Tiana is the first Disney princess to be voiced by an African-American actress.
Tiana stars in Disney's 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog, with Anika Noni Rose providing her voice. Tiana is widely recognized as Disney's first African-American princess and is the ninth character added to the official Disney Princess franchise.
The film is set in 1920s New Orleans, where Tiana works as a waitress while saving money to open her own restaurant. After she kisses Prince Naveen, who has been transformed into a frog, Tiana becomes a frog herself and must help break the spell. Her determination, culinary ambition, and relationship with her late father shape the story.
Tiana was inspired partly by Princess Emma from E. D. Baker's novel The Frog Princess and by the Grimm fairy tale The Frog Prince. Her characterization also drew from New Orleans restaurateur Leah Chase. She is sometimes confused with Jasmine, Mulan, or Pocahontas, but those princesses precede Tiana and were not the first African-American member of the franchise.