room to change. Charlotte gives her a princess gown and heads back down to the ball. Saddened, Tiana heads to the balcony and, in desperation, makes a wish on the evening star in hopes of making things work out in the end. After her wish, Tiana meets a talking frog who reveals to be Prince Naveen. After being cursed by a voodoo witch doctor, Naveen needs help from Tiana who he believes is a princess. Following the tale of "The Frog Prince", Naveen asks Tiana for a kiss in an attempt to break the spell. Unfortunately, Tiana is incredibly hesitant to kiss a frog, but Naveen offers her a reward, telling her that he comes from a fabulously wealthy family. Knowing she needs more money to open her restaurant, Tiana reluctantly kisses Naveen. The only thing it does, however, is change Tiana into a frog, as well, being that she wasn't actually a princess.

Enraged at her shocking transformation, Tiana attacks Naveen, having them both fall off the balcony and onto the ball's dance floor. Charlotte's father, Big Daddy, orders their dog Stella to get the frogs. Tiana and Naveen luckily escape on a balloon, which floats over to the cold, miserable bayou of New Orleans.

The Bayou of New Orleans

 * “We've gotta head back to New Orleans and undo this mess you got us into”
 * ―Tiana to Naveen after losing themselves in the bayou

Unfortunately, the balloon pops, and the two land in a swamp filled with alligators. They find shelter in a hallow tree, deciding to stay there until morning. In the mix of the chaos, Naveen promises to pay for Tiana's restaurant if she can help him out the swamp. Tiana agrees, rescues the prince, and the next morning, the two begin their journey. On the way, they meet Louis, an alligator with a gift of playing the trumpet. Louis and Naveen quickly become friends, sharing a passion for music. Louis' gift has Naveen wondering why Louis has never tried playing with the other great musicians of New Orleans, but Louis explains his last attempt to do so ended with the audience, as well as the musicians, panicking at the sight of a gator. Tiana then interrupts the friendship and drags Naveen ahead, telling Louis they need to find someone to break their spell. However, Louis doesn't understand until Naveen and Tiana explain that they are truly human turned into frogs via the magic of a voodoo witch doctor. Hearing voodoo, Louis informs them of Mama Odie, a voodoo priest who can help them turn human. Though Louis is originally against taking them to her, being too afraid of the dangers that may lie ahead, Naveen convinces the gator to change their mind, having Louis realize Mama Odie could turn him human as well. The trio then make their way but eventually get lost. They then meet Ray, a romantic firefly who's in love with the evening star, who he calls Evangeline. Ray happily decides to light the way and act as their guide to Mama Odie, with the help of his massive family of fireflies. During their journey, Tiana and Naveen begin to become closer, especially after saving each other from a trio of bumbling frog hunters. During a rest, Naveen helps Tiana cook for the friends by mincing some mushrooms. With that being the first piece of work Naveen has ever done, he reveals that, despite living the charm life of a prince, he feels deep down that he knows how to do absolutely nothing besides partying, which he is ashamed of. Tiana, feeling sympathy, compliments Naveen's mincing skills, growing the two even closer than before. Moments later, Ray introduces his friends to Evangeline, singing a love ballad in her honor. During which, Naveen attempts to waltz with Tiana, but the waitress declines, admitting that she's never learned to dance. Naveen decides that, in return for teaching him how to mince, he will teach Tiana how to dance. After the romantic waltz, Naveen and Tiana officially fall in love with one another.

Dig a Little Deeper

 * “I've always been so sure of what I wanted, but now I... What do I do? Please tell me.”
 * ―Tiana's plea to Evangeline
 * Unfortunately, the romantic moment is soon ruined when Naveen is captured by a pack of shadow demons sent by the witch doctor Doctor Facilier, who needs Naveen to fulfill his evil scheme to take over New Orleans. He is soon saved by Mama Odie, who takes them to her home; a boat in a tree. Tiana tries to explain to Mama that all they want is to be human, but Mama Odie knows what Tiana and Naveen really want after the adventure they had, was each other. However, Tiana fails to realize this and believes Mama Odie's motto of "dig a little deeper" means work extra hard to get her restaurant. Though Naveen completely understands that, instead of riches, what his heart truly desires was Tiana. But with Tiana misunderstanding, Mama Odie decides to put the romance aside and give the two frogs the solution to their problem. Mama Odie tells them that if Naveen were to kiss a princess, they'll both turn human. She then uses her magic brew to locate a nearby princess, which reveals to be Charlotte, who is princess of the Mardi Gras Parade. Unfortunately, Naveen only has until midnight, when Mardi Gras is over, to kiss Charlotte and break the spell.

