Disney features it’s first black princess

Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 8:03 am

Call it the “Obama effect” or a reflection of the changing times, Disney will now try to woo audiences with animated African American princess, Tiana in a new film.

Tiana is paired with a white prince called Naveen in the film “The Princess and the Frog”, which is slated for release in December this year.

Disney films, who have brought alive many fairytale romances on screen with animated films like “Snow White” and “Beauty and the Beast”, will pair the black princess with a white prince for an inter-racial romance.

While some have hailed Disney’s decision as a reflection of melting pot America, others say the company is sending out a mixed message, the Daily Mail reported online.

But the pairing has already run into controversy with many bloggers raising questions over the white prince. “I think it’s sad that he is white because its saying that black love isn’t good enough and that black men could never be princes,” wrote a disappointed fan on his blog, the newspaper said online.

The bloggers have also questioned the decision to have a black man as the villain in the film.

“I am very disappointed and I wished Disney had made the prince black,and the ironic thing is the prince in the movie is white but the evil voodoo villain is voiced by a black actor and is black,” a blogger wrote.

Disney had earlier paired a Red Indian princess with an English soldier in “Pocahontas” and both the lead characters in “Aladin” had a middle-eastern appearance.

Since “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937, all of Disney’s princesses have predominantly been white. The company has insisted its choice of a black princess was part of a policy to give characters as much diversity as possible.

Meanwhile, Anika Noni Rose, the black actress who voices the character of Princess Tiana, said, “Not only is she the first black princess, she’s the first American princess. We’ve never had an American princess,” said Rose.

“The scope and the significance is larger than people even realise,” she added.

The film also features the voice of chat show queen Oprah Winfrey as Tiana’s mother called Eudora. The film is an adaptation of the classic fairy tale “The Frog Prince” and has been set in the 1920s New Orleans.

(With inputs from Agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Disney features it’s first black princess

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