Final Multimodal Project

In this final capstone project, students become journalists, critics, and storytellers as they transform their research into creative public-facing work. Building on their earlier background essays, students choose one of three formats—academic essay, freelance magazine article, or podcast—to explore how media artifacts reflect and shape multicultural America. Each student develops an original piece that blends rigorous research with engaging storytelling, supported by peer and instructor feedback from earlier assignments.

Through this project, students learn to adapt scholarly insights for different audiences and media forms—whether writing a long-form article, producing an accessible podcast, or deepening an analytical essay. These multimodal works reflect students’ ability to connect theory and practice, demonstrating how journalism and mass communication can foster cultural understanding, critical inquiry, and creative expression.

This webpage showcases select student projects from my J162: Mass Media in Multicultural America course (Spring 2024). These works are shared with permission to highlight how students integrate reflection, research, and storytelling across media formats. To request access to the full collection, please contact yiming.wang@wisc.edu.

The production of this film was prompted to show more people that they too can be princesses because the main character gives individuals someone to look up to, not just by physical traits, but by having goals too. By adding a role model for someone to live by, John Musker, one of the producers of the movie, states, “Aside from the fact that she's African-American, I think we broke some ground with her approach and having a princess with a career.” For a film to have a female working towards her career dreams, it shows young audiences that they do not necessarily have to wait for another person to satisfy their lives. Also, not only does the main character have career goals, but the main female character is trying to pursue her dreams while the South tries to take away any chance of owning a restaurant due to the racial inequality of living in New Orleans. Thus, having a princess who has a career goal is different from other princesses and shows that multicultural America is constantly changing and influences individuals' mindsets of what a princess is in the modern age.

To make sure that the producers captured the essence of the setting of the movie, they traveled to New Orleans and consumed the way of life down South; for instance, Samantha Friedman, a writer for TravelAge West and Family Getaways magazines, explains, “Designers for The Princess and the Frog visited the city to ensure they would accurately present the black experience in 1920s New Orleans." The creators knew that individuals who currently live and are from the area would be watching the movie and had a special connection to the city; depicting it with accuracy allowed a true positive reflection of the city and did not leave the viewers with a false representation of New Orleans. The designers included aspects like voodoo dolls, food, and musical components typically found in Louisiana, like jazz. These characteristics encapsulate the life lived in Louisiana and show how diverse the regions of America are. If they did not accurately depict the South, the movie could create stereotypes for this region; hence, they would be telling a false narrative to the audience. 

With the correct interpretation of the South in mind, the question lingers: why pick the setting of the South during the 1920s? Richard M. Breaux, a writer with several research publications on Journal Storage, explains that by setting the film during this time period, the movie does not have to fully address the implications of Tiana’s goal to own her restaurant. The setting of the film, which is in the South, specifically in New Orleans in the 1920s, addresses the unfairness in the ability of the main character to accomplish her dreams without having to specifically list the reasons why. Jim Crow laws were prominent in the 1920s and would have prevented the main character, a young black woman, from owning a restaurant. Likewise, since she is a black woman and white men typically owned the buildings, they were not likely to allow a person of color to easily purchase property due to racist stereotypes and laws put in place to prevent African Americans from owning any property. Thus, by placing the film in New Orleans, the film does not have to specifically say that her challenges are due to Jim Crow laws because of the context the setting gives the viewer.

Disney's target audience for a long time tended to be primarily white individuals, and they produced many movies with white lead characters. Before the release of this film, there were various other Disney Princesses for people to look up to. Popular ones include Aurora, Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, and many more. However, all these Disney princesses had one thing in common: they were all white characters. This meant that a lot of children did not have a princess who represented them as individuals to look up to. Princess Tiana, the main character from The Princess and the Frog, was a chance for a wider audience to see themselves portrayed and have role models. The impact can be seen in Halloween sales. Murphy, a senior editor at VIBE, explained that, "Halloween, there was no shortage of little girls wearing Princess Tiana’s green gown." This exhibits the influence the movie had on America and how society consumed the movie, especially younger audiences, who now look up to the princess as an inspiration for success. The overall consumption of this movie affected individuals in multicultural America, especially younger viewers.

Disney used the platform for change and representation in their discography by casting color-conscious characters. Color-conscious is defined as picking individuals who accurately represent the character and casting someone based on various characteristics like skin color, accent, etc. For example, when creating the film, the producers used the color-conscious method because they wanted people to go to movie theaters to see the accurate culture of African Americans depicted in the South during the setting and time period. If they used a white person to voice the character of an African American person, the multicultural America that this movie represents would be inaccurate and would be cultural appropriation, which would have received backlash from many viewers. Thus, the influence of the movie affects multicultural America due to the incorporation of accurate black culture and representation.

The Princess and the Frog was a movie that captivated multicultural America in many ways. The production of the movie captured the overall goal of the film: to gather a wider audience. Consequently, the context shows how multicultural America influences the media, and the consumption of the movie shows how society views the stories being told. The movie challenges typical movie storylines, showcases the South correctly, and includes black culture within the movie. Accordingly, The Princess and the Frog is significant for understanding media and how media influences society in the context of multicultural America. 

With movies being released each year, it is important to make sure multicultural America is represented in the media and continues to tell people’s stories correctly and with accuracy. Without representation, many may feel they do not have a place in society. On account of this, the next time you see a film, think about how the film is representing more than just the characters, but society as a whole.  

All student projects are the intellectual property of their respective authors and are used here for educational and illustrative purposes with permission.