disney whitewashes princess tiana

Disney’s first African-American princess, Princess Tiana is scheduled to appear in this Fall’s Wreck-It Ralph sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2. But after her first appearance, in 2009’s The Princess and the Frog, fans of the Creole darling began to complain that the company was, er, lightening the princesses skin and narrowing her nose for a more European (read: White) look. According to USA Today this summer was the first time fans really picked up on Tiana’s alteration and subsequently made some noise about it. Horrifyingly enough, fans were on to something. Disney had decided to whiten up their only Black princess and they were caught red-handed.

So, um…is this supposed to be Princess Tiana in Wreck it Ralph 2? pic.twitter.com/LxBkKjK6zw

— The Great Blaxby. (@HunseckerProxy) August 9, 2018

This is what Tiana shoulda been looking like. Hire Black woman animators for accuracy. 😊https://t.co/rYw04jHhHw

— WhatFreshHellisThis (@LisaBolekaja) August 11, 2018

In the wake of the embarrassment Dinsey met with actress Anika Noni Rose, the voice actress who plays Tiana, and representatives from the Color of Change network to hammer out fixing this mistake. Which shouldn’t have happened at all, but okay! After the meeting Color of Change went public with this statement: “Disney’s decision to restore Princess Tiana’s image to that of an unapologetically Black princess with full lips, dark skin and dark hair in Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 is a victory for Color Of Change members, Black children and their parents, and Black audiences who want to see the variety of shades, shapes and sizes of Black characters accurately represented in the arts.”

Le sigh. Thank goodness CoC was there to motivate change and awareness.

Huge win for Black girls who look up to Princess Tiana! After conversations with @Disney & @DisneyAnimation about the character’s appearance in #WreckItRalph2, they addressed our concerns and restored Tiana to her original depiction. #RepresentationMatters https://t.co/lN8j4OA95N

— ColorOfChange.org (@ColorOfChange) September 21, 2018