It was Nov. 15, 2009, and the 10-year-old from Mississippi was walking the red carpet at the world premiere of Walt Disney's animated musical The Princess and the Frog. The fifth grader beat out hundreds of girls to land the gig voicing the young Tiana, Disney's first animated African American princess.
Carey Bryson of About.com gave Tiana high praise, calling her both "a fabulous new princess" and "a decent role model". Tiana is notable for being Disney's first black princess. The studio's decision to create a black heroine was met with mixed reception.
Tiana was heavily promoted as the first Black Disney Princess and included as the 9th member in the official Disney Princess lineup (following Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan).
In Disney's nearly 100-year history, there has been only one Black Disney princess — Princess Tiana in “The Princess and the Frog,” a 2009 animated feature starring Anika Noni Rose. The singer Brandy starred in a 1997 made-for-TV film version of “Cinderella,” a remake of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
Here's How Disney Is Continuing To Honor Tiana, The First Black Disney Princess. The animated heroine taught a generation about courage.
The titular character in the original animated film was a white mermaid with red hair. Bailey is Black, a factor that proved exciting and invigorating for the young audience of Disney animated films. Recently, videos of parents filming their young Black daughters reacting to Bailey's appearance as Ariel went viral.
Disney introduced its first non-white animated heroine in 1992's “Aladdin”: a Middle Eastern character named Jasmine. Three years later an American Indian princess appeared in “Pocahontas.” The creation of the Chinese heroine from “Mulan” came in 1998.
But though Snow White was Disney's first full-length movie princess, she wasn't the first Disney princess. That honor goes to Persephone, the main character of a 1937 Silly Symphonies short that served as a sort of test run for Snow White.
There are currently only five non-Caucasian Disney Princesses: Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana and Moana.
Her country of origin, for example, has been frequently disputed. While some claim Jasmine is Arab because the movie opens with a song called Arabian Nights, others believe that the architecture in Agrabah is clearly based on the Taj Mahal, making Jasmine Indian.
15, 2009, and the 10-year-old from Mississippi was walking the red carpet at the world premiere of Walt Disney's animated musical The Princess and the Frog. The fifth grader beat out hundreds of girls to land the gig voicing the young Tiana, Disney's first animated African American princess.
1992: Jasmine
It wasn't until Aladdin's Jasmine (voiced by Linda Larkin) that fans saw their first Disney princess of color.
Snow White is the first and oldest Disney princess, who debuted in 1937.
Niles Fitch On Groundbreaking Role As Disney's First Black Prince: 'We're Complex And Layered'
Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies, a West African Yoruba girl, was captured by the King of Dahomey in 1848 during a "slave-hunt" war in which her parents were killed.
Disney fans often question what kind of message Snow White sends to children. This results in Snow White being the least-liked Disney princess of all time.
Originally Esmeralda and Tinker Bell were part of the franchise but were dropped within a year because it was felt that they did not align with the brand. Several official Disney princesses are missing from the franchise including Anna and Elsa from Frozen (2013).
Princess Eilonwy has been nicknamed by fans as the "Forgotten Disney Princess" because of her little-known status and the fact she is not an "official" Disney Princess, despite being a princess by birth, like Kida Nedakh from Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Princess Allie: Daughter of Aladdin the Sultan and Queen Jasmine | Disney descendants, Daughter, Fashion.
The easiest answer for why the Frozen women don't count is simply that Elsa is a queen in the first movie, and gives up her crown for Anna to take over in Frozen 2. They are therefore Queens and not Princesses.
Pocahontas was the first Disney Princess to have a visible tattoo!
Based on our research, the first-ever Disney supervillain is the Evil Queen. Disney's first-ever animated full-length film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Snow White and the Seven Dwarf's villain started the evilness and spread hate and jealousy all over the Disney world.
Mulan, the eighth Disney princess and the first one who wasn't born of royalty or marrying a prince, is also the first Disney Princess of Asian decent. She's strong and independent and her movie shows her bravery and strength in a beautiful way.