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A ministry of the ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP Ministry) A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Christian Ministry. www.capalert.com/ Entertainment Media Analysis Report A service to His little ones through you in His name by His Word MAR2010.013  (2009), G [13-G*] (1hr 32min) The #1 Christian entertainment media analysis service on the Internet. We give you OBJECTIVE tools NO ONE ELSE CAN to help YOU make an informed decision for yourself whether a film is fit for your family. Over 1200 analyses for parents, grandparents, pastors, youth leaders and more. |
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(While the Scriptural references are certainly not subjective, my commentary may be and sometimes is somewhat subjective.)
 Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database Production (US): Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures • Distribution (US): Walt Disney Motion Pictures • Director(s): Ron Clements, John Musker • Producer(s): Peter Del Vecho, Aghi D. Koh, Paul D. Lanum, John Lasseter, Craig Sos • Story by: Ron Clements, John Musker, Greg Erb, Jason Oremland, Ed Baker (story "The Frog Princess"), Chris Ure, Jared Stern, Dean Wellins • Screenplay by: Ron Clements, John Musker, Rob Edwards • Additional Source material: Will Csaklos, Ralph Eggleston • Music: Randy Newman • Film Editing: Jeff Draheim • Casting: Jen Rudin • Production Design: James Aaron Finch • Art Direction: Ian Gooding • Viewed on Disney Home Entertainment DVD 
In keeping with Disney's long-time fascination with witchcraft and sorcery for children comes The Princess and the Frog (G). There is certainly more witchcraft and sorcery (voodoo, hoodoo) in The Princess and the Frog than Snow White and other such Disney classics that engulf your children in larger-than-life evil fantasy embedded in the warmth of love and romance kid-style. And the witchcraft and sorcery in The Princess and the Frog is amplified by new technology which explodes the state-of-the-art expert talents of Disney animators and artists. This film is almost a tutorial into evil magic. Just because the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) slaps a "G" label on a film does not mean it is safe. The "G" is the opinion of the MPAA, an opinion you are fortunately not required to share. The final score of 63 out of 100 places this film in the range of scores earned by PG-13 rated films (55 to 67 out of 100) in the comparative baseline database, making it a 13-G (a G-rated film earning a final score equivalent to the scores earned by PG-13 films in the comparative baseline database). The Princess and the Frog final score would have been 79 without all the unholy content. A final score of 79 is a PG-equivalent score (PG-equivalent is 87 to 67 out of 100). But mainly due to the unholy content the film earned a 13-G final score. Based in the home of the Mardi Gras, Tiana (voice of Elizabeth M. Dampier as young Tiana, later the voice of Anika Noni Rose) dreams of one day owning a fabulous restaurant as did her role model super dad, James (Terrance Howard). Tiana's mother, Eudora (voice of Oprah Winfrey) worked at least two jobs to supplement James' income. Eudora was the house keeper for the rich "Big Daddy" La Bouff (voice of John Goodman) with a daughter named Charlotte (voice of Breanna Brooks then Jennifer Cody). As would be practical for two little girls the same age in the same house, Eudora cares for Charlotte together with Tiana who are bestest of buddies. Soon, Tiana became a waitress at Duke's café during the day and and a worker at Cal's at night. Tiana is bound and determined to save enough money for her own restaurant. She has saved several coffee cans of money but that is just not enough. One day word came that Prince Naveen (voice of Bruno Campos) of Maldonia will soon arrive in the Crescent City in New Orleans. (I wonder why the writers used Mal-donia to create a fictitious country? The prefix "mal" means "bad" or "badly.") In tow with Prince Naveen is the Prince's aide, Lawrence (voice of Peter Bartlett), a character that eerily looks like Wormtail (Timothy Spall) of Harry Potter™ fame. Now everyone is gearing up to welcome royalty to their fair city where jazz music was born. That includes Charlotte who intends to marry the Prince so she can become a Princess. The only real problem is that Prince Naveen has been financially cut off from the family riches. He is broke and must, at the insistence of Lawrence, find a rich girl to marry or get a job. A job!? An idea at which Naveen winces. He likes the idea of marrying a rich girl better. Charlotte is rich. Two plus two equals four. With the arrival of Prince Naveen comes the introduction to Dr. Facilier (voice of Keith David), a local nasty who is a witchdoctor who practices voodoo and hoodoo, always ready to separate anyone from his/her money. Hoodoo, also known as conjure, is a syncretistic form of voodoo