Ray

"My name Raymond, but everybody call me Ray."

- Ray Ray (short for Raymond ) is a character from Disney's 2009 film The Princess and the Frog. He is a romantic Cajun firefly from New Orleans who aids Prince Naveen and Tiana in finding the kind voodoo priestess Mama Odie so she can cure them of their curse. At the same time, he tries to make the two realize that they are meant for each other. He is voiced by Jim Cummings.

Personality
Friendly and helpful, despite being the smallest creature in the movie, he has the biggest heart. His true love is the Evening Star he calls Evangeline. Some of Ray's loves include music, singing, and entertaining guests of all kind. The firefly was also shown to have no real fear; he helped fight off the frog hunters attacking Tiana and Naveen, as well as taking on Facilier's shadow demons all by himself. Ray is also extremely generous and agrees to help Tiana and Naveen without any reward expected (though he receives one unexpectedly nevertheless). Though undeniably sweet, he is rather eccentric, often shown to be very excitable, in spite of serious situations. Also, when angered, his golden light becomes a bright red color.

As mentioned above, he is in love with Evangeline, the Evening Star, seeing her as a goddess and proves to be quite attached to her. Though it appeared she was nothing more than a star, fireflies were revealed to become stars once they die, heavily implying that Evangeline was once an actual firefly who eventually passed away. Though, despite her death, Ray's love for her continues to shine brightly.

In spite of being rather eccentric, Ray proves to be quite intelligent and wise, also appearing to be quite older than the rest of the main cast (with the obvious exception of Mama Odie). With his wisdom, he acts as, not only a good friend, but a father figure to Tiana several times throughout the film, specifically through Tiana's more emotional moments as a frog.

The Princess and the Frog
One day in New Orleans, a handsome prince named Naveen was turned into a frog by a witch door named Doctor Facilier. Thinking she was a princess, Naveen kissed a girl named Tiana in an attempt to break the spell. However, all this does is turn Tiana into a frog as well. The two eventually end up in the bayou, meeting Louis the alligator who decides to assist the two frogs by taking them to Mama Odie to break the curse. When Tiana and Naveen's frog instincts kick in, they attempt to eat Ray. However, they embarrassingly fail, having their tongues end up tied together. Spotting this, Ray flies over to help. After they are free, Ray introduces himself. With everyone greeted, Tiana and Naveen explain to Ray that they're actually human and that they need to find Mama Odie to break the curse put upon them by the evil Facilier.

Ray realizes they're going in the wrong direction (as a result of Louis) and offers to lead the way, with the brief help of his firefly family. Soon enough, the friends are off. Eventually, Ray offers to take them the rest of the way, allowing his family to return home. As they continue on, Ray tells Tiana, Naveen, and Louis about his girlfriend, Evangeline. After the romantic description, the group is attacked by frog hunters. Ray tries to fend them off, but one of the hunters defeats the firefly, rendering him unconscious for the rest of the battle, which is fortunately won by Tiana and Naveen. The firefly is soon revived by Louis, who managed to injure himself during the battle, putting the journey on a stand still.

Whilst Ray tends to Louis' wounds, Tiana and Naveen fix up dinner for the group. Afterwards, Evangeline appears, having Ray starstruck as he sings a balled about his beloved. During said balled, Naveen and Tiana begin falling for one another, much to Ray's happiness. The firefly, as well as Louis, begins setting a mood for the two frogs, helping them realize their feelings. Unfortunately, the romantic moment is cut short when a hoard of demons sent by Doctor Faciler attack and capture the prince. The group is soon rescued by Mama Odie, however, who takes them to her home; a boat in a tree. Mama Odie informs Naveen and Tiana that the only way for them to become human again is for Naveen to be kissed by Charlotte La Bouff (Tiana's best friend), who has been made the Princess of Mardi Gras.

Ray accompanies the friends back to New Orleans, and in during which, Naveen finally reveals his feelings for Tiana to Ray, much to the latter's joy. Afterwards, Ray accidentally tells Tiana, though she only brightens up upon hearing the news, prompting her to go out and look for the prince to proclaim their love once they docked in New Orleans. However, unbeknownst to Ray, Louis, and Tiana, Naveen was kidnapped by Facilier's demons and imprisoned. It turns out, the evil doctor wants to steal the fortune of Charlotte La Bouff, making him the wealthiest man in New Orleans. To do so, he has his minion, Lawrence, disguise himself as Naveen via magic to marry Charlotte, thus inheriting her father's fortune.

Unfortunately, the master plan was near completion as Tiana and Ray come across Charlotte and what appeared to be Naveen on a parade float about to marry. Feeling Naveen's betrayed their love, a heartbroken Tiana leaves the scene. Ray tries to talk her through the moment, but she snaps, calling Evangeline nothing more than a star, telling Ray to open his eyes before he gets hurt. This drives the firefly to tears, but Ray refuses to believe her, and instead goes to reveal the truth. Ray discovers the Naveen about to marry Charlotte is actually a phony, and heroically finds the real Naveen, frees him, and puts a stop to Facilier's plot. However, it turns out Lawrence's disguise is activated by a voodoo talisman. Rays steals the trinket and rushes it to Tiana as Facilier summons his demons to stop him.

