Disney's 'Princess And The Frog' opens

We've all heard the story before. A beautiful princess kisses a frog, which then turns into a handsome prince. But the story line of Disney's new film, The Princess And The Frog, provides a new twist on that old story.

The film, which opens in theaters on Friday, focuses on a young black princess who kisses a frog and turns into a frog herself, which launches a great adventure.

When we first reported about The Princess And The Frog in the summer of 2008, the project was surrounded in controversy.

"When Disney announced it was casting its first black princess for its latest animation film, the African-American heroine was hailed as a positive role model for little girls and an ambitious marketing ploy," Arifa Akbar wrote in London's Independent.

The film provided an opportunity for the studio to "ward off the allegations of racism that have lurked since the heyday of Walt Disney Productions in the 1940s and 1950s," she wrote.

But more than a year before the film was even released, critics were complaining about the setting, the story line, and the characters.

Set in 1920s New Orleans, the animated musical was originally supposed to depict a black maid named Maddy. With the help of Maddy's voodoo practicing fairy godmother, she was to win the affection of a white prince after being rescued from another voodoo practictioner.

The original story was allegedly canned after criticism and Maddy was changed to Tiana, a young black princess played by Anika Noni Rose. The movie's title also reportedly changed, from The Frog Princess, the title of a classic fairytale, to The Princess and The Frog.

William Blackburn, a columnist for the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina, was one of the first to complain. "Disney should be ashamed of what it is trying to pass off as its first black princess," he said. "Despite all its resources and experience, it has failed to create a black princess to rival its predecessors," he wrote back then.

The finished product may be quite different from what was originally expected. In addition to Rose, Jenifer Lewis, Oprah Winfrey and Terrence Howard are also featured in the movie.

Still, questions are being asked about the absence of a black prince to play opposite Rose's character. Appearing on ABC's "The View" on Thursday, Rose explained that there is a strong black male in the film -- her father. "That is nice," writes Daily Voice syndicated blogger Joni Reynolds, but she wonders if "merchandising" was the real reason behind the decision to forgo a black prince.

"The Princess and the Frog merchandise has been on sale for months and it is doing quite well," Reynolds writes. "The general population is used to seeing black female dolls and they purchase them, but would a black prince have sold as well as a non-black doll?"

Whatever the reason behind the studio's decision, the film is expected to generate lots of interest and media attention as Disney ventures into new territory this weekend.