Theology in The Princess and The Frog

Two of my kids, one of their friends and I went to see Disney’s new movie today, “The Princess and The Frog.” (How frustrating that I wrote a much longer post here on my iPhone, and because I apparently used bad link code it got cut off…. So now I am re-writing. I am using the free WordPress 2.0 for iPhone app.)

The film was cute and good, but probably not worth the $25 we paid to see it today. If you haven’t seen it yet, wait for the DVD. We were actually going to see Avatar in IMAX 3D, but it sold out just as we got to the box office.

There are some refreshing differences between this Disney story and older, “traditional” fairy tales, but the most striking thing I observed was how it is politically correct to portray the existance of evil via voodoo, but not to make mention of God or the existance of any kind of good, higher power.

That is worth discussing with fellow moviegoers afterwards, particularly young ones. While the human-turned-frog main characters do wish upon a non-responsive star and receive help from a voodoo grandma deep in the bayou, neither of these characters or forces point to or draw power from any kind of “greater good.” In the theological world of modern Disney, it appears, evil can be portrayed in vibrant sound and color but no references (even oblique) can be made to God, his power, his kingdom or his active role in our lives.

That’s a significant omission.