a black disney princess

[kala]

ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME

i recently went to go see the movie "up" with my little sister. who knew that id soon be watching a preview that would almost have me in frikken tears.

the movie is called "the princess and the frog" the princess' name, i believe [98% sure], is tiana. i was so happy to see this!! you dont know how many times growing up Ive seen all my friends got to dress up and be disney princesses, but who the hell was i ever going to be?? the closest black disney character ive ever related with [mostly not by choice b/c she was pretty much the only one] was esmeralda from the hintchback of notre dame [look her up]. she's cool, but unless you care about her you dont particularly know who she is... ANYWHO!

GO SEE THIS! its little things like this that make me feel a little bit better about our world...


the storyline is great if youve never heard of the princess and the frog. and the main character seems legit. they didnt make her "ghetto" or white-ified or anything...i dont know maybe its just me... but if you understand where im coming from please support this film! i dont even know when it comes out but im so excited!
first a black president and now a black disney princess. finally...finally.

[LesYpersound]

the prince is white or really really light-skinned and straight-haired and she turns into a frog for probably most of the film.

[kifaru]

Let's wait and see.

[MissE]

Three points
I think the prince's name is Naveen and he's of Middle Eastern or Indian descent (I don't think it's been official announced what race he is), why does it matter what race he is and does it matter if she's a frog for most of the film?

LesYpersound said:

the prince is white or really really light-skinned and straight-haired and she turns into a frog for probably most of the film.

[XiaMin]

Fuck Disney. Why can they only have a black princess when she's kissing a frog? Yes, I know the original story and Yes, I know Walt Disney was a rascist piece of shit, and Yes I know the only reason they even branched into the multicultural market (aladdin, mulan, etc) was because of $$$, not because they were about the changing times. Did I mention, Fuck Disney? I never bought into nor did I let my duaghter be bullshitted by those fucks. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, how is that supposed to inspire self esteem in a young black/brown girl. NOW they're doing something for everyone but fuck them. The 'black' princess has european features (like all their multi-cultural characters)...differnent pigments on the same structure does not make a black / native american /. chinese / hawaiian / arab girl or boy. I hate them and everything they stand for. I hope their little manufacture stars keep getting knocked up and having nekked pics on the internet. Hypocritical Unrealistic Materialistic Bullshit Fucks. Did I mention, FUCK DISNEY!

[Mlle d. Sade]

This "fuck Disney" stuff is annoying. It doesn't matter why they did it, they did it.

And I wasn't aware interracial dating was wrong. It's not like it's one of those countless movies where the white girl is made out to be better than the black girl to a black man many times. The Prince just happens to be light (he could be a Freedman/5 Civilized Native) for all some people know. ...

[LesYpersound]

MissE said:

Three points
I think the prince's name is Naveen and he's of Middle Eastern or Indian descent (I don't think it's been official announced what race he is), why does it matter what race he is and does it matter if she's a frog for most of the film? LesYpersound said:

the prince is white or really really light-skinned and straight-haired and she turns into a frog for probably most of the film.

cinematically, black people don't get together--esp if the powers that be don't want the movie to be deemed "for blacks only". because who the heck wants to see two black people get together in a Disney romance? :roll:
and it doesn't matter that she turns into a frog.

given the influence of Disney and the heavy handed metaphors it tends to rest upon having the first black princess end up with a non-black prince (i would've been satisfied w/ the guy being a really really lightskinned creole!) says a lot. the only other inter-"racial" princess and prince is what? Little Mermaid? and the mermaid is a redheaded white mermaid. lol. Ah... maybe the Gypsy and the Hunchback? did the Hunchback even get some?

[Golem_3]

....
.........
.............fuck Disney!

[Princess Jasmine]

I've always wanted a Black princess.
I remember when I was around 6 (back when I loved everything Disney) and Holloween would come around and I wanted to be a princess. But the only I was similar to was Princess Jasmine(:|) but she didn't look like me, we only had a common name. I was soo sad.


I think it's better late than never... I mean it would have been great a couple years ago, (I since then gave up on all things Disney) but still. It's nice.

[The L. is good for you]

There was a major controversy over this film at first. Disney originally had "Tiana' cast as 'Maddy' a servant girl to a rich debutante. I believe the first romantic character she was written to be involved with was a rich white prince, or something to that effect. Wouldn't have been a good look. Terrible message to the psyches of young Black women (spelled out: Poor black girl finds paid white man and is saved... Uggh). Folks flipped out, so Disney went back to the drawing board and rewrote the film to avoid the looming disaster. The movie would have come out a few years back but the racism in the first version was too much to take for the initial focus groups, from what I understand.

Also, I agree it would have been nice to see a black romance(it's bad enough most roles given to our men are thug-life roles... ), but at least Naveen is a Person of color (I think... he has a Hispanic accent).
There's still been some uproar over parts of this version, but we won't know how racist the film is until it's released. In reality, Disney damn sure doesn't care what people of color think. This is a power move on their part. If they appear 'progressive' they're profits keep flowing with the times.

I don't know how I feel about her being in frog form for the majority of the film. It's a drag, as it would be nice to see Tiana in a variety of gowns and etc (Lord knows it would help make up for the overwhelming gap of people of Color in Disney anything), but I'm not sure I see any racism in it... again I haveto see the film before I can say anything about this second attempt of Disney's to introduce a Black princess.

[Mlle d. Sade]

I don't know how to feel about the first version being x'd because interracial dating and white princes are "a terrible message to send to black girls" when a terrible message has been sent to black boys by having black girls virtually non existent in the media. I hate the damn double standard. Let the girl have her white prince!

Black people are black people's own worst enemy sometimes. All this crying over nothing hinders change.

Black romance is cool but there's nothing wrong with interracial and it's a shame Disney had to change it to something this lame when the black girl finally gets her share.

/pissed off

[MissE]

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Mlle d. Sade said:

I don't know how to feel about the first version being x'd because interracial dating and white princes are "a terrible message to send to black girls" when a terrible message has been sent to black boys by having black girls virtually non existent in the media. I hate the damn double standard. Let the girl have her white prince!

Black people are black people's own worst enemy sometimes. All this crying over nothing hinders change.

Black romance is cool but there's nothing wrong with interracial and it's a shame Disney had to change it to something this lame when the black girl finally gets her share.

/pissed off

[BlaqJeff]

I'm sure a lot of white folks would not be too happy over the interracial love or whatever.

Also, it's a sad day in Black America if we're looking to Disney to help our self esteem.