I’m new at this column thing.

Last week was the beginning of “The Arts Corner,” a column that will be a weekly bit of the page where your ArtsEtc. content editor, Tony Lewis, and I will alternate and give you a bit of our minds. Tony started things up last week by writing about the National Board of Review and their picks for the best films of the year.

I thought I’d dive in by discussing one of the things that’s been on my mind lately — “The Princess and the Frog.” Why? Well, I love most things Disney. (And I mean classic Disney — I’m not touching “High School Musical” or “Hannah Montana” with a 10-foot pole.)

Also, this column coincides with the Opinion page’s discussion about race and diversity, so I thought it’d be a little timely.

But let me offer some context: Controversy has swirled around “The Princess and the Frog” since its inception. At first, everyone was excited to hear there would finally be a black princess in the Disney princess lineup. But then the complaints came in. First, the original title, “The Frog Princess,” was offensive. And Princess Tiana’s original name, Maddy, was offensive. (It sounds a little like “Mammy.”) And then Tiana’s original profession as a chambermaid was also offensive.

You get the picture. Now, I’m not saying people were wrong to come forward with such complaints — as a matter of fact, Disney made the appropriate changes after hearing these concerns. And knowing that the same company whose most notorious venture into African-American characters has been locked up in the Disney vault for decades (see: “Song of the South”), the fact these concerns were addressed — and the fact that Princess Tiana exists at all — is a huge step in the right direction.

However, you can’t forget that although Disney took its sweet time with Tiana, it’s not as if Disney films have been a total whitewash. Jasmine is Arabian. Mulan is Chinese. Pocahontas is Native American. And looking outside of the princess franchise, “Lilo & Stitch” focused on Hawaiians and “Brother Bear” took a closer look at an Inuit community. Even looking to Disney’s collaboration with Pixar has revealed an Asian American lead role in “Up.” All of this goes to show Disney is slowly but surely taking an active effort in diversifying their films.

The complaint against “The Princess and the Frog” that I have found particularly fascinating is that of Prince Naveen, Tiana’s prince charming who isn’t black. As a matter of fact, no one really knows of what he is — all we know is that he comes from the mythical land of Maldonia.

The idea of Disney putting so much effort into creating an accurate account of New Orleans in the jazz age and then making up a country for their leading man is especially interesting. By making that ever-so-deliberate decision, Disney is encouraging interracial relationships without having to define what that means other than a difference of color. We see a relationship that isn’t defined by what people look like or what background they come from, but about what their character is and who they are on the inside. And yes, that may sound like the most obvious thing to hear since “the sky is blue,” but that’s the kind of “obvious” moral parents should be happy to instill in their children.

(Also remember this isn’t the first film with an interracial relationship. Remember Pocahontas?)

And, if anything, creating a film with an interracial relationship sets a positive message that may not have been communicated with a black prince: You, young and adult viewers of the world, are not obligated to date within your race. Life shouldn’t be about sticking with our own kind, but an exploration of it and taking chances — like kissing a frog to see what happens.

That leads to another interesting complaint: the worry that Tiana’s black representation is undermined by her appearing as a frog throughout the majority of the film.

Again, interesting proposition, and one that can be taken in a couple ways. First, Disney princess films usually involve a “transformation.” For example, Ariel transforms from a mermaid to a woman. Mulan transforms from a woman into a man. (Note: Although initially Mulan and Pocahontas were not included in the princess franchise, they are now featured in the line’s products and advertising materials, which is why I’m including them.)

You might call it a stretch, but both Aurora and Snow White transform in their own way by falling into a comatose state (aka: pretty much dead) and returning from it.

And sometimes, these transformations involve overcoming a line of thinking, like Jasmine’s overcoming class boundaries by falling in love with a street rat. Or Belle, who learned to love a monster. These transformations aren’t just typical of Disney princess films, but of fairytales in general.

So when you think about it, Tiana shouldn’t be written off for taking the form of a frog for the majority of the film. She falls in love with the prince while they’re both frogs, something that again speaks to the theme that love isn’t about what you look like. Like I said before, it’s a moral more saccharine than a fistful of Pixy Stix, but it does the trick.

The other way to take this is from the commercial angle. Little girls may be interested in a toy of Tiana as a frog, yes. But as the success of the princess franchise shows (Disney reported they took in $4 billion in 2007), little girls are interested in playing with pretty princess dolls or owning everything under the sun that could possibly be emblazoned with an iron-on of a princess. And that process has definitely begun with Tiana. So when you think about it that way, Tiana’s representation as a black princess isn’t lost at all — it’ll continue well beyond the film in the same way as her predecessors.

If you visit Disney’s official website for the princesses (which, yes, I did, but only for this column, I promise), you see an array of ethnically diverse girls in pretty gowns. And in the front and center is Princess Tiana. It’s been a hell of a long time coming, so lets just put our sensitivities aside for a little while and just be happy to see a 2D film like what we had when we were kids, shall we?

Cailley Hammel is a junior majoring in journalism and communication arts. If you loved “The Little Mermaid” as much as she did when she was little, e-mail her at [email protected]