Alfred Angelo’s Disney Princess Tiana 2014 Collection in stock now matching girls Princess Tiana

“You can’t get what you want just by wishing for it.”

―Tiana

Princess Tiana is the protagonist of Disney’s 2009 film The Princess and the Frog. The storyline centers on young Tiana, a waitress and aspiring restaurant owner living in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the Jazz Age, and a prince named Naveen who has been transformed into a frog by the evil voodoo magician Dr. Facilier. She is voiced by Anika Noni Rose and is the ninth official Disney Princess.

Tiana made history as the first African American princess in the Disney Princess franchise.

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 singer Anika Noni Rose, with whom Hudson co-starred in the musical film Dreamgirls.

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 black princess. Rose told The Root that 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.”

Background

Tiana was born to James and Eudora in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they raised her in an all-black neighborhood. Tiana has been a talented cook since she was very young, and shared the dream of opening a restaurant with James, which he called ‘Tiana’s Place’. Tiana’s father taught his daughter that in order to achieve her dreams, wishing was only part of it, and that she would need to work hard for them. However, James also told her to never forget what was most important, which, though Tiana thought that her father was talking about her dreams and getting the restaurant, what he truly meant was love. After James died, Tiana worked long and hard to earn enough money to achieve her goal, working two jobs and almost never taking time for fun.

Tiana has been best friends with Charlotte La Bouff since they were little girls, and Eudora read stories to them, such as “The Frog Prince“. As a child, Tiana was frightened of frogs, and swore that she would never kiss one, but 12 years later, she did kiss a prince turned into a frog, which is where her adventure began.

Physical Appearance

Tiana is a beautiful young woman of African-American heritage. 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.

Throughout the movie, much like Jasmine in Aladdin, 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 dawns her iconic blue princess gown, lone 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 backside), 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 a emerald on the top.

Personality

Tiana is a motivated, determined and a hard working young woman who finds pride in doing things her own way, without help from anyone. During the early scenes of the film, Tiana is too absorbed in her work ethics to care much about anything else, especially romance. However, Tiana gradually begins to fall in love with Naveen, and realizes the most important thing in the world is not only success and hard work, but a balance between friendship, love and fun.

Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Tiana, says: “She’s a strong woman who doesn’t need anyone to do things for her…She wants to do things for herself.” She must learn that balance is important in life; to be happy, she needs both love and a career. On The Princess and the Frog bonus features, Anika Noni Rose announced that she and Tiana are left-handed.

Tiana doesn’t like to be underestimated, as seen by the expression she made to the comment by Mr. Fenner, about a woman of her background having her hands full running a big business. She started to stand up for herself for them to change their minds, but fell down after beignets got on her dress. Tiana is sensible; she would push away Naveen’s romantic advances on her, then reminded him that he was getting married after he was flirting with butterflies. Tiana is friends with Charlotte La Bouffe, and when Charlotte became nervous and wished on a star Tiana tried to tell her that you can’t just wish on a star.

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 both Tiana and Naveen hold the ability of communicating with animals, having kept that ability from their time as frogs.

Appearances

The Princess and the Frog

Humble Beginnings

The film begins during Tiana’s childhood where we see her and her best friend Charlotte 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. 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 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

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, a handsome prince named Naveen arrives 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

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. Sadly, 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 bayous of New Orleans.

The Bayous of New Orleans

Unfortunately, the balloon pops and lands the two 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 audiance, 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.

Ray Lights the Way

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’ll teach Tiana how to dance. After the romantic waltz, Naveen officially falls in love.

Dig a Little Deeper

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 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

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 restaraunt. 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

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 restaurant. Facilier tries to use all this to manipulate Tiana into striking a simple deal with him, handing over the talisman for her dream come true. 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 her father had love, which was much more important than what he wanted.

Tiana’s Dream

Tiana attempts to destroy the trinket, 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. After the cost is clear, Tiana heads back to the concluded Mardi Gras parade, where she witnesses Lawrence being arrested, learning 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 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

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 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.

Electric Holiday

In the animated short, Electric Holiday, Tiana makes an appearance in Minnie Mouse‘s fantasy. She was a popular model in Paris and was first seen in the makeup room, and was later seen on the runway.

Once Upon a Time

According to Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, Tiana might make a future appearance in Season 3.[1]

Sofia the First

Tiana has been confirmed to appear in Season 2 of Sofia the First, most likely in the fall.

Video games

Tiana has made a few video game appearances including The Princess and the Frog, a game based off her film, andDisney Princess Enchanting Storybooks. A costume of Tiana is also featured as an add-on in the game Disney Universe. Tiana also appears in Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure. Tiana is also one of the many Disney characters featured in Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion.

The Princess and the Frog

Taking place after the events of the film, Tiana is in the process of opening her restaurant with her closest friends by her side to help and celebrate alongside her. Throughout the game, Tiana interacts with various characters from the film, revealing their current relationships, as well recapping some of the events from the movie, acting as the game’s mini-games and playable levels. Throughout the game, it is revealed that Tiana has even made amends with former adversaries such as her former boss, Buford, and the frog hunters, Reggie, Darnell and Two Fingers.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures

Tiana appears as a meet-and-greet character inNew Orleans Square. She assigns a few tasks to the player, including asking for help with her restaurant.

At one point, Naveen secretly makes Tiana a native Maldonian dish and asks the player to serve it to her. Once the player makes the delivery, Tiana feels the need to add a special ingredient, so the player distracts Naveen while she does. Later on, Tiana’s ingredients for her highly-popular gumbo have nearly run out, prompting Tiana to ask the player to find some more.

Lacey Joys Wedding Boutique

Alfred Angelo’s Disney Princess Tiana 2014 Collection in stock now matching girls Princess Tiana