How far have we really come?Walking into see Disney’s latest feature I was excited to grasp a glimpse of my childhood. I remember the feeling of excitement, when I would walk into a movie theater with other children and the anticipation to hear amazing music! I was intrigued to see whether I would still lose myself in the beauty and musical charm of the classic Disney movies I grew up with. My favorite movie is the Lion King! I asked myself would there be sweeping epic landscapes of historical New Orleans? Would the Bayou be painted in the essence of a Disney romance; reminiscent of the Little Mermaid’s, “Kiss the girl scene?” Would Postcolonial main land “America” Disney finally have their very own Aladdin and Jasmine? Pocahontas faced colonization in her film, so it does not count. My questions were answered within the first 30 minutes of the film. The movie over all was quite charming with the attempted undercurrent of New Orleans Jazz and “culture.” Nevertheless we do not get the epic adventure that we expect from most of our protagonists that we’ve been trained by Disney to believe in. Mulan saved Japan, Pocahontas stopped a war, Snow White saved dwarfs, Simba restored the Pride Lands…and Tiana got to turn into a frog for the entire movie and eventually open a restaurant?
Most characters have a distinct goal that saves their “kingdom.” Tiana had a dream and a mean old man that wanted to crash on her parade and was feeding everyone really what her “Kingdom” needed? All of the “Classic” are rooted in some folk tale, or historical incident. All princesses are of noble lineage or perform noble acts that are accentuated by unsatisfactory situations. All, except Princess Tiana, Cinderella, Snow White, Pocahontas, Ariel and Princess Aurora were Born of Nobel lineage, Mulan is historically based on a Chinese Folk legend that include ambiguous lines of superior lineage…but Tiana did not get her back-story explained like past Princesses. And Why does Tiana’s Prince have to lose all of his money? It’s known that we are in a time where equality is respectable and desired, but do they, Tiana and the Prince, have to be “equally poor?” Young girls can dream of a Prince with “nice” things and being swept off their feet. Why stop that dream now? The problem that seems to be evident is that Disney neglects the values of African American history, and the closest story we have to mimicking the formula for the ideal princess and prince story is Lion King. Is it indeed too much to ask for a traditional Disney storyline comprising black characters?
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