Reception and Legacy
As a character, Tiana has been mostly positively received. Helen O'Hara of Empire wrote positively of the character, describing her as "a hard-headed heroine who works hard and displays a focus and drive". Catherine Shoard of The Guardian praised Tiana, congratulating Disney for creating "a heroine who's an actual character; a woman whose three dimensions you don't need to don daft specs to see." Betsy Sharley of The Los Angeles Times wrote positively of Tiana, describing her as both "beautiful" and "boisterous". Carey Bryson of About.com gave Tiana high praise, calling her both "a fabulous new princess" and "a decent role model".
Tiana is notable for being Disney's first black princess. The studio's decision to create a black heroine was met with mixed reception. While some critics, such as Richard Watson, praised the film for offering a long-awaited "break in tradition", others received it with much criticism and speculation. Rachel Bertsche of O, The Oprah Magazine called the arrival of a black Disney princess "barrier-breaking" and "long overdue". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, "these avowedly black people spend an awful lot of the movie being adorable, unthreatening little green creatures. Disney may wish to reach out to people of colour – but the colour green wasn't what we had in mind." Bidisha of The Observer was fairly mixed in her review, calling Tiana a "one-dimensional" but "clever, strong woman", while criticizing the film's light-hearted plot and lack of emphasis on racial issues. Patricia Williams of The Guardian, who conceded harboring a general dislike of Disney animated films and the characters featured in them, including the princesses, accused Disney of being "unforgivably late" in their creation of a black heroine. Williams did, however, find Tiana to be "spunkier than most Âprincesses", comparing her to Princess Fiona of the Shrek franchise, and reacted positively to Tiana's portrayal as a tireless feminist restaurant tycoon.
On August 19, 2011, Anika Noni Rose was presented with a Disney Legends award at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California to commemorate her work on The Princess and the Frog. At the same ceremony, actresses Jodi Benson, Paige O'Hara, Linda Larkin, and Lea Salonga were also honored with awards for their individual contributions to Disney, having each at some point loaned their voice to a Disney princess.
Read more about this topic: Tiana (Disney)
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