They head off on a riverboat to New Orleans, where Naveen decides he wants to reveal his true romantic feelings to Tiana, figuring he'll merely get a job to help raise money for her restaurant. Naveen sets up a date later that night, under the stars on the riverboat. The prince was far too sheepish to successfully reveal the truth, but Tiana still finds his fumbling to be cute. Just then, the riverboat begins passing the old building Tiana plans on using for her restaurant. Tiana takes the time to tell Naveen about her dreams to open the restaurant. Knowing he can't afford to pay for the restaurant without marrying Charlotte and inheriting her fortune, Naveen decides not to tell her how he truly feels, for the sake of her dream. The riverboat then prepares to dock, and Naveen heads off to find Louis and Ray. Once he's gone, Tiana sadly speaks to Evangeline about her dilemma, revealing that she, too, is actually in love with Naveen, despite the fact that he must marry Charlotte for the money he promised for her restaurant. Meanwhile, right before docking, Naveen is kidnapped by the shadow demons.

Mardi Gras

 * “Just because you wish for something doesn't make it true...”
 * ―A downhearted Tiana to Ray

Tiana, Louis, and Ray are oblivious to Naveen's capture, and after getting off the riverboat, Tiana asks Ray if he's seen Naveen. Instead, Ray accidentally tells Tiana that Naveen actually loves her and plans on getting a job to pay for her restaurant. Overjoyed, Tiana and Ray head off to the Mardi Gras parade to find him and return the feelings. Sadly, Tiana, instead, finds Naveen, as a human, atop a parade float about to marry Charlotte. Heartbroken, Tiana runs off. Ray follows and tries to convince Tiana that they should go back to look more into what they say, but Tiana discards the idea, losing her faith in wishing and dreams once more. Determined to show Tiana the truth, Ray flies back to the parade, where he learns that the Naveen they saw about to marry Charlotte is actually Naveen's former valet, Lawrence in disguise. It turns out Lawrence was under the disguise as part of Facilier's plot, who plans on having Lawrence (in disguise) marry Charlotte and steal the La Bouff fortune by doing so, making Facilier the richest man in New Orleans. The real Naveen, still as a frog, was in captivity until Ray rescues him.

Dr. Facilier's Deal

 * “Come on, Tiana... You're almost there.”
 * ―Facilier tempting Tiana

Naveen then grabs a talisman on Lawrence's neck. The talisman gives Lawrence the ability to morph into Naveen and without it, Facilier's plans to gain the La Bouff fortune would be foiled. Naveen passes the talisman over to Ray, who rushes back to the cemetery to foil Facilier and show Tiana the truth. Once the talisman was handed over, Ray instructs Tiana to keep it away from Facilier at all costs, prompting the girl to run in fear as the shadow demons were in hot pursuit. Tiana tries to escape, but the evil Dr. Facilier meets up with her, changes her back to human, and conjures up a vision of the fancy restaurant she dreamt of all her life. Facilier tries to use all of this to entice and manipulate Tiana into striking a simple deal with him: Hand over the talisman for her lifelong dream to finally be a reality. Though Tiana was against the deal, Facilier decided to bring up people's doubts of her before settling on the subject of her deceased father, telling her that his dream never came true, but by accepting the offer, she could make it happen. The discussion of James actually backfires on the evil doctor, and Tiana realizes that while her father never got what he wanted, he had true love, which was much more important than what he wanted.

