CelticViking
03-09-2012, 12:20 PM
WALT Disney's first black princess is steeped in controversy, with the studio changing her name and job, but still facing claims of racial insensitivity.
Following claims of racial insensitivity, the studio -- known for its wholesome and predominantly white family values -- has made several changes to its first African-American princess, Tiana.
Voiced by Anika Noni Rose, Tiana is the star of a new animated film to be released this Christmas, titled The Princess and the Frog. Tiana's mother will be played by talk-show host Oprah Winfrey.
Disney has changed the profession of the princess to an aspiring restaurant entrepreneur, instead of being a chambermaid.
It has also changed her name -- Tiana, instead of Maddy. Critics thought Maddy was too similar to Mammy -- a once-common term for black female slaves in white households.
The controversy has intensified after it was revealed the film would be set in New Orleans and Tiana would find love with an almost-white prince.
His skin has been described as olive-toned and he will be voiced by Brazilian actor Bruno Campos.
"What? No black prince? What's up with this?" blogged James Collier on Acting White, an anti-racism website.
"Perhaps Disney doesn't want the future mothers of dwindling white America being imprinted so early in their lives with the notion of a black suitor."
Another blogger, Angela Helm, complained to the Black Voices website that even though there was a real-life black man in the highest office in the land, Disney seemed to think a black man was not "worthy of the title of prince".
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2238462/posts
Critics are taking aim at the Walt Disney Company for its “Dig 'n Dips” candy, which features its only Black princess on the package of the treat’s watermelon flavor.
According to BET News, the Fun Dip-style candy was released for Valentine’s Day and also features other Disney heroines such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. The latter is used on the package for the vanilla flavor.
But critics argue that linking Tiana from the movie “Princess and the Frog” to the watermelon flavor is racially insensitive. In American history, it has been a common stereotype to tie Blacks to eating watermelons.
“As usual, it's hard to believe that anyone would intentionally make this kind of insensitive mistake, but pairing the White girl with vanilla and the Black girl with watermelon should have set off an alarm in someone's mind,” writer Thembi Ford wrote on ClutchMagazine.com.
http://www.afro.com/sections/news/afro_briefs/story.htm?storyid=74321
http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/10/21/129006169904865032.jpg
http://static1.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/Dat+_20873c444e0cef25d2aec6e061a4f09f.gif
Following claims of racial insensitivity, the studio -- known for its wholesome and predominantly white family values -- has made several changes to its first African-American princess, Tiana.
Voiced by Anika Noni Rose, Tiana is the star of a new animated film to be released this Christmas, titled The Princess and the Frog. Tiana's mother will be played by talk-show host Oprah Winfrey.
Disney has changed the profession of the princess to an aspiring restaurant entrepreneur, instead of being a chambermaid.
It has also changed her name -- Tiana, instead of Maddy. Critics thought Maddy was too similar to Mammy -- a once-common term for black female slaves in white households.
The controversy has intensified after it was revealed the film would be set in New Orleans and Tiana would find love with an almost-white prince.
His skin has been described as olive-toned and he will be voiced by Brazilian actor Bruno Campos.
"What? No black prince? What's up with this?" blogged James Collier on Acting White, an anti-racism website.
"Perhaps Disney doesn't want the future mothers of dwindling white America being imprinted so early in their lives with the notion of a black suitor."
Another blogger, Angela Helm, complained to the Black Voices website that even though there was a real-life black man in the highest office in the land, Disney seemed to think a black man was not "worthy of the title of prince".
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2238462/posts
Critics are taking aim at the Walt Disney Company for its “Dig 'n Dips” candy, which features its only Black princess on the package of the treat’s watermelon flavor.
According to BET News, the Fun Dip-style candy was released for Valentine’s Day and also features other Disney heroines such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. The latter is used on the package for the vanilla flavor.
But critics argue that linking Tiana from the movie “Princess and the Frog” to the watermelon flavor is racially insensitive. In American history, it has been a common stereotype to tie Blacks to eating watermelons.
“As usual, it's hard to believe that anyone would intentionally make this kind of insensitive mistake, but pairing the White girl with vanilla and the Black girl with watermelon should have set off an alarm in someone's mind,” writer Thembi Ford wrote on ClutchMagazine.com.
http://www.afro.com/sections/news/afro_briefs/story.htm?storyid=74321
http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/10/21/129006169904865032.jpg
http://static1.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/Dat+_20873c444e0cef25d2aec6e061a4f09f.gif