Princess Tiana is the first black Disney princess, making her debut in 2009’s The Princess and the Frog. But suddenly, Disney gave the princess a new look that was not appreciated for the trailer for Ralph Breaks the Internet, the sequel to 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph. Disney slimmed her nose, lightened her skin and her hair, and basically changed her ethnicity.
Maybe Disney thought it would go unnoticed, or maybe they even thought this whitewashed version of Princess Tiana would be better received by audiences, because this had to go down the chain of approval, right? But nothing gets past the internet, and Twitter was not here for this unwelcome change.
The original Princess Tiana was clearly dark skin and African American so to change her to a lighter skin girl is to deliberately make her racially ambiguous. #LBC @NickFerrariLBC pic.twitter.com/FX71boX4Ij
— Kismet🪴 (@iWyn_) September 24, 2018
Princess Tiana is beautifully dark-skinned and she ain't Princess Tiana if she looks like somebody else.
— Monecque (@momoflower34) September 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/Matt___Burnett/status/1043378320333656064
I can’t wait to see these changes to my #1 princess. Get it right, ok! #princesstiana #disney #wreckitralph2 #melanin https://t.co/76UJiNsMel
— DizThruBrownEyes (@DizThruBrwnEyes) September 24, 2018
Disney’s message is all about inclusivity, so there should be equal representation for people of all colors. After meeting with the black advocacy group Color of Change and Anika Noni Rose, who voices Tiana, Disney decided to reanimate the character back to her original form that audiences fell in love with.
Color of Change released a statement that says:
“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.”
Ralph Breaks the Internet will hit theaters on November 21.
h/t Huffington Post