Tiana's Revelation

 * “My daddy never did get what he wanted... But he had what he needed; he had love! He never lost sight of what was really important! And neither will I!”
 * ―Tiana to Facilier
 * Tiana attempts to destroy the talisman, but Facilier's living shadow grabs it and hands it back to the doctor. Tiana is changed back to a frog and held down by the evil doctor. Facilier taunts the heroine, telling her she'd always be a frog for "foolishly" denying his deal. Fortunately, with quick thinking and a flick of her tongue, Tiana gets hold of the talisman and shatters it to pieces. After its destruction, Tiana watches in fear as Facilier is dragged away to the underworld by voodoo spirits and demons as punishment for his failure in taking over the city. While Facilier was confronted by his "friends", he mentioned still having Naveen, making a shocked Tiana realize that Ray was telling the truth after all. After the coast is clear, Tiana heads back to the concluded Mardi Gras parade, where she witnesses Lawrence being arrested - learning that he was the "Naveen" she witnessed on the parade float. Not too far away, Tiana finds Naveen, who was in the process of making a deal with Charlotte. If she turns him human through a kiss, he'd marry her, so long as she pays for Tiana's restaurant. Before the kiss, Tiana arrives and reveals her love, telling Naveen her dream would be incomplete without him in it. Seeing the beautiful sight, Charlotte agrees to kiss Naveen, but only for Tiana's dream to come true. But the clock strikes twelve, and Charlotte is no longer a princess, as Mardi Gras was officially over. Nevertheless, Tiana and Naveen were happy being frogs so long as they could stay together.

Finale

 * “Dreams do come true in New Orleans!”
 * ―Tiana during the reprise of "Down in New Orleans"

Right after their moment, darkness clouds Tiana as Ray was revealed to have been fatally injured by Facilier during the battle moments ago and passes away. Tiana attends his funeral, but rejoices after Ray becomes a star right beside Evangeline. Tiana and Naveen marry in the bayou, with Mama Odie taking charge of the ceremony. As they kiss, they turn back into humans, as they love each other, and Tiana is now a princess by marrying Naveen. After having a royal wedding as humans in New Orleans, Tiana and Naveen use the money that she saved to open the restaurant (with a little intimidation help from Louis, who frightens the snooty bidders into accepting what Tiana had). The restaurant, as hoped, is a big success with people from all around attending, just as Tiana dreamed. She renames it "Tiana's Palace", and enjoys a dance with Naveen to Louis and his band's music as Ray and Evangeline watch over them on what was a truly magical evening.

Sofia the First
Tiana appears in the episode "Winter's Gift", where Sofia is assisting a youngfaun in breaking an icy curse that constantly harms her loved ones. In order to do so, the faun (named Winter) must present a gift to the choleric Glacia the Ice Witch, in hopes that she will break the curse in exchange for the gift provided.

After being informed of the dilemma by Mama Odie, Tiana arrived and told Sofia that she was cooking a special meal as her perfect gift for her family and then sings the song "From the Heart", telling Sofia the perfect gift is one conjured from the heart, giving the young princess the idea on how to break the curse: That the gift should come from Winter's own heart.

Trivia

 * Tiana is the first, and so far the only, Disney Princess to have her father dead and her mother alive.
 * Tiana as the protagonist, is present and relevant for the entire film, but her screen time as a human was limited to 19 minutes, despite what DVD cover arts and promotional stuff showed (not including deleted scenes).
 * Tiana is left handed.
 * Despite being left handed, Tiana is showing signing a paper with her right hand in her fantasy during the "Almost There" number.
 * Tiana is the Disney Princess seen wearing the most outfits. In total, she wore 11 on different occasions (10 if you don't count the dress she wore as a child).
 * Several other African American celebrities wanted the role of Tiana, including model and television personality Tyra Banks, singer-songwriter Alicia Keys and recording artist Jennifer Hudson.
 * According to Disneystrology, her birthday would be on December 25th.
 * Tiana is franchised with her green wedding gown, but without the veil.
 * Tiana is the first African American character to make appearances at Disney theme parks.
 * Tiana is currently the last Princess shown in traditional, hand drawn animation.
 * In The Muppet's Show episode "Going Going Gonzo", Dr. Teeth suggests to Scooter, who is reevaluating his lifestyle, to go to Louisiana and talk to a voodoo woman named Tiana.