Why has it taken so long for Disney to create a black princess? [Jezebel]*
* As Alison points out in the comments, Tiana is Disney's first black princess in the ANIMATED princess series. Brandy Norwood played Cinderella in a musical version of the story produced for television, with a very diverse cast, in 1997.
See video here.
I object to this question....it has not taken Disney this long to creat an African-American princess...She was created in 1997.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1774059801/
Brandy played the first African-American Cinderella...however it is the first time Disney has created an original, one of a kind, African-American princess from the beginning in 2009, Tiana.
Thanks for the additional info, Alison!
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about Brandy. Her Cinderella could actually be viewed as more progressive than Tiana, because she demonstrates that an iconic character can be portrayed by a person of any race (whereas the setting and narrative of The Princess and The Frog suggests that Tiana has to be black). The firefly shown in the 2009 trailer also has racial overtones to his appearance and manner of speech.
We should point out that the Brandy version of Cinderella was made for television (according to IMDB), while The Princess and the The Frog is a full-length animated film, more likely to see global distribution.