15 of Disney’s most underrated characters
By Andi Ortiz
7. Mama Odie (The Princess and the Frog)
There aren’t many parents in Disney movies. Most of them, especially the mothers, are killed off at the beginning of the film. Many fans believe that this is because Walt Disney himself had lingering grief (and even guilt) over his own mother’s death.
It’s a trend that’s started to wane over the years, and as a result we’ve gotten some pretty powerful mother/daughter moments in recent Disney films. Even better, we’ve started getting more grandmother characters.
Grandmother Willow is the OG Disney grandma, but her successors have been pretty great. Arguably the greatest grandmother figure, and the most underrated, is Mama Odie in The Princess and the Frog.
Technically she’s not anyone’s actual grandma in the film. She’s just a blind, lovable and very senile witch who lives on the bayou. But her impact is huge.
Mama Odie is the one who helps people find not what they want, but what they need. She’s happy to call out a person when their perceptions are wrong, but even her sass comes across as loving.
She’s the grandmother that everyone wishes they had, with songs and quick wit for every occasion. And her song, “Dig A Little Deeper” is just as underrated as she is. It isn’t a typical Disney jam, in a strictly musical sense, but it had all the flair and inspiration of Disney’s renaissance films.
Without Mama Odie, Tiana would never realize that her work isn’t the only thing that matters. Naveen would never realize that money didn’t fulfill him. Most importantly, Tiana and Naveen would stay as frogs forever without her.