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Louis is one of the two tritagonist (alongside Rey the Firefly) of Disney's 49th full-length animated feature film,The Princess and the Frog, He is a friendly trumpet-playing/jazz-loving talking alligator.
Louis first encounters Tiana and Naveen in the bayou when they are frogs and stranded. Initially, they're terrified, thinking Louis might devour them as he approaches with his mouth agape, but he soon reveals his friendly side by recognizing the jazz tune Naveen plays on his ukulele. Louis shares his dream of becoming a renowned jazz musician but recounts an unfortunate incident where humans panicked at the sight of an alligator when he tried to perform. After Tiana and Naveen explain they are actually humans under a curse from a voodoo witch doctor, Louis mentions Mama Odie, the voodoo queen of the bayou, who might be able to lift the curse. Though initially hesitant to venture into the bayou's deepest, darkest parts because of potential dangers, he is persuaded by Naveen’s suggestion that Mama Odie could make him "smaller and less toothy," allowing him to play music for humans without scaring them. Louis decides he'll ask Mama Odie to turn him human. In anticipation of becoming human, Louis, Tiana, and Naveen sing about what life would be like once they change back.
During their journey, Louis learns of Tiana's dream to open a restaurant, excitedly embracing the idea due to his love for food. However, after losing their way in the swamp, they encounter a Cajun firefly named Ray, who guides them to Mama Odie’s home after revealing that Louis was leading them in the wrong direction. During their trek, they confront a trio of frog hunters, startling a fearful Louis, who leaps into a thorn bush. After Tiana and Naveen fend off the hunters and scare them away, they pause their journey as Ray removes each thorn from Louis’ body. While resting, Louis befriends his new companions and supports Tiana and Naveen's budding romance. Their bonding gets interrupted when shadow demons sent by Doctor Facilier attack to kidnap Naveen. Louis, Tiana, and Ray race to save the frog prince until a mysterious figure appears and effortlessly defeats the shadowy creatures. Louis watches nervously as this figure reveals herself as the eccentric Mama Odie.
Mama Odie, who isn't as intimidating as Louis expected, advises Tiana and Naveen to "dig a little deeper" to discover what they truly need rather than what they merely desire. She tells Naveen he must kiss a princess to break the spell and, using her magical brew, identifies Tiana’s best friend Charlotte La Bouff as such, given her father's Mardi Gras king title. Louis also asks to become human like his friends, but she similarly instructs him to "dig a little deeper." They prepare to leave when Louis suggests hiding on a riverboat for a quicker trip. Onboard, he's spotted by a jazz band who mistakenly think he's a man in costume and invite him to join their parade performance. Thrilled, Louis enthusiastically joins in until he spots Ray fleeing from Dr. Facilier's Shadow Demons at Mardi Gras. This prompts him to reveal himself as an actual alligator and dash off to help his friends, finding Ray injured in St. Louis Cemetery. Moved with sorrow, Louis rushes away with Ray in search of Tiana and Naveen.
Thanks to Louis' efforts, Ray sees his friends one final time before peacefully passing away. Grieving, the group and Ray's firefly family come together at his funeral to bid goodbye. As they observe a moment of silence, they look up at the night sky and notice a new star shimmering brightly beside Evangeline—Ray now united with his true love. Filled with joy once more, the friends proceed to Mama Odie for Tiana and Naveen’s bayou wedding ceremony. With the wedding kiss turning them back into humans—Tiana now royalty through marriage—they finally break the curse. The bayou inhabitants celebrate their love and newfound freedom, including Louis, who later supports Tiana by growling menacingly at The Fenner Bros to help secure her purchase of the rundown sugar mill for her dream restaurant venture. After Tiana's Palace opens, Louis achieves his dream of becoming a renowned musician. Despite still being an alligator, he takes on the role of leader for the Palace's exclusive band, the Firefly Five Plus Lou.
Other Media[]
In Once Upon a Studio, Louis steps out from his picture frame at Walt Disney Animation Studios, playing his trumpet and narrowly missing Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. He soon joins a gathering of characters to sing "When You Wish Upon a Star" in celebration, as a group photo is taken to mark Disney's 100th anniversary.
Printed media[]
The Grand Opening[]
An illustration of Louis in The Grand Opening.
