Tiana is the star of "The Princess and the Frog," which is set in south Louisiana. Tiana was inspired by Chef Leah Chase of Dooky Chase's Restaurant in New Orleans. On Thursday, Disneyland announced that a new restaurant called Tiana's Palace will open in New Orleans Square.
Tiana was born to James and Eudora in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 25, 1989 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'.
Why it matters: Princess Tiana is largely inspired by New Orleans chef Leah Chase. Her family has been actively involved in the creative process with Disney as the company expands Tiana's presence in the parks.
Tiana is recognized for being Disney's first African American princess. As the film's writers and directors, Clements and Musker claim that their decision to depict Tiana as an African American young woman came naturally simply as a result of the location in which the story takes place.
– Just as Tiana transformed an old sugar mill into her dream restaurant in the Walt Disney Animation Studios film, “The Princess and the Frog,” the French Market restaurant in New Orleans Square at Disneyland Park has been reimagined into Tiana's Palace.
FULL MENU & TOUR: Tiana’s Palace at Disneyland Resort
Is Princess and the Frog based in Louisiana?
Set in the Roaring Twenties in New Orleans, Tiana is completely devoted to opening her own restaurant, a dream she shared with her late father, who died in World War I. She works two waitress jobs every day and night to earn money to make this dream a reality, leaving her no time for a social life.
His skin is brown, but he isn't African-American. "A lot of moms had issues with that," Coleman said. "It felt like it was a slap in the face to black men." Coleman asked a Disney executive if Prince Naveen was Creole and was told that his background was made up; he's whatever ethnicity they have in fictional Maldonia.
As for whether Elsa and Anna are white … the Northuldra are modeled on the Sami, an indigenous people scattered across northern Scandinavia and northwestern Russia who have faced a great deal of discrimination, but there's a lot of disagreement about the genetic and linguistic origins of Sami to this day.
Although Moana is from the fictional island Motunui some 3,000 years ago, the story and culture of Moana is based on the very real heritage and history of Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti.
Tiana is another one of the oldest Disney princesses, though that's the case at only 19. Although her story ended in romance like most other Disney princesses, her main prize throughout the movie was furthering her career by opening a restaurant.
At some point, James was possibly killed in action (K.I.A.) during the war, so he probably never got to see Tiana get her restaurant. As shown briefly in the film, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (given for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force).
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.
Although the sequel reveals how Elsa got her powers and offers insight into the mysterious death of her parents, Elsa does not get a girlfriend in the film.
Olaf appears in the sequel Frozen II, where he no longer needs a permanent snow flurry, as he is now made of permafrost, and enjoys being able to freely bask in the sun year-round. Now three years old, Olaf is slightly more intelligent and mature.
Pin for Later: 21 Disney Prince Facts You Never Knew as a Kid Prince Naveen is the only prince to have a non-American accent. He is from the fictional kingdom of Maldonia, and voice actor Bruno Campos ad-libbed the accent as a combination of Portuguese and French.
Naveen or Navin (Sanskrit: नवीन, IAST: navīna; /nəˈviːn/ na-VEEN) is an Indian male given name and surname. The word means "new", "fresh", "young", "bright", "creative". Naveen is chiefly used in Indian languages, and its origin is Sanskrit.
Naveen is an Indian name (meaning "new"), which suggests that Maldonia is a Eurasian country (the name of Maldonia is a mix between Maldives and Macedonia), although his fluency in English, French and Italian might also indicate that Maldonia is a Mediterranean country, possibly near Monaco.
Moana is set on the fictional island of Motunui in the Pacific Ocean and draws inspiration from elements of the real-life island nations of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Tangled is a movie based on the story of Rapunzel, which takes place in Germany. In the movie, the kingdom, likely in Germany, in which Tangled is set is that of Corona. Further, according to an article on the locations of Frozen and Tangled, the Kingdom of Corona is along the Baltic Sea coast along Germany or Poland.
Princess Tiana is largely inspired by New Orleans chef Leah Chase, and her family has been actively involved in the creative process with Disney as the company expands Tiana's presence in the parks.