After handing it over to the woman, Ray fights off Faciler's demons, but the evil doctor soon arrives and crushes Ray, fatally injuring him. Ray's wounded body is recovered by Louis, who takes him to safety. After Faciler's demise through the heroism of Tiana, the latter reunites with Naveen, but the midnight deadline has already expired, leaving the two to remain frogs forever. Nevertheless, the couple decideds it doesn't matter, so long as they could be together. Just then, Louis arrives with Ray in his palms. The tragic news is delivered and Ray gives his finally farewell before peacefully passing away.

A funeral is held for the firefly in the bayou with his family, Tiana, Naveen, and Louis. As they all mourn the death of their friend, a bright new star appears in the night sky right next to Evangeline, identified as Ray. The firefly family cheers ecstatically for their relative, and all's well, as Ray finally received his longing wish to be with his true love.

Electric Holiday
Ray makes a cameo in the animated short during the end credits with Tiana.

The Princess and the Frog
Along with the rest of the film's characters, Ray appears in the video game adaption of the movie, being featured in several mini-games with his firefly family, Louis, Tiana, Naveen, and Mama Odie. During the game's main storyline, however, Ray is absent, being with the story taking place after the events of the film. However, during the final chapter, Tiana and Naveen has Ray's firefly cousins put on a spectacle for Ray and Evangeline on the opening night of Tiana's Palace as they watched down on them.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures
Ray makes a minor non-speaking cameo during the Mickey's Soundsational Parade mini-game as part of Tiana's float.

Disney Parks
Ray can be found in a small amount of shows. His song Gonna Take You There has become one of the most used songs from the film and often played by the Disneyland Band. Despite this, however, Ray actually makes a live appearance in Disney On Ice: Dare to Dream where he actually doesn't die, but joins through the entire show, including the finale.

Ray's likeness is also featured in Disney's Port Orleans Resort at Walt Disney World, as well as in the Princess Fairytale Hall in the Magic Kingdom.

World of Color
Ray makes a cameo during the So Close scene entering Tiana and Naveen's marriage kiss.

Mickey's Soundsational Parade
Ray can be seen in the parade during Tiana's float alongside Louis and Naveen. While the float passes by, Ray sings Gonna Take You There.

Memorable quotes

 * "Oh, I'm a Cajun, bruh! Born and bred in the bayou!"
 * "Go to bed, ya'll from Shreveport?!"
 * "C'mon, Cher! Just follow the bouncin' butt!"
 * "A bug's gotta do what a bug's gotta do!"
 * "There she is... The sweetest firefly in all creation."
 * "Alright, ya'll, one more time! It don't matter what ya look like... It don't, nobody gonna sing with Ray... okay."
 * "Whoa, whoa, cap! You making goo-goo eyes at my girl?!"

Trivia

 * Ray's death seems to be an apparent reference to Peter Pan; after he dies he joins his love Evangeline in the sky and becomes the second star...to the right.
 * Raymond's death may also be a reference to the Lion King, in that Timon believes that stars are fireflies.
 * There are many references to Ray in the construction of Tiana's Palace. The walls of the dinner booths and the head lamps are shaped like lilypads which are symbolic of when Ray and his family helped Tiana and Naveen down the Bayou to Mama Odie, the table centerpieces are lit bayou flowers which are symbolic of the time Ray serenaded to Naveen and Tiana's first dance, and the restaurant is mostly decorated with green and lit gold like Ray. This implies that Tiana and Naveen still greatly miss him.
 * Jim Cummings has said in an interview that Ray is one of his favorite roles and would enjoy doing shorts starring the character. He said that New Orleans is his favorite place.
 * Ray is similar to Tinker Bell from Peter Pan in the sense of when both feel jealousy, both colors will true to red.
 * This is a very rare Disney character death that is not very graphic. His death is not shown to have graphic parts, like Ursula, who exploded, but was only shown to be struck by lightning and sunk to the bottom of the sea, or there are some who are not shown to have been killed, such as Gaston (who just fell from the Beast's castle to his death but was not shown to have hit the ground) or Bambi's mother (who was shot by Man, but was not shown to have been shot) or there are some characters who are just shown to be dead without a scratch, such as Ray, Meg from Hercules, or Mufasa, from The Lion King.
 * As mentioned above, Ray is featured in the Princess Fairytale Hall in Walt Disney World, seen in a portrait of Tiana alongside a female lightning bug. Some fans believed the bug was Evangeline, though this is not the case, as it's actually Ray's younger family member, Mimi.

Gallery
Ray (The Princess and the Frog)