![]() ![]() “I heard from a lot of people in the African American community that there were serious concerns about the fact that we had our first African American princess and she spent much of the time on screen hopping around as a frog,” adds Rebecca Hains.īut despite the emergence of more empowered Disney heroines, they often don’t get the same coverage as their traditional counterparts – particularly in Disney’s merchandise. “Her dream isn’t to have her prince and rule her kingdom, her dream is to open a restaurant,” says Condis. Her aspirations were rather different from the princesses that came before. The world had to wait a very long time, until 2009, before Disney presented its first Africa-American princess – Tiana in The Princess and the Frog. She becomes the hero of her own story, even appearing on the battlefield in body armour. In 1998 came another emboldened princess, Mulan, who was far from demure. The film attracted criticism for its sexualised representation of women and for distorting history. Pocahontas was not without controversy however. Also, she is one of the first princesses to actually take an active role in governing,” says Megan Condis, assistant professor of English at Stephen F Austin State University, who has taken particular interest in Disney’s long history of princesses. “Pocahontas was definitely a very different type of character in that she isn’t as defined by romantic relationships and she’s a lot more active. She was Disney’s first Native American princess and is considered to be one of the most independent Disney princesses ever created. The rights of Native Americans were strengthened in the two decades from the mid-1970s by legislation protecting tribal rights and interests and in 1995, Pocahontas first appeared. ![]() It wasn’t just feminism that had an impact on Disney princesses. ![]()
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