All you need to know from ‘Once Upon a Time’ to ‘Happily Ever After’ 3. The Hero

Typically nameless, the heroes in fairy tales can take on various manifestations. Masked or enchanted as a frog, the golden booted Prince is enthroned on the image-panel bearing the divine number three. The hero in fairy tales may be an everyman, as he does not have special powers or wisdom, but rather defeats the peril (usually in the third trial) by luck and magic. In 1988, he began his return to art, his third attempt. He had previously had significant success as bassist and Fluxus artist, but an overnight success against racial discrimination had failed​​. Even though his third (real/bourgeoisie) job, as a librarian and cultural manager in New York, had indeed allowed him, through some of his targeted programs, to manipulate and adjust the screws of anti-discrimination. The central, oversized representation of the frog head within the image panel recalls the prominent role of the frog as the (unrecognized) hero. The choice of the frog as a symbol in the portrait of the hero would not be a crucial indicator, if it were not for Patterson's brilliance. The legend that Fluxus founder George Maciunas wanted to be reincarnated as a frog was even rendered artistically by Nam June Paik. The is frog not only a symbol of Fluxus Chairman, enthroned above the mundane world, but also refers directly to contemporary history. Up until 2009, the year by Barack Obama assumed office as the 44th President of The United States of America, none of the Disney heroes and heroines had been black. It was not until this year, that the 49th full-length animated film, The Princess and the Frog, from Walt Disney Studios, would feature an African-American protagonist from New Orleans.