Tag Archives: representation

finally…a Black disney princess

About a month ago, I sent an email out to some friends of mine:

http://www.komotv.com/home/video/5001856.html?video=YHI&t=a

Thought this was really interesting, a friend sent it, and for me, I thought of the wildly popular Barbie movies that have been put out that my neice loves so much, but there are never any princesses of color. makes me that much more determined to make Black children feel beautiful by presenting them with positive reinforcement and images of themselves that say they are good and worthwhile, and matter.

and followed up to a friend of mine who knows some local media:

i have decided that i want to write a letter to mattel, but i want someone there who actually matters to read it. how to do this…how to make a company recognize the importance of representing everyone? there has to be a way to get some sort of media attention…but how? where? do we know anyone in the news who can make a story about it and tie in to the brown vs. board and this new documentary? i mean mattel has HUGE distribution and those barbie videos are everywhere! they make a span of barbies in the color wheel, but none of those dolls ever get to be main characters in the movies…not even bit parts.

so imagine my shock and happiness when i saw this story on cnn:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/15/disney.newprincess.ap/index.html

wow. as a child, it was my dream to be an animator, i used to draw books of animated characters and wanted to send them to disney, and it always broke my heart that year after year and movie after movie, there were never any princesses who looked like me. i am happy today.