Princess Mammy... Sorry Maddy... Sorry Tiara... Sorry Tiana - And The Frog

The Disney film previously known as The Frog Princess has undergone some changes. Now, it's The Princess and the Frog. And now, Princess Maddy is Princess Tiana. Apparently, some thought the name Maddy sounded too much like Mammy, or Addy which was, reportedly, a slave name...

And this kind of thinking is why Song of the South is still under lock and key.

Jim Hill had the scoop, as per all things Disney. Best bit: that the title change was due to some seeing the original name as a slur on French Royalty. French Royalty? They're hardly an ongoing concern, are they.

The villain is, at least currently, a "smooth sinister black man who practices voodoo" called Dr. Duvalier. Will this change to appease the hystericals? And will Randy Newman get booted from soundtrack duty because, to put it bluntly, he's white? I don't think so. I sincerely doubt John Lasseter would do anything so silly, so open to criticism, so reactionary.

Frog Princess Officially Announced

John Lasseter has unveiled the 2009 release from Walt Disney Feature Animation, The Frog Princess. As reported here in November of last year, the heroine of the film is to be Disney's first African American protagonist. Her name is Maddy and she's going to be a real money spinner for the company and their Disney Princess merchandising machine.

We also told you that Randy Newman was composing the music and Dr. John would be playing and singing on the songs, and at least the first half of that was repeated in the press release also.

Musker and Clements are directing and their previous Disney successes The Little Mermaid, Hercules and Aladdin seem to be the jumping off point for the approach here. I'm hopeful that this is going to come out rather wonderfully, and so, it seems is Lasseter.