Pocahontas continued the much-needed push for non-white Disney princesses with the titular Native American heroine, voiced by Irene Bedard. But, unlike Aladdin, Pocahontas' speaking voice behind the princess actually is a woman of color—Bedard is one of the most well-known Native American actors.
Appearing in “Aladdin” (1992), Princess Jasmine was the first Disney princess of color. She not only possesses the brown skin and dark eyes and hair characteristic of her Arabian background, but also wears clothes similar to the costumes of Middle Eastern belly dancers.
Disney's animated film, The Princess and the Frog, featured its first Black princess. Princess Tiana's flick opened at the top of the box office when it debuted in 2009.
His skin is brown, but he isn't African-American. "A lot of moms had issues with that," Coleman said. "It felt like it was a slap in the face to black men." Coleman asked a Disney executive if Prince Naveen was Creole and was told that his background was made up; he's whatever ethnicity they have in fictional Maldonia.
He says they were looking for the best actor for the role of any ethnicity who could not only sing but convey traits such as strength, passion, beauty, joy and intelligence, which they found in Bailey.
Although Moana is from the fictional island Motunui some 3,000 years ago, the story and culture of Moana is based on the very real heritage and history of Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti.
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.
Ariel appears as an adult in Return to the Sea and gives birth to a daughter named Melody, becoming the first, and currently, only, Disney princess to become a mother.
Pocahontas, Mulan, and Princess Tiana were the next female protagonists that not only showed women of color, but also showed different cultures that Disney princesses before them didn't have.
The movie is loosely based on the fairy tale, so Disney has the freedom to give Ariel any skin color they want. In the 1989 movie, Ariel was born in the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantica, which technically makes her Atlantican, not Danish.
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. It's a debate that has fueled speculation that in Hollywood, Indians and Arabs are interchangeable.
According to the most common theory behind her removal, she was deemed not marketable to or suitable for kids. It wouldn't be fair to blame Esmeralda herself for that—she's as kind-hearted, clever, and intrepid as any card-carrying Disney Princess. But The Hunchback of Notre Dame is infamous for its mature themes.
In Anderson's telling and the original Disney film, the mermaid possessed white skin. In Disney's upcoming live action version of the story, Ariel will be portrayed by black actress and singer Halle Bailey.
There are several instances when Eric's mother Queen Salina (Noma Dumezweni), who is Black and adopted him as a child when he washed up from the ocean, chastises him for his obvious love for beings that are considered other.
The new instalment is coming out next year, with quite an ironic twist: Snow White, who is described as having 'skin as white as snow' in the original Grimm Brothers version, is no longer white at all. Instead, she will be played by actress Rachel Zegler, a Latina of Colombian ancestry.
Naveen or Navin (Sanskrit: नवीन, IAST: navīna; /nəˈviːn/ na-VEEN) is an Indian male given name and surname. The word means "new", "fresh", "young", "bright", "creative". Naveen is chiefly used in Indian languages, and its origin is Sanskrit.
The Fenner Brothers told Tiana she was "outbid" by someone, but considering it's unlikely that someone would bid on the mill in the same week Tiana placed her bid after twenty years of it being untouched, it is possible the Brothers just made that up in an attempt to avoid selling it to her.
Pin for Later: 21 Disney Prince Facts You Never Knew as a Kid Prince Naveen is the only prince to have a non-American accent. He is from the fictional kingdom of Maldonia, and voice actor Bruno Campos ad-libbed the accent as a combination of Portuguese and French.
The name "Tiana" is of Russian, Latin and English origin and means "follower of Christ". Tiana's princess personality is "Inspiring". Tiana is the first dark-skinned princess of Disney. Tiana's web personalities are ambitious, determined.
