Voodoo in Disney's The Princess and the Frog

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog was one of the company’s most daring projects, namely for presenting the first black Disney princess as well as its portrayal of New Orleans Voodoo. But how accurate is the portrayal of Voodoo in the movie? Many of the offensive stereotypes that surround the religion are present, especially in Dr. Facilier. The loas that appear in the famous song “Friends on the Other Side,” though not mentioned by name, are designed to look evil and sinister, almost like demons and Dr. Facilier is undoubtedly the spitting-image of Ghede, the loa of death, celebration and sex. Since Disney couldn’t symbolize sex in any way without getting complaints, they left that aspect out, and used the skull mask/paint to symbolize death. The only good Voodoo shown in the film is by Mama Odie, who only appears on screen twice. Hoodoo is mentioned in the film, but is used almost interchangeably with voodoo. One important fact is that Christianity is completely absent in the film. Disney is no stranger to presenting Christianity on film, as shown in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. By leaving Christianity out in its portrayal of New Orleans Voodoo, which is very Christian, Disney is presenting voodoo as evil magic, to be used only by villains for their own gain instead of the complex and good-natured religion that it is.