Froggy Romance

Season seven of the ABC show Once Upon A Time has already sparked many discussions with the introduction of new characters. In the show's fifth episode the same can be said, as fans were finally given the story they had been waiting for. At season six's wrap up the viewers learned that the beloved Disney princess, Tiana, would be joining the cast of characters for the newest season. After the casting of Mekia Cox fans wondered how the strong and independent character's story would fit into the Once Upon A Time realm of fairytales.

Previous seasons contained many strong female characters such as Snow White, Emma Swan, Mulan, Regina, Tinkerbell, and even the fiery red-haired lass known as Merida. The show's creators have never shied away from developing tough woman into their show. It only seemed fitting that the hard working Tiana would someday join the cast. As the show has undergone a bit of a reboot in it's seventh season, many doors have been left open allowing for a whole new cast of characters and stories that do not necessarily relate the stories of the previous six seasons. Knowing this, the show's fans wondered how Tiana would add to this new world that is being created in season seven.

Anyone who had seen the Disney story of The Princess and The Frog anticipated the story being retold in the way only the creators and writers of Once Upon A Time can do. Over the past seven seasons, this retelling has become known as "Oncification" where familiar stories are retold with a "Onceified" twist. Ahead lay spoilers for both the Disney movie, The Princess and The Frog, as well as spoilers from the most recent episode of Once Upon A Time.

Princess Tiana's story was told in classic Once Upon A Time fashion, and was "Onceified" leaving two different stories that overlap through dozens of parallels. Starting with Tiana's upbringing. On the television show, Tiana started off as a princess. Having been raised in a castle full of fine dresses and elegant brushes she was sheltered from the struggles of the outside world. Her mother and father were royalty and her father had been known for his bravery as he won a medal from fighting a war. Already fans notice the difference from the Disney story. In the Disney version, Tiana was the daughter of a poor seamstress and a hard working family man who had served in the military. Disney's story emphasized Tiana's class and lack of finances to farther the point that she must work hard to accomplish her dreams. When watching the Once Upon A Time version it almost seems as though the story is being told backwards. Though some connections between both versions of the story can be found when looking to the Disney version. Tiana has a childhood best friend named Charlotte La Bouff or better known as Lottie. Tiana and Lottie grew up playing together as Tiana's mother sewed countless beautiful dresses for the young Lottie.

Lottie's father was wealthy and loved to spoil his daughter with pretty pink princess gowns, puppies and whatever her heart desired. Though this never made Lottie or her father look down on Tiana and her family the differences between their wealth were apparent. It was also clear that Lottie did not have to work the way Tiana did for the things she desired. It is in this aspect of the Disney version that we can relate the Once Upon A Time version of Tiana. The creators and writers of Once Upon A Time appeared to start off their story with Tiana in a position similar to Lottie in the Disney version.

In the Once Upon A Time retelling there are more differences, as Princess Tiana is actively looking for a husband. Her family is suffering financially after the death of her father. Tiana and her mother decide to try and sell off some of their belongings. Though Tiana is not pleased about it due to the fact she feels as though she is giving away pieces of their life and pieces of her father's memory. After talking to her mother about the situation and trying to convinced her mother to stop the sale her mother explained that the kingdom needs the money. She tells Tiana that the only way to save their way of living and their kingdom is for Tiana to marry a rich prince. Immediately this contradicts the character of the Disney princess. In the Disney movie, Tiana is uninterested in finding a prince or any romantic relationship. Her main focus is earning enough money to open her restaurant. She is determined to be independent and earn her restaurant on her own.

This aspect of Tiana's personality showed through in the modern day, Once Upon A Time version of the princess. Tiana uses her wit and cooking skills to help her best friend earn more money after they discover their rent is going up. Tiana realizes that her talent in making beignets can be used if she works hard to help both her and her friend.

Together, Tiana and her best friend Jacinda, who is also known as Cinderella, start a pop up event where they sell Tiana's beignets in the chicken restaurant that Jacinda works at. In Seattle, Tiana is known as Sabine, and Sabine enlist in the help of young Lucy to create their company's logo after the sells surpass Sabine and Jacinda's expectations. Lucy creates the logo of a firefly which they stamp on every bag. Fireflies have served as a parallel between both versions of the story. In the Once Upon A Time version Lucy created the firefly logo, but also in the flashbacks Tiana makes it clear that she will not part with a medal that her father was awarded after the war. The gem on the medal was known as the firefly stone.

A connection here between both stories is that in the Once Upon A Time, Princess Tiana is looking for a wealthy man to make her dreams come true. In the Disney version the male lead, Prince Naveen is also looking to marry a wealthy woman to make his dreams of living a life of luxury remain a reality.

