There is a meme (hit reload) that puts into the practice this idea that Obama holds in his hands our desperate hopes. Angelina Jolie has admitted that she is “offended” by Disney’s refusal to include an African princess in its tawdry lineup. Her daughter Zahara is just getting into princesses and is sad that there isn’t one she can identify with. And yeah, what’s up with that? Doesn’t this lineup of princesses resemble the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue cover? Diversity translates as blonde, brunette or redhead? No, come on – there is an Asian and an Indian. Source, via ONTD.
Update: Doublebee reminds us of the Princess and the Frog (didn’t we cover this story a while back? “Your brain is mush.”), which features a black princess, though it’s not clear if she is indeed African or African-American.
Perfect work!
I want to say – thank you for this!
First off, there are, have been NO AFRICAN AMERICAN PRINCESSES THERE FOR DISNEY HAS NOT MADE ANY.
Second, when was the last time you herd of a royal African, African American, or native American princess? also the reason there are mostly white princesses is because when the stories were written and when Walt made the movies, white was the race with money, so its obvious as to why he made those stories, Disney’s experience for little girls is castles, royal princesses and enchantment along those story lines, that is why there are those princesses, notice all of them in the picture above have a palace or castle. Also most of those stories were fairy tales passed down through generation, even Aladdin’s, ever herd of the “theif and the cobbler”?? thats a story from the middle east that has been passed down through generations, disney took it and added a bit to it, all those stories have been around for many many many many generations and that is why they are so popular.
Disney’s Princess stories are based off of fairy tales that have been around many years, you can’t blame them for not having a black princess, it would be historically incorrect and Walt was a history dork.
since when is it ok for everybody to turn everything thing into a racial issue? the point of these fairy tales is NOT whether or not the leading woman is white, black, indian, etc., but to teach children morales and virtues. cinderella should teach kids that you should go for the dream you have no matter what the obstacles; not that you can’t get the prince unless you’re a white blonde.
and as for children not being able to connect with cartoons…they would be able to connect if parents and friends and such would discontinue to tell their child that they will not be able to truly relate to any character unless the said character is of the same ethniticity. children would do just fine with all of their self-esteem issues and social-relation problems if parents would encourage them to relate to all aspects of ethnics, rather than staying withing their own race.
I think they need a black princess for sure, but we should be happy that there is one on the way.
Just a note though…Pocahontas is not Indian… she is Native American.
If she was Indian she would be from India…which she is not.
Um, do we not recall the Brandy/Whitney Houston “Cinderella” produced for ABC about a decade ago?!?! Geez, people, put down the racist card!! hehe :::please note the sarcasm:::
-Vincent
RRA: Disney is not obliged to go seek inspiration on fairy tales or folclore from more remote areas, even though I am sure, due to the richness of imagination, there is plenty out there to draw it from, as it is not obliged to save America from all its unsolved issues regarding PC and racism. Everything is a product of its own time and setting, and american people now want to be the first to claim “RACIST!” at every possible turn and event and that just adds up to the growing feeling everywhere else that is NOT the U S of A that America is just simply become a laughing matter. If you have a problem with Disney and Variey and what not, then endorse other products.
Wael, oh please…..Wall-E obviously aint a white robot because he’s a PIMP yo!
Wasn’t there a little girl in the Jungle Book which took place in India? I was confused as well because that’s what I had initially thought when Sasha said Indian.
oh I am not complaining about it being un-PC. It’s just confusing. when I think Indian, I think the subcontinent of India that’s all. So I was scratching my head trying to think of which Disney movie took place in India… so speaking of which WHEN WILL THERE BE AN INDIAN DISNEY PRINCESS??? DO THEY HAVE SOMETHING AGAINST TANDORI??
don’t they know that India is Angelina’s next stop on her world tour to start her own small nation right in the heart of LA county??? really now Disney…unacceptaaable. WallE had better not be a white robot, that’s all I gotta say 😉
Wael: yes they are referring to Pocahontas. We are well aware that she is not Indian but Native American but its just easier to be completely un-PC about it.
Well if we wanna be technical folks…there has yet to be an Asian princess. Mulan was NOT a princess but a cross-dressing daughter of a poor man. So hey…Mulan was the first Lesbian character in a Disney film! Guess Disney isn’t all that behind the times.
