Dream Disney

8 Responses to “Why is only white princesses are include in the Disney Princesses brand?”

1. 

   Kira
   

   08. Feb, 2010

   I guess you haven’t heard of Tiana. She’ll be in the movie The Princess and the Frog, which comes out next year. There’s actually a page for her on Wikipedia already.
2. 

   DG
   

   08. Feb, 2010

   I have seen Jasmine used sometimes in the princesses selection sometimes.

   As cool as the movie is, I wouldn’t call Mulan a ‘princess.’

   As for Pocahontas, the 2 things I can think of: the movie didn’t catch on for the age group they’re selling to as much as the others because it was slightly more ‘adult.’ Like Esmeralda in Hunchback of Notre Dame, the’re just too ‘grown-up’. (check the animation differences sometimes)

   The other thing to consider is costuming and style. The princesses they chose for their princess selection look good together because of similarities in clothing style. They’re European clothes and European stories, and the Asian ‘look’ doesn’t go well with it, regardless. Like sticking an MP3 player in with a bunch of apples. It just doesn’t fit.

   That said–Cinderella is my dad’s favorite Disney movie and I hate it, Beauty and the Beast is my sister’s favorite Disney movie and I hate it, Snow White’s a ditz, and Sleepy Beauty creates weird thoughts in my head…
3. 

   Allaiyah W
   

   08. Feb, 2010

   That always annoyed the snot out of me too. American comic books do the same thing; everyone’s caucasian, all the men are straight, all the women are bisexual with fake boobs. I wish Disney would at least make some more female-empowering cartoons. Let the princess weild a sword & save the damned prince for once, & make her b!tchy too. I can’t even think of any black, Indian (as in from-India), Japanese, or Ocianic (except Lilo) characters in Disney or comics.
4. 

   Aurora
   

   08. Feb, 2010

   Jasmine is a part of the Disney princess line. I guess most of the issue steams from the fact that most legends involving princess’s that are redone in Disney animation were white. Which most are taken from euro centric legend. Therefore most of those people would of been white. However any princess that is in a classic Disney movie qualifies there are only a “handful” of princess’s in the movies. Many of the non-white heroins are not princess’s. It just happens to be the history and legends that were picked up. I don’t think their is any malintent in it.

   Please note to the original question that Mulan is not a princess, and neither is Pocahontas.
5. 

   Abel
   

   08. Feb, 2010

   or you (Yahoo Answers Indonesia)
6. 

   Sally Cummings
   

   08. Feb, 2010

   The new princess movie The Princess and the Frog which comes out in 2009 will feature an African American princess. Her name will be Princess Tiana.
7. 

   ptmcmuln
   

   08. Feb, 2010

   Largely because the company was established in America, which to a great extent draws it’s cultural references from Europe. Grimms’ fairy tales come from Eurpean culture.

   Per capita income income is also relatively high in America, thus the potential for selling tickets, toys and theme park admission is greater. Some minority groups have also been economically disadvantaged historically, thus making them a less profitable target market. Companies seeking profits tend to find success by targeting customers with money to spend.

   I suspect that were you to examine movies produced in China for Chinese audiences, in India for Indian audiences, or in Africa for African audiences, you would find the characters tend to reflect the audience in a similar manner. How many African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics or whites were featured in Godzilla?

   I would note that 2 of the three ‘white’ princesses you cite are from movies that were produced more than 50 years ago, when American audiences were less culturaly diverse than they are today. Of the princesses that you cite from movies produced in the past 25 years, only 1 of the 4 is white. Other responders have already pointed out that the heroine of Disney’s next animated feature is African American.

   As America has become more diverse, and as Disney has expanded internationally, their films have shown increasing diversity, as has likely been true for other major film studios.
8. 

   mohawkgirl2002
   

   08. Feb, 2010

   well pocahontas was not a princess as we don’t now nor have we ever had royalty, but seriously, i think most natives would prefer disney or other not try to “honor” us any more. especially disney.