While out galavanting through the city of New Orleans, Naveen meets a witch doctor known as Dr. Facilier. Acting as a fortune teller, Dr. Facilier offers to tell the charming prince his fortune. The fast talking and smooth fortune teller identifies Naveen's need to marry rich. He then goes on to tell Naveen that the answer to his problems is simple. He tells Naveen that, "it's the green, it's the green, it's the green you need..." Naveen takes this to mean green like money, but Dr. Facilier had something different in mind. He tricked Naveen and turned him into a slimy green frog.

In this theme of trickery the next connection between Once Upon A Time's version and Disney story arises. Prince Naveen had been tricked by Dr. Facilier and turned into a frog. While in the Once Upon A Time tale it is Princess Tiana who is tricked. Though not by Dr. Facilier instead by a prince who goes by the name of Marius. He introduced himself to Tiana at a ball. He led her to believe he was a wealthy prince who could solve all of her problems. They spent the night getting to know one another. It was then that Marius spotted Tiana's father's medal. After distracting Tiana and attempted to swipe the medal. Though Tiana realized what had happened an stopped him in time. Through his deceit, Tiana learned that this Prince was not who he claimed to be. He was not even a prince at all. He was on a mission to steal the firefly gem for Dr. Facilier. The magic man had learned of Tiana's struggle, and used her struggle to his advantage. Dr. Facilier sent the man to steal the firefly gem in exchange for the man's true love.

Eventually Tiana decides to help the man be reunited with his true love. Just as Tiana from the Disney version agreed to help Naveen by giving him a kiss after he had been turned into a frog. However, in the Disney tale things did not work out the way either of them had hoped. Naveen had promised Tiana a reward for helping him. A reward which she intended to use in order to open her restaurant. Instead Tiana herself was transformed into a frog as well, leaving them both helpless against Dr. Facilier's magic.

In both versions, Tiana was faced with challenges as she worked towards her dreams. In the Once Upon A Time version she found it difficult to find the prince she had been searching for. Meanwhile in Seattle she worked with her best friend to overcome their money challenges. Though due to some villainous characters, Tiana's attempts and hard work was undone in a mysterious fire. Leaving her business destroyed and a divide between her and Jacinda. In the Disney version Tiana is working to overcome the money challenge she is faced with, as well as the new challenge of having been turned into a frog. Both stories remain consistent in the fact that Tiana does not give up easily.

To overcome her challenges, Tiana will travel to great lengths. In the Disney movie she was willing to travel down the bayou with Naveen and some other friendly characters to meet a witch called Mamma Odie. Tiana hoped the witch would break the spell on her and Naveen. Mama Odie had some disappointing news for the frog pair once they arrived. She told them she could not lift the spell. It was within them to do it for themselves once they discovered what it was they truly needed. Naveen thought he needed to marry a rich girl to keep his family fortune. Tiana thought she needed to keep working to earn money to open her restaurant. Both of them said they needed to be human in order for this to happen. These things were not truly what Naveen nor Tiana needed. Mama Odie told them to "dig a little deeper to know..." With the help of Mama Odie Tiana and Naveen learned that it was love that they actually needed. Love meant more than the money Tiana and Naveen had been searching for, and as long as they had love they would be the richest people in the world. Once again this theme was found in the Once Upon A Time version as well. After Tiana's confrontation with the fake Prince her mother spoke with her and apologized for putting so much pressure on her. The Queen told Tiana about the medal that her father had won and reminded Tiana that all of the great qualities her father had are also in her. Tiana realized her priorities had been all wrong. She saw that she had what it took to save her people within her the whole time. It was in that moment that Tiana decided she would help the fake prince.

Though Princess Tiana was not the only one who realized her priorities had been mixed up. After the fire in Seattle, Jacinda and Tiana fought, and it led to Tiana moving out of their shared apartment. Their long time friendship seemed like it might have been over for good, though young Lucy came to the rescue again. After having talked with Lucy, Jacinda found Tiana and apologized. She showed Tiana a truck that she had bought and told Tiana that she wanted to go through with their plans of running a food truck. Jacinda realized that even when times get hard what matters is looking to love so you can overcome any challenge. In the Disney movie this is exactly what Naveen learned after talking to Mama Odie. He saw for the first time that he had fallen in love with Tiana. Even though she was not wealthy and she was not even a human. It was ok because a life with her even as frogs was better than the life he had prior when he was a human.

While the Once Upon A Time version of Princess Tiana may seem very different from the beloved Disney Princess it can be seen that there are many similarities between both character's and the stories that are told about them. The show's writers have not fully wrapped up Tiana's story leaving fans eager to see what else is in store for Tiana. One thing they can be sure of is that the strong willed, independent, and hard working woman will face any challenges Hyperion Heights or the villains of the "new" Enchanted Forest might throw at her.