Disney’s First Black Princess
Posted by: Annika Harris
Filed in:
news
12:30PM, Thursday February 19th 2009
Anika Noni Rose, Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce’s co-star in “Dreamgirls,” will be Disney’s first black princess in the animated musical “The Princess and the Frog,” an adaptation of the classic tale The Frog Prince that comes out next Christmas. Rose provides the voice for the main character Tiana, Princess of America, in this story that takes place in New Orleans’s French Quarter in the ‘20s.
After Prince Naveen of Maldonia (Bruno Campos) is transformed into a frog by an evil Voodoo magician, he asks Princess Tiana to break the spell by kissing him. But she turns into a frog, too, and the two must travel into a mystical bayou to find Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), a good Voodoo priestess who will reverse the spell. On the way, they befriend a trumpet-playing alligator and a hopelessly romantic Cajun firefly, and, of course, Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen fall deeper in love.
“Not only is she the first black princess, she’s the first American princess. We’ve never had an American princess,” Rose told People about the Disney character. “So, the scope and the significance is larger than people even realize.”
Although Disney takes a significant, albeit late, leap into the twentieth century with this project, it’s not without controversy. Initially Disney planned to name the heroine’s “Maddy,” a stereotypical slave name. The character also originally worked as a maid for a rich white person. Since the story is set in the 1920s, that scenario is historically plausible, but it is a little insensitive and trite. I mean, this is a fantasy after all. Disney changed the character’s name, and spokeswoman Heidi Trotta issued this statement: “Princess Tiana will be a heroine in the great tradition of Disney’s rich animated fairy tale legacy, and all other characters and aspects of the story will be treated with the greatest respect and sensitivity.”
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tabby
wrote on February 19 2009 @ 01:16 pm: [report]
Pocahontas, anyone? Considering that the U.S. doesn’t even have royalty, I say the chief’s daughter is a heck of a lot closer to the traditional idea of princess than a rich girl.
heartinwa
wrote on February 19 2009 @ 01:51 pm: [report]
Yeah, Tabby, I was going to say the same thing. I’m glad there’s finally a black Disney princess, but ignoring Pocahontas seems a little rude. Another website pointed out that she’s kind of getting ignored… (http://www.dishiness.com/?p=5426)
Humble Bee
wrote on February 19 2009 @ 04:10 pm: [report]
That’s awesome, so can I be then next Mexican Princess?
hehe.
ballhawk
wrote on February 19 2009 @ 07:31 pm: [report]
That’s awesome for Anika Noni Rose.
I never thought about the fact that none of the other Disney princesses were American.
Taurwen
wrote on February 21 2009 @ 06:04 pm: [report]
I’m going to third the Pocahontas sentiments.
eden
wrote on February 21 2009 @ 07:13 pm: [report]
All the Disney princesses are essentially American, no matter where they should have originally come from, in the sense they have been Americanized so much. Now I love Disney like a fat kid loves cake, but they are very rarely true to an original story. I mean, take The Little Mermaid. The original is a horrible story where the mermaid turns into a human to be with her prince even though every second on land causes her agony, and then he totally gets off with someone else. But Disney took away her voice, gave her some teenage angst, bunged her in France as opposed to Denmark, et voila, an American princess.
SterlingSilver36
wrote on February 22 2009 @ 08:30 am: [report]
Ah yes, I remember I owned this different version of the Little Mermaid [and she was blonde!] and he ended up leaving her and she was so distraught that she turned to stone.
But yeah, I definitely believe that Pocahontas was the first American Princess. And technically she was a princess [of sorts], she was the daughter of the chief of her tribe. That’s basically a princess.
And I believe in the 2nd one John Rolfe called her Princess before, but I might be lying, haha.
I dunno, I’m not looking forward so much to this movie, perhaps because I can only appreciate Disney movies I’ve watched in my childhood. Plus, the idea of the Disney Princess just seems so classic to me, I dont know how I feel about another princess joining the ranks
sklut
wrote on February 23 2009 @ 02:51 pm: [report]
I don’t care for this movie at all. Obviously Disney is not one for reality, but an American Princess just doesn’t sound right. Plain and simple and I don’t think it’s going to be a classic because kids just are not the same anymore, I would much rather watch The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast over Cars or Finding Nemo. I guess that’s just the little girl in me wanting things to be as good as they were ‘back in the day’.