and other underground "religions" in an attempt to unify them. Mom/dad, this film is rife with voodoo and hoodoo unholy practices, doctrines and imagery. Yes, voodoo and hoodoo are forms of unholy "magic." And don't let a Wiccan practitioner try to tell you otherwise. And, yes, the bad guy gets his comeuppance in the end and everybody lives happily ever after. But to a child, spending 95% of the film time on evil winning in its myriad of attempts to work its evil and maybe one or two percent on evil losing may create more dissonance than example. Remember, a noble destination does not excuse an ignoble path. Dr. Facilier lies in waiting until Prince Naveen just happens to run into Facilier who immediately starts to woo Naveen with dazzle and pomp ... and a promise of money. Facilier is expert at telling people exactly what they want to hear ... to transform, reform and transmogrify to satisfy their needs (spelled w-a-n-t-s) ... with evil. I will say that Disney's attention to detail is masterful, not only in physical laws but in vernacular. Disney had the cajun characters speaking the music of cajun such as "Get on quiet now" and "But your breath done near kill me to death." And again appears the Disney concoction of wishing upon a star. The old lullaby is back but this time with a different tune and the star is named Evangeline. I suppose that concepts such as Santa Claus and wishing upon a "heavenly" star can prepare little ones for one day developing faith in a "higher power" and in praying instead of wishing, but I uncomfortable with using faith placebos instead of the real thing. But then, I am not a child any more. By preparing 500 beignets for the masquerade ball at the La Bouf's, Tiana now has enough money for a down payment on her own restaurant, Tiana's Place. But someone (maybe Facilier?) outbids Tiana. Crushed by losing the bid and victimized by a messy mishap because of the news that she was outbid Tiana and Charlotte work together to clean up and recompose Tiana. While pondering what had just happened and what she is going to do now, Tiana meets a frog ... There is a lot more to the story and the plot but I have already spoiled too much of it. Let me get to the main reason more than 11,000,000 folks have visited us. First, the individual investigation area summary discussions below. But please be sure to visit the itemized listings of the content findings in the Findings/Scoring section (the heart of the CAP analysis model). Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 60 out of 100 The majority of the violence content in this film is slapstick violence. Animal attacks and cutting a victim to get his blood for a talisman add to the scoring loss due to violence. While each of these matters may seem innocuous there are enough of them to drag the score of this investigation area down about 40%. However innocuous the violence might seem, God has some rather important things to say about feeding our minds (and coping skills to boot) with violence. [Prov. 16:29] Impudence/Hate (I) - 82 out of 100 Only once does the three/four letter word vocabulary appear [Col. 3:8] but a number of euphemisms of bodily functions and anatomy are sneaked into the script obviously as an attempt at humor [Eph. 5:4]. Also a lie adds to the scoring loss for this area. God is adamant about lying. He will not let [unforgiven] liars into Heaven [Rev. 21:8] Sexual Immorality (S) - 60 out of 100 When Tiana dream dances with her make-believe waiters, one of them has his hands on her posterior while two of them hold her aloft. That could have easily been done differently or left out altogether without losing one bit of story power. In addition there are a number of animated behaviors, comments and events clearly to draw the viewer's attention to the private parts. Take for example the innuendo "the throbbing of my..." with the character cut off on the last syllable. We are not to entertain such innuendo because of the impure thoughts they plant. [1 Thess. 4:1-7] Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 78 out of 100 A few instances of alcoholic beverages and/or drinking of them are displayed, casual displays of imbibing adult beverages. While it is not a sin to drink it is a sin to get drunk OR to influence to get drunk. Watching such in and as entertainment indeed influences youth to drink without parental knowledge. So sayeth the American College of Physicians (ACP) who found by investigating 4454 middle school age students (90% were under 14 years old) that of those who had no controls of their entertainment diet 46% had tried alcohol without parental knowledge. The parameters of the research used R-rated films but regardless of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) classification the focus is that the emboldening influence of adolescent exposure to drinking (and smoking) in and as entertainment is undeniable. [Eph. 5:18] This film has such influence however negligible it might seem. And emboldening children to sin with