OK I am lost here.. Who is the Indian Disney princess? Did I miss that? Or are you guys talking abut Pocahontas?
Tufas, with your logic, since you are using European fairy tales and myths to be “universal”…..
Then why can’t Disney draw inspiration from myths themselves from other cultures?
Hell, Disney practically aped a Japanese magna* for LION KING.
*=Which they lawfully did because “Kimba” was public domain by then.
Oh Joey Joey Joey….don’t you remember 8 years ago when Conservatives wet their pants over Dubya? Remember how they spread out imagery using low-angle camera shots of Bushie, with blue sky behind him, as if he is descending from the heavens, a messiah to solve what they felt were 8 “shitty years”?
Its the same thing now Joey, and considering how mediocre-ass Bush has been….
Then again, its called historical perspective. You learned that at school, right?
And whats with this MAGICAL NEGO stuff? Last I checked, Obama aint no Harry Potter….unless he has a magic wand and levitates shit while casting spells during his spare time.
I smell a scandal!
I never would have thought to bring up such off topic political discussions before, but since you broached the subject Sasha I wanted to know your thoughts on how Barack Obama seems to completely fall into the old “Magical Negro” stereotype.
We see it so often in movies, Legend of Bagger Vance, Driving Miss Daisy, In The Heat Of The Night, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile (which took the name quite literally), etc. The stereotype creates a character who is black, usually male (though not always), and somehow through profound wisdom and down home charm helps a white character overcome some difficult moment in their life.
Barack Obama is an eloquent man who has come to save this white country and all its white people from their own self destruction (electing Bush twice). They are entranced when he speaks, and though he does not say anything new or even all that helpful they feel such profound rapture for all that he says.
I am certainly not criticizing Obama in this post, but rather the way the mainstream media (controlled by white men) has reacted to him as a candidate. Chris Matthews describes a warm feeling running up his leg when he listens to Obama speak, Keith Olbermann seems to think Obama’s presidency will completely absolve us of any past sins our country has committed, etc. It is both hilarious and sad to listen to these powerful white men talk about how incredible Obama will be and what he will do for our country.
The reason the Magical Negro stereotype is wrong is not because it is negative, but because it is an impossible ideal to live up to. I am afraid the moment Obama messes up as president (as every president does) people will feel so betrayed and angry, when really they have no one but themselves to blame.
I was wondering Sasha if you saw any parallels to the Obama image as created by the media, and the image of the saint like black man created by Hollywood.
Why must everything resemble an ad for United Colors of Benetton, otherwise deemed racially offensive by America? The day you stop caring about these things, its the day you really stop having ISSUES.
And besides, there is no african or african-american princess (yet) on Disney’s cataloge. Jasmin is middle-eastern, there’s south american, french, chinese, british and I’m sure other nationalities, but its not Disney’s role in the Universe to cater to all political, social, ethnic, religious (etc.) groups.
A Princess is universal and you putting the racial card in the game shows the issues are in you, not Disney. Does Hans Christian Andersen have african princesses? Was Cinderella originally black? Why, as soon as there’s a black princess in Disney people start screaming in protest (cue Princess and the Frog, which I eagerly await, as I am sick of 3D movies). Get a grip people and remove yourselves from your collective behinds.
Its starting to stink.
T.
We all know WHY it’s taken them so long to bring some ethnicity to their Princesses – because it’s easier to make them white. It’s less controversial, it makes them seem more “pure”, it’s more commercial, it will appeal to a wider audience, etc.
It’s Disney, guys. Anyone who is looking to them to lead the way in racial equality is clearly deluded. What I think is more interesting is that this topic is only just being brought up NOW. It’s only on the minds of the American public because a black man is so prominently in the news, when it could have been talked about at any point in the past couple of years.
It says more about the mindset of the American people than it does the racial inequality of Disney.
I wonder why it took them so long to feature a black princess. Why did it take them so long to feature Chinese, American Indian, or Arab princesses for that matter? It was a long period of about sixty years before they chose a non-white princess. It’s all very well and good to applaud them NOW, but there were generations of girls of color who pretty much didn’t get to see themselves as being the lead in Disney movies. I also wonder how long after they have a black princess they will chose to have maybe a Hispanic princess. I can understand Angelina Jolie’s disappointment.