As the opening of Tiana's restaurant is on the rise, things begin to run amuck for the princess and her employees. For Louis, his trumpet goes missing, forcing Tiana and Naveen to assist him in finding it, as he finds it impossible to perform without it. After seemingly endless searching, Louis sadly tells his friends he'd rather them focus on getting the restaurant together, telling them he'd be fine. However, just as the moment arrives, Tiana manages to recover the missing trumpet.
Tiana and her Furry Friend[]
Louis makes a brief appearance near the end of the book, where his appearance in the kitchen of Tiana's Palace frightens a wandering Stella, the dog of Charlotte La Bouff. Tiana and Naveen manages to calm the furry girl, just before she's able to harm Louis, who the royal couple revealed to be harmless.
A Hidden Gem[]
An illustration of Louis and Naveen in A Hidden Gem.
In this story, Naveen is on the hunt for swamp amber, as a gift for Tiana. After meeting up with Louis, the duo asks Mama Odie if she knew of the amber's whereabouts, but they were told they didn't need her assistance and were advised to find it on their own. In the middle of the bayou, Louis pricks his foot, forcing Naveen to dive into the waters, himself, to grab the amber, getting stuck in tree roots in the process until he's rescued by Tiana.
Other books[]
Louis also appeared in Something Old, Something New, where he helped Naveen handle the music for his and the Tiana's wedding.
In One Magical Feast, he entertained the guests at Tiana's Christmas party, dressed as Papa Noel (the New Orleans equivalent of Santa Claus) and handing out gifts.
He also assisted Tiana, Naveen, and Charlotte in preparing an Easter parade in A Princess Easter.
Disney Parks[]
Tiana's Showboat Jubilee[]
In the temporary boat show, Louis, Tiana, and Naveen sing various songs from the film. In the middle, Tiana sings about her dream of her restaurant which gives Louis the urge to talk about his dream: to become human.
Mickey's Soundsational Parade[]
Along with Tiana, Ray, and Naveen, Louis is featured on Tiana's float, seen dancing along to the bouncy music from the film as the parade proceeds. Like with most of his live roles, Louis is featured with his trumpet.
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom[]
In Walt Disney World's Frontierland, Louis assists Mama Odie and the guests in their quest to foil Doctor Facilier, who has been revived from the dead by Hades. Louis is first heard alerting Mama Odie about Facilier busting Lawrence out of jail and is later seen alerting Mama Odie about Facilier kidnapping Tiana. Later on, Louis assists the guests when battling Facilier for the crystal of the Magic Kingdom. After Facilier is defeated, Louis retrieves the crystal so it can be returned to Merlin.
Trivia[]
In a deleted scene and the chapter book continuation of the film The Grand Opening, it is revealed that Louis named his trumpet Giselle.
Originally, Louis was meant to be introduced after Ray, but the filmmakers felt doing so would make Louis seem like an interruption and decided to swap the introduction order between the two sidekicks.
In some screenshots, it is shown that Louis has green eyes.
Despite the fact that alligators have incredibly thick skin and can recover very effectively from serious injuries such as broken legs, Louis has a very low tolerance for pain as shown when he screams in agony when a thorn sticks to his finger, and when more are pulled from his rear end. Of course, this could be a placebo effect due to his meek, cowardly nature.
When Louis says, "All kinds of hoodoo," he makes a reference to Madam Mim when he grabs some overhead vines and, pretending they are hair, parts them to show his face as he widens his eyes. He even resembles her a bit when he does that.
Louis shares the same first name with Louis Armstrong, a famous trumpet player from the time period that the film takes place in (1920s). The alligator may have been named after him.
Armstrong is also referenced in the song "When We're Human" from the film.
Louis was temporarily removed from Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire at Walt Disney World due to a tragedy involving an alligator near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, three days prior to the show's premiere.[1] As of July 13, 2016, he has since been added back into the show.[2]
Real alligators have blunt U-shaped snouts and their top teeth show when their mouth is closed. While Louis' snout looks more like a crocodile's, he has only his top teeth visible when his mouth is closed just like a real alligator. Also, real alligators are black, gray, or dark blue rather than green.
In follow-up books for the film, it is shown that Tiana and Naveen retain some frog power after becoming human again, specifically their ability to talk to animals which allows them to talk to and understand Louis and other animals/insects.
Heroes
