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Thursday, March 15, 2007 | 5:14pm
Disney Returns To Classic Animation With Film Starring a Black Princess
Over the last several years Disney has abandoned its classic hand drawn animations in favor of CGI films such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. However it appears as though Disney will be getting back to its roots with a new movie titled “The Frog Princess”. One of the main staples of all Disney animated [...]
Over the last several years Disney has abandoned its classic hand drawn animations in favor of CGI films such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. However it appears as though Disney will be getting back to its roots with a new movie titled “The Frog Princess”. One of the main staples of all Disney animated films has been the inclusion of a princess. Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel and Cinderella and all popular princesses from Disney movies. Looks like they are finally about to add a little color (let forget Jasmine was Arab for a second) because The Frog Princess stars Maddy who is refered to as a “strong black” character. The film also takes place in New Orleans, which is a unique setting for a fairy tale.
Disney often brands thier princesses together and has already said Maddy will join soon join the Disney Princess brand. The Frog Princess is set to open in 2009.
FILED IN Movies
Thanks for your comment. I don’t hate Maddy. I hate that everyone is so excited about this new princess character…when there are more important matters at hand. I strongly feel that it’s just a marketing tactic Disney is using to attract the black population and support. But isn’t everything?
I agree that there are “more important” matters at hand in the world, but it’s little things like this that feed the needs of the people for stories. Stories help us to be more empathetic about other people.
As someone with an Arabic background (Syrian, actually), I wasn’t satisfied with Jasmine as an Arabic princess. She was gorgeous, of course, but didn’t evoke the strength, vibrancy, and intelligence of many of my Arabic-speaking friends.
Glad to see more blogs picking up this great story. Thanks for checking out The Two Cents. If I can ask, how did you find us? Thanks!
^ Some very interesting points ladies. I think Disney is going to make a huge profit of something many people have wanted to see for a long time, a black princess. Do I think that everyone will be happy with how the character is portrayed? I highly doubt it.
hello evorgleb thank you for dropping at my site
yeah im very much looking forward to it…cant wait to see it
hope you drop by again at my blog
http://mykiru.blogspot.com
thank you
I’m very much interested in seeing how well the film is received by the black audience AND everyone else. I really want to see if it becomes a crossover success.
Uhhhh ok. What a bunch of fairies.
Thanks for dropping by my place, Evorgleb.
In response to “more important things,” yeah, there really are. At the same time, though, with studies showing that many young black girls still have lower self-esteem than young white girls, and in which very few non-white people get any sort of screen time on television or in movies (outside of villain roles or stereotypes), this is a little step toward fixing a little problem (representation in Disney films) that might have some effect on fixing larger ones. Especially coming from a major player like Disney.
big ups, disney knows whats good
It’s interesting that since the Disney “Renaissance” started in 1988, we’ve had Arabic (Jasmine), Chinese (Mulan), Native American (Pocahontas), and Romany (Esmeralda) female leads in Disney movies, but no black ones. (It’s also worth pointing out that even though Esmeralda was dark-skinned, they cast Demi Moore to play her instead of someone Slavic.) It’s as if ever since the Fleischer cartoons and their heavy jazz influence, Disney felt black characters were off-limits. Really I’ll just be pleased if they can make a really good movie again.
Hey Evorgleb! Yeah I agree, I’m really looking forward to this film, because Disney is finally getting back to it’s 2D roots. Though, I think they will be more pixar-like of course in terms of story. Especially the whole cajun theme, I think it’s a great idea! Lookin forward to this one
Don’t forget Mowgli, perhaps the cutest of Disney’s non-white characters since Mickey Mouse.
I’m surprised it’s taken Disney this long to get around to it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were worried about the last time they featured a vision of African American society in a kids’ movie with Song of the South.
i think it is great. though almost everything disney does is about the dollars, they do try to put positive messages out there. their messages are very generic and they try to make them palatable for the masses, so sometimes it doesn’t seem like they are being as true to the characters as they could be.
i am excited for this new princess!
Of course there are “more important†issues; however the first black Disney princess denotes wider issues such as black representation in the media (just one example).
There are so many negative stereotypes of black women in the media (certain vulgar music videos is one example), that as a black female I feel it’s refreshing to finally see something positive even if it is just a Disney cartoon.
Nehoo thanks 4 the comment on my blog (www.byempowerment.blogspot.com) by the way, keep in touch – your opinions are truly valued!
Hey Evorgleb, like your blog, it’s been added to my favorite links on my blog http://smsoul.blogspot.com.
Thanx for stopping by.
thank u mama
hey, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment (people look at my blog? WOW!)
While I’m excited about the diversification of Disney, I’m still dubious. I mean, look what they did to Pocahontas (can we begin by discussing how the real Pochahontas was 13 when Smith came to America?). But still, it’s an important step in the right direction.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, Evorgleb. I’ll add you to my links. I’ve already blogged this in three differnt places, including myspace, and you know what, I don’t care if some people aren’t too thrilled and think it’s not worth mentioning with so many more important things going on. As a mother of four black girls, I wanted this and will continue to spread the news. At last we’ll see a black face on those Disney beddings and cups (I’ve avoided buying them like the plague)
Bella
I’m not impressed wth Maddy. She’s not even cute. I remeber having a crush on Jasmine.. Disney has done a horrible job representing Black people over the years. The best we’ve had has been The Lion King, which was set in Africa-bt even that had dark Hyenas (with Latin/Black vernacular accents) and lighter lions, and Johnathen Taylor Thomas and Ferris Buler speaking as Simba. Boo.
Afro Samurai-now there’s a good cartoon featuring Black characters
Pierce, there is a good chance they are still finalizing the look of the Maddy character but we’ll see.
Uh-oh! I posted information on the Black princess being hyped at the Disney shareholder’s meeting earlier this month. Today, I came across an article by Jennifer Daniels entitled, Froggies & Voodoo & Maids, Oh No!
I would hate to see Disney phuque this up.
peace, Villager
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Pingback: Highbrid Nation » Blog Archive » Anika Noni Rose from Dreamgirls announced the voice of Disney’s first Black Princess
While there are “more important†issues, we should not minimize the importance of this one. As someone mentioned earlier, current studies have shown that self esteem amongst African American girls is still as low as it was when the first “doll” experiement was conducted. I have a three year old, and it has been difficult since she (like many other young girls) is in the princess stage. Of course there are very few characters of color period, so I’ve had to try to gear her towards Dora, Jasmine, etc. She wanted a princess mirror, and of course the Disney mirrors, bedspreads, sheets, etc. were all strongly white. How do you tell your girls they are beautiful, yet nothing around them represents that beauty.
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