drink in and as entertainment screams of violating Luke 17:2. Of course, inclusion of such display gave no power or substance to the plot or story whatsoever. Offense to God (O) - Zero out of 100 This area is where the most invasive content is found. Such content may be immaterial to the MPAA but it is not immaterial to the One who spent three days in Hell so you and I would not have to spend one moment there. Such content was indeed supportive of what the filmmakers wanted the film to say but maybe the film should not have said it, at least not to the extreme it was said. A warm story embedded in evil is the wrong kind of "warm." There is so much content of the unholy nature that to even summarize it here would take up far too much room. Please look to the listing in the Findings/Scoring section to learn of this content. Realize as you peruse the listing that this film presents evil as good [Isa. 5:20]. Please understand that there is no such thing as a good witch, not even Wendy of Casper™ fame. The holiness (or unholiness) of an extra-corporeal power one might wield is not determined by the user nor the use of it but by the source of it. Even the witchdoctor repeatedly claimed to "have friends on the other side" and relied on them for his power. Please read on. If Jesus had thrown Himself off the pinnacle at Satan's tease would the angels in Matt. 4:5-6, who would have "magically" lifted Him up from being dashed on the rocks, have sinned with their "magic?" Did Jesus sin as He used His "magic" to cast out demons? Heal the sick? Make the blind see and the lame walk? Raise the dead? As I said above, the source of the power determines the holiness of it, not the user nor the use of it. The Princess and the Frog is filled with portraying "magic" not from God. In Mamma Odie (voice of Jennifer Lewis) the film had the "good" using evil ("magic" not from God) to do good, thus serving evil. Jesus, angels and angel-possessed people use good "magic", better termed holy power from God. Witches, wizards, witchdoctors and sorcerers (people possessed of Satanic interests) use power not from God, and if the power is not from God, even if it is called "white magic", it is from Satan who is second only to God in power. Using power not from God is serving evil even if it is used for good. Murder/Suicide (M) - 96 out of 100 There was one murder of one of the characters -- murder by crushing a good-guy character by the witchdoctor. This is one of the examples of how this films portrays evil being successful. The character murdered was the firefly Ray (Jim Cummings), one of the lead good-guys of the film who befriended Tiana and Naveen as frogs. SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION(S) If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ] or bold. If you wish to have full context available, the Blue Letter Bible is a convenient source. If you use the Blue Letter Bible, a new window will open. Close it to return here or use "Window" in your browser's menu bar to alternate between the CAP page and the Blue Letter Bible page. CHAPTER/VERSE ***Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry*** As always, it is best to refer to the Findings/Scoring section -- the heart of the CAP analysis model -- for the most complete assessment possible of this movie. |
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 Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 60 out of 100 Impudence/Hate (I) - 82 out of 100 Sexual Immorality (S) - 60 out of 100 Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 78 out of 100 Offense to God (O) - Zero out of 100 Murder/Suicide (M) - 96 out of 100 |
| There are some in the entertainment industry who maintain that 1) violent programming is harmless because no studies exist that prove a connection between violent entertainment and aggressive behavior in children, and 2) young people know that television, movies, and video games are simply fantasy. Unfortunately, they are wrong on both accounts." And "Viewing violence may lead to real life violence." I applaud these associations for fortifying 1 Cor. 15:33. Read the rest of the story. From our years of study, I contend that other aberrant behaviors, attitudes, and expressions can be inserted in place of "violence" in that statement. Our Director - Child Psychology Support, a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist concurs. For example, "Viewing arrogance against fair authority may lead to your kids defying you in real life." Or "Viewing sex may lead to sex in real life." Likewise and especially with impudence, hate and foul language. I further contend that any positive behavior can be inserted in place of "violence" with the same chance or likelihood of being a behavior template for the observer; of being incorporated into the behavior mechanics and/or coping skills of the observer. In choosing your entertainment, please consider carefully the "rest of the story" and our findings. |
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