Danielle Moné Truitt, who inspired The Princess and the Frog’s Tiana, filmed scenes in costume for animators
As the popularity of the Disney+ streaming service thrives, many Disney fans are rewatching some of their favorite films, like the groundbreaking 'The Princess & the Frog.' The film was one of the most historic Disney films ever made, as it was the first to feature an African-American Disney princess.
Fans of the film praise the brilliantly crafted storyline, the beautifully catchy songs, and the often hypnotizing movements of the film’s lead, Tiana. However, many don’t know that the iconic animated character was actually initially played by a real person, actress Danielle Moné Truitt, who provided the character’s video reference footage.
“I was the reference for Princess Tiana. It was such a cool experience because most people don’t know what goes behind making these animations, and I had no idea that they did video referencing for these characters,” she told MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) reporter Alana Jordan. “That’s what they used to do back in the day. They would hire actual people and film them, you know, playing these characters; they would lip-sync and lip-talk the words, and then they would draw it. It’s such an incredible process. And now-a-days, they’re doing the dots and stuff, but there were no dots. It was just them filming me doing all the scenes. And I even got to do all the dancing when she was a frog. Like, all that stuff, too. So fun!”
Since the early animation was all based solely on her footage, Tiana’s first look was almost an exact replica of Truitt’s features. “I would film, and then they would go back and draw it out, and so in a lot of the early references of Princess Tiana, she looked exactly like me because they were looking at my face. After a while, they morphed her into her own look, but it was so cool to see how talented they are. To see my face going [scrunches face into kissing pose] kissing, and for them to draw it out, it was just an amazing experience,” she explained.
When asked if she got to don the character’s iconic style for her work, she confirmed, “Yes, I dressed up in a beautiful gown, and when she was the waitress, I had the waitress outfit. And my frog was a stuffed animal frog that I kissed; it was so funny! But it was really fun! Learning all the choreography for the movie, and lip-syncing and lip-talking the lines. It was amazing to see.”
One of the best parts for Truitt is being able to share the experience with her young children, who are no doubt thrilled by their mother’s Disney princess status. And while she is grateful for the experience of bringing Tiana’s movements to life, she also gives praise for the other woman responsible for creating Tiana, voice actress Anika Noni Rose.
“So my kids and people who know me, they’re like, ‘you’re Princess Tiana!’ I’m like, ‘I’m her essence, yes. Not her voice.’ Much love to Anika Noni Rose, she was amazing in doing the voice for her. It was a great experience for me. I’ll definitely never forget it,” she told MEAWW.
The film’s producers clearly loved working with Truitt. In fact, they adored her so much, they asked her to not only play Tiana but to also voice another character in the film, Georgia. “From that [video referencing for Tiana] they asked me if I wanted to do a speaking role, which was really cool. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I would love to!’ And it’s just a small little role, but it made history.”
Somewhat unbelievably, Truitt had another deeply unique and history-making Disney experience when she got to reprise her role of Tiana for the video game and again when she played Tiana at Disneyland!
“When 'The Princess & the Frog'.., when they came up with the live show at Disneyland, I was the first Princess Tiana for their live show. It was called ‘Tiana’s ShowBoat Jubilee.’ Because I sing as well, I went in, and I auditioned for it,” Truitt exclaimed.
The theme-park show’s producers couldn’t believe they had the actual Tiana in the room auditioning to reprise the role. “They were like, ‘why does it say that you worked on the film?’ I was like, ‘because I did.’ And they were like, ‘what?!’ So then I told them, and they were like, ‘Oh my God! And you can sing, too?’ […] So I was Princess Tiana on ‘Tiana’s ShowBoat Jubilee.’ We did a few performances every day for a few weeks, and it was all the songs. I sang all the songs from the movie, and there were dancers, and it was really fun,” she added.
You can now catch Danielle Moné Truitt Thursday nights playing Charlie Minnick on Fox’s new hit show, 'Deputy.'
