The frog prince is my favourite fairy tale! When I was living in a rural village in Papua New Guinea one of my favourite things to do to encourage my language learning was to tell stories. Part of my job required hiking from village to village to collect information about literacy. At night people would gather around and talk. I became known for telling stories, especially the story called “Rokrok na pikinini meri bilong king” (The frog and the daughter of the king). In my imaginings this story would be retold by other Papuan nationals and become a 'tumbuna stori' (folkstory).I'm not sure what it is that makes the story so appealing to me. Is it the romance of the story the way that the frog must woo the princess to kiss him to break the spell. Is it all about fairness in how we treat people. Or the whole idea of not overlooking someone just because they are ugly/different because what is inside could be something wonderful (Don't judge a book by its cover).
Suzanne Weyn's adaptation of 'The frog prince” is set during the first world war. Against this bleak background all of the well-known parts of the fairytale are addressed. The 'golden ball' is a golden locket shaped as a ball; the' princess' an wealthy English girl called Emma and, the 'frog' is Jack, an American who has a talent for back water magic. When they first meet Emma finds him in the well where she threw her locket. He's a good swimmer, his skin is blistered, and his eyes are bulging and swollen from the gas, very much the picture of a human frog. As soon as he is able to see Emma, he wants her to kiss him. The plot includes the aspects of war, espionage and battle that allows Emma to see what a prince among men jack really is. The result is a mix of war romance meets fairytale which didn't quite capture the magic for me. 6/10
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