Character Development and My Thoughts on The Princess and the Frog (Disney)

So, the other day I finally watched The Princess and the Frog. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. Read on to find out why, and perhaps you'll agree.

First, you've got this super-cool chick who has all of these huge dreams, and the will of iron to make them come true. She's a hard worker, motivated, beautiful, and nothing anyone does can stop her.

Then, you've got this good-for-nothing prince, whose parents disowned him because he's a loaf.

So what happens with the story?

The girl's character grows even stronger - she truly becomes what she wanted to become.

And the prince falls in love with her (and she with him).

The End.

No character growth on his part. He didn't really have to sacrifice anything for her. He didn't stretch himself, didn't really overcome his issues. And the fact is, he was the one who needed the character development, much, much more than she did.

I was disappointed, to say the least. I was proud at how well the story writers did with her character - the growth/development there was wonderful. But I was very disappointed with how his character was portrayed. I felt like the message sent to children isn't good - that a person doesn't really need to grow or perfect themselves to get everything they want. From her point of view, yes--but kids won't only pay attention to her amount of work, but also his. (I won't spoil the ending. Suffice to say I don't think the prince deserved anything he got. He didn't work hard for it.)

Unless, of course, you count the fact that he finally stopped chasing the BBD (bigger, better deal) and went for the girl with real character.

As writers, it's important we actually show how our characters grow and get out of their comfort zone. Readers will come away disappointed and unsatisfied if they feel we went cheap on this aspect.

Oh, and here are the Wattpad videos for today and tomorrow:
Sunday's video (Social Networking for Authors (for beginners))




Monday's video (Writer's Conferences and Networking for Authors)





If you'd like to see the chapters we're promoting for Sunday and Monday, go here. That's the link to chapter one, but you can scroll though it to the rest of the chapters. :-)