Prince Naveen is the deuteragonist from Disney's 2009 animated feature film The Princess and the Frog. He is the eldest prince of the kingdom Maldonia.
Naveen is loosely based on the nameless titular character from the classic fairy tale story "The Frog Prince".
- “At this point, you only have two choices. Woo and marry a rich young lady, or... Get a job!”
- ―Lawrence to Naveen
As mentioned above, Prince Naveen is native to the kingdom of Maldonia, where he lives alongside his parents, the king and queen, and his younger brother, Prince Ralphie. Naveen is quite the freeloader and has spent all his life being waited on, never learning to do a thing for himself, including activities as basic as simple cooking. His parents were in all likelihood, too busy running the kingdom to have time with their son, as Naveen stated during his meeting with Tiana that his mother had servants read him stories before bed every night, implying she was never available to do so. But despite this, they were at least aware of his behavior as by the time of adulthood, the King and Queen of Maldonia finally had enough of the prince's lazy antics and excessive partying, and disinherited him from the royal family. Even if his parents would not change their minds, Naveen now had to find some way to become self-sufficient in order to survive. Lawrence, however, suggested a way he would not to have to worry about maturity, which was to find a young woman with money, and marry her. Failing that, Naveen would ultimately have to accept becoming self-sufficient, as Lawrence put it...to get a job.
Personality
Though not malicious, or particularly antagonistic, Naveen was extremely spoiled, lazy, and vain at the start of the film, as a result of his privileged upbringing. Arriving in New Orleans with intent to marry Charlotte La Bouff for her wealth (albeit forcibly), Naveen's only concern was "living life to the fullest" by partying as much as possible—preferably with a pleasurable company, as vocalized during "When We're Human". He had a strong disgust towards work or labor and hotly refused to ever engage in such activities, making attempts to avoid doing so at all cost. This would often annoy surrounding characters such as the prince's valet, Lawrence, who Naveen unintentionally humiliated for a number of years, to the point where Lawrence was driven to vengeful villainy. In reality, Naveen simply wanted his pushy valet to join in on the former's constant festivities, but at the same time, was too caught up in his own amusement to ever consider the obviously antisocial Lawrence's feelings on the matter.
As mentioned, Naveen was also extremely vain, constantly commenting on his looks, his ability to arouse women, and was seemingly stuck with a mindset that all women were putty in his hands, in terms of romantic interest. He was also mentioned (in a boastful manner) to have dated "thousands" of women over the course of his lifetime, thus far, additionally commenting during "When We're Human" that having "a redhead on [his] left arm, a brunette on [his] right, and a blonde or two" to be examples of a perfect way to enjoy life, indicating that he was a heavy philanderer.
Naveen was also incapable of admitting his wrongdoings, and would instead put blame on someone else should trouble occur, such as blaming Tiana for "lying to him" about being a princess, after their failed attempt to break the frog curse, although she never mentioned being a princess. He also refused to admit his foolishness in easily trusting a shady figure such as Dr. Facilier, the man responsible for the curse, by claiming the witch doctor was "very charismatic", making his schemes irresistibly tempting.
Despite his shortcomings, Naveen is not as confident as he would like to believe and can be quite humble, devoted, and romantic. The strong-willed and ambitious Tiana would heavily influence the prince, and she would unknowingly bring out the best in his character, motivating him to alter his dreams and make something of himself. From that moment forward, Naveen was no longer concerned with parties and lazing, but instead set his sights on working to both better himself and to help make Tiana's dreams a reality, becoming a selfless individual who also valued the happiness of others. When he finally does admit his shortcomings, he appears very ashamed of himself.
Free-spirited and lively, Naveen has a positive tendency of bringing joy to others. While initially a nuisance to Tiana, Naveen was quick to become close friends with Louis and Ray, as well as New Orleans' common citizens, who all enjoyed the prince's fun-loving nature. Naveen returned the affections by serving as a supportive friend, championing Louis' dream to become a musician, Ray's love for what appeared to be a mere star, and even offered to buy all of his new acquaintances in New Orleans a drink, just for the sake of doing so, despite not being able to afford such a promise. Tiana would also come to enjoy Naveen's antics, having been influenced to occasionally let loose and enjoy life, herself, by the prince—something she originally refused to do, to an unhealthy degree. He was also passionate about the art of music, specifically jazz music, finding it beautiful, and was shown to highly admire and recognize New Orleans as the birthplace of the genre.
Trivia
- Before becoming "Prince Naveen of Maldonia", the character of the Prince was instead a British royal by the name of Henry. According to animator, Randy Haycock, this version of Naveen was inspired by J.C. Leyendecker, the young Carry Grant, as well as Brad Pitt.[1]
- Naveen is an Indian name (meaning "new"), which suggests that Maldonia is a Eurasian country (the name of Maldonia is a mix between Maldives and Macedonia), although his fluency in English, French and Italian might also indicate that Maldonia is a Mediterranean country, possibly near Monaco.
- Naveen most often appears as a frog for most non-live appearances.
- In the film Enchanted, released two years before The Princess and the Frog, a foreshadowing reference to Disney's then upcoming incarnation of the Frog Prince (Naveen) was made.
- Naveen is fluent in French, as evidenced by his accurate translations of Ray's French lyrics for "Ma Belle Evangeline".