I’ve long heard the complaints about Disney princesses and representations of women and women of color (poor, minimal), and not completely in their defense, but a look at the other animation studios doesn’t paint a better picture. In fact, worse if you consider the lack of women represented in their films. For the most part Pixar, Fox and Dreamworks cop out by focusing stories with animal (Ice Age, Happy Feet, KungFu Panda, etc), mechanical (Cars, Wall-E, etc) or other non-human characters. That helps them dodge the ethnicity claim. Yet most of their stories do not feature women as the central character (Fox’s Anastasia and Pixar’s Incredibles exceptions). Maybe a girlfriend or child (Monsters Inc, Robots) or at best strong supporting partner (Finding Nemo) but rarely the lead. At least Disney gives us strong-ish women at the center like Mulan, Pocohantas, and Belle so that at least we can have conversations about race and ethnicity.
Its hard to get so caught up with the fact that they have not yet made a black princess. I mean, come on, they did an chinese one, an aboriginal one and an arab one. Doesn’t they show that they’re not afriad of cultural diversity?
Plus the fact that an african american princess is on her way. They just took longer to get to it than they did the other ethnicities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG7U1QsUd1g
I think this why people go crazy with “political correctness”?
Where’s the lesbian princess and gay prince??
Didn’t people make a huge deal a few years ago over some kid’s book that featured gay princes or something? I would pay for a thousand tickets if Disney adapted that 🙂
You Americans are going crazy with that political correctness (?)…. I wonder what you make of Cameron Diaz. She’s white but also Latin (Cuban father, right?) What box does she check when census time comes around?… Not all of us in Latin America look like Jennifer Lopez or whatever idea you have of us down here.
I believe the Princess and the Frog is set in New Orleans, and the princess is creole, for clarification.
What about the transgendered princess!?!?
😉
Ryan, that “standard” sounds like the only reason why Jessica Alba is still wasting our time at the movies. Seriously, did that woman ever do anything worth a fucking shit outside of SIN CITY?
“Where’s the lesbian princess and gay prince???”
Growing up, I assumed most of the princes were gay.
Another thing about princesses and Vanity Fair covers — sure, it’s possible to look closely and determine that some individuals have more flava than others, but from a distance and at a quick glance they’re all just basically the same white-looking girls with various shades of spray-on tan.
The standard of beauty for Latina and black actresses in Hollywood is often “how well can she pass for white?” An ugly way to phrase it, but no uglier than the reality of the mindset.
Vincent, sorry…you’re not Vern. I know you want to, but neither can I….some people are just better than us, no matter how we try.
Anyway, we should get that gay princess DISNEY movie, if by judging the time they finally did a black princess flick…….
I say 2076.
I knew about this film; you would think someone in the business, like Angelina, would have already known about this. However, she wouldn’t have been able to make such a public display out of it.
Where’s the lesbian princess and gay prince?? That’s what I’m waiting for, damn it.
-Vincent
Hmm.. I’m glad they took the plunge of putting in a black princess, or lead character or black character at all (gees, when did Disney ever feature black characters..?!)
Too bad its just the colour of her skin that’s any different. She looks exactly like the caucasion (sp?!) ones… just darker. They did such a good job on non-typical female figures in Lilo and Stitch…
This looks cool though.
My favorite is and always will be Esmeralda, which, alas, isn’t a princess and gets unfairly neglected as a a result.
Sasha, I’m sorry to tell you this but a java applet does not a meme make.
Not even on 4chan.
“No, come on – there is an Asian and an Indian.”
And a Middle Eastern. She’s right there in the picture.
I’m actually surprised Disney took this long to make that FROG flick or whatever it was called.
Ita with her we are having the same problem with my neice and her newfound obsession with pricesses. Although from the original interview i read she did not say she was offended just that she was saddened by the fact cause her daughter is now getting into princesses. she was talking about how the cultural diversity of cartoons is very important to her and brad. Damn i hate i know all of this but my bff loves Angelina. Lol
Yep, The Princess and the Frog, due Christmas 2009, starring Anika Noni Rose as Tiana.
i may be mistaken, but doesn’t the newest (yet to be released) animated Disney fairy tale feature a black princess? i’m pretty sure it does.