When Anika Noni Rose met with Disney years ago, she never thought she’d be approached about a history-making role.
Yet, she was.
When Anika Noni Rose met with Disney years ago, she never thought she’d be approached about a history-making role. Yet, she was. Rose is Disney’s first African American princess, Tiana, in The Princess and the Frog. The movie was recently released on DVD and Blu-Ray disc. “I always wanted to be a Disney voice, but I didn’t know it would be this. When I met with Disney I had many voices ready in my pocket. I thought I would be the best duck or something completely different,” the Connecticut-born actress told reporters in Chicago as frog earrings dangled from her ears during a recent roundtable discussion to promote the film’s video release. There will be scenes on the movie’s DVD and Blu-Ray disc versions in the “extras” section that were left on the cutting room floor. The Blu-Ray disc will also offer games for children. For those who enjoyed the soundtrack, Rose said a new CD will be released with different songs. The Tony Award-winning actress and singer said during the voice recording of her character while looking at the storyboards for the scenes, she couldn’t have imagined the emotions she would feel when the product was finished. “When the trailer was ready, I thought I was going to choke on my tears,” Rose said while fighting back tears. “As you can see, I’m still undone about it.” Rose said she gets overwhelmed with emotion when she sees little girls – African American, Asian, Hispanic and white – all dressed to the nines in their princess garb. While Tiana is Disney’s first African American princess, the children don’t view Tiana as African American as adults do, she said. “They just see a princess they want to be,” Rose said, adding the movie is popular with boys too. Her nephew never refers to Princess Tiana as Tiana, she said. When he’s playing with his friends, he refers to the doll as “Auntie Anika,” she said. Prior to voicing Princess Tiana, Rose starred in several movies including, Dreamgirls and From Justin to Kelly. She also starred on Broadway in many plays including, Footloose, Me and Mrs. Jones and Caroline, or Change for which she won a Tony Award. Her television credits include the HBO series Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency.
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