Mandy Reads Fairytales: The Frog Prince

I’m not going to open with another shock and surprise that I’m back in action for once. Let’s just get to the origins of one of my favorite Disney movies.

 This week, we will be taking on…

🐸 The Frog Prince! 🐸

The Princess and the Frog is another one of the stories that Disney loosely based on a Grimms Brothers’ story. The Frog Prince is one of their cornerstone stories, and it’s definitely one of their most famous ones.

Here’s a short premise of the story:

In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends the Frog Prince (meeting him after dropping a gold ball into a pond), who magically transforms into a handsome prince.

I mean, I know the basis of the story. Girl meets frog, kisses it, and it turns into a prince. However, this is already clearly different than how The Princess and the Frog works. Tiana is one of my favorite princesses, though, so I’m a bit fearful since I’m ruined at least 3 other fairytales so far.

Shall we go over all the ways that this OG fairytale is not the Disney goodness and gets a little crazy? Let’s bring out the bullet points!

• Okay, we start off with our princess off in her bonnet and clogs taking a stroll. I’m now picturing Tiana in a bonnet and clogs, which is now somehow morphed into wooden shows and now she’s in a cliche Dutch costume, and I’m confused. Let’s move on.
  • Also, like, are bonnet and clogs important to the story??? I’m now concerned these are important details and they will be crucial plot devices.
• So she finds some spring of water and sits down, and she now has a golden ball WHICH was not in the original clogs and bonnet description. I feel LIED TO. I was too busy focusing on the clogs and bonnets and now I have missed this crucial golden ball that I am now imagining as that little flying gold ball with wings from Harry Potter.
  • Omg, why does my brain do this weirdness.

• So, the girl is just throwing the ball up and down and then she LOSES the ball and it goes into the spring, and apparently this spring is really deep so it’s not an easy thing to just go grab and girl is like:
  • ‘Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world.’

• Mmmmm, I mean, like, I didn’t realize it was THAT important of a ball? Wait, like, is it made from actual gold??? Anyway, this is only first paragraph stuff. I’m concerned about this girl’s priorities.
• Frog pops out of the water is like YO WHAT’S WRONG, and the girl is like, EW NASTY FROG. Legit, nasty frog. Rude, misguided gold ball priorities – she got nothing on Tianaaaaaaaaaaa.
• Girl tells him her plight of gold ball gone, and the frog said, ‘I want not your pearls, and jewels, and fine clothes; but if you will love me, and let me live with you and eat from off your golden plate, and sleep upon your bed, I will bring you your ball again.’
  • Well, I mean. I mean. Okay. I’m just going to go with it. It does kind of sound like a Naveen thing to say.

• OMG OMG OMG. Girl is like omg, silly, frog, he’s talking! And like THANK YOU. Someone finally was like, Oh, talking and not normal animal??? This is odd?? As we learned in last episode, Cinderella didn’t blink when birds threw wishes at her and a tree was her fairy treemother. I take back making fun at you for your love of the gold ball.
• So, princess agrees, frog gets ball, and then girl is so happy that she legit runs away and leaves poor frog despite her promise. Back to being rude despite your higher knowledge.
• So, next day, princess sits down for dinner. She hears this weird noise like splish splashing. She gets up and hears this: ‘Open the door, my princess dear, Open the door to thy true love here! And mind the words that thou and I said By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.’
  • Idk what froggie man said in the second part but I assume it was something like GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE. YOU FAILED ME. I AM MORE HANDSOME AS A DISNEY PRINCE AND BEWARE VOODOO DOCTORS.
• She sees the frog prince and WHAMS shuts the door and rushes back to her dinner. I mean, sounds legit.
• Dad King Man is like, um, what’s wrong and this clearly isn’t a YA story because she immediately confesses everything about her nasty frog deal.
• So, the dad is like, KEEP YO PROMISES.
• She lets him in and he immediately starts to demand things like put me in your lap, feed me, carry me upstairs – and omg HE IS NAVEEN.

• So he sleeps on her pillow – like, okay, major ew – and he leaves in the middle of the night. Kk, sure.
• He appears at the door YET AGAIN the next day, and princess is like, ugh, which I agree since why you leave in the first place??
• So, prince does the same thing yet again, and then bam, this happens: “And the third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke on the following morning she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince, gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, and standing at the head of her bed.
  • AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
  • THIS IS CREEPY. I AM CREEPED.
  • Okay, like, 1) I have a major fear of opening my eyes in the middle of the night and there is a person there.
  • 2) THIS IS LIKE A BAD YA LOVE INTEREST MOMENT THAT STARTED AFTER THE romanticization OF IT BY NONE OTHER THAN EDWARD CULLEN.
  • AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
• So, prince just launches into full story and is like oh hey this fairy didn’t like moi (can’t imagine y) and he had to wait for a princess to follow these few steps for 3 nights and then I BE BACK BABY and like let’s go to my father’s kingdom for the end of our days.

• And princess was like YESSSSS and this random guy named Heinrich popped up and was apparently the servant who was super said about frog prince and rode them off for happily ever after.
• I think I might have read the wrong one since there wasn’t a kiss?? Many questions. I’m concerned.

So, to summarize, let’s take a look at the differences between Disney’s and the OG:

Um, there is so many to count??? Maybe we should look instead to what they actually kept.

• Frog that is a prince
• Prince that is demanding
• Ummmmmmm wellllllll ummmmmm prince becomes un-froggy at the end!!

Conclusion: Yeah, definitely watch the movie. Tiana is goldennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. She is the gold ball.

What do you think? Have you read this story? How did you like this new series? Let’s discuss in the comments below!