Disney has reanimated some scenes from its ‘Wreck it Ralph’ sequel after facing backlash for lightening the skin tone of its only black princess in the film.
Fans have been criticizing Disney heavily since last month after early trailers for the upcoming film ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ started teasing several princess reunion scenes.
The studio was accused of whitewashing Princess Tiana from ‘The Princess and the Frog’ because her skin tone appeared lighter and her nose had been narrowed in comparison to previous appearances.
Disney has reanimated some scenes from its ‘Wreck it Ralph’ sequel after facing backlash for lightening the skin tone of Princess Tiana in the film. Pictured left is from a trailer in August and pictured right is from a new trailer released last week
Following the backlash on social media, Disney decided to redraw the animations featuring Princess Tiana.
Disney animators made the decision after also receiving feedback from Tiana’s voice actress Anika Noni Rose and members of advocacy group Color of Change, who campaign for black characters in Hollywood films, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Color of Change representatives said they also reviewed the changes to Tiana’s animations to help ensure that the princess had darker hair and skin, as well as a wider nose and mouth.
They hailed Disney’s decision as a ‘victory’ for the black community.
Fans have been criticizing Disney heavily since last month after early trailers for the upcoming film ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ started teasing several princess reunion scenes featuring Princess Tiana with lighter skin (pictured above)
The studio was accused of whitewashing Princess Tiana. One scene from the film (left) shows her with noticeably lighter skin prior to it being changed (right)
Executive director of Color of Change, Rashad Robinson, said the change would mean black girls could now watch the Ralph film and see a princess of color that looked like them
‘The creation of Princess Tiana, Disney’s first Black princess marked a defining moment for how Black women and girls are presented in media, specifically in animated movies,’ Color of Change tweeted.
‘We’re glad Disney has committed to restoring Tiana to her original form to ensure authenticity.’
Tiana, the star of the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog, was Disney’s first black princess and was hailed at the time for bringing diversity to the screen.
In the initial trailers for the Ralph sequel, Tiana’s appearance was significantly different to her original design in the 2009 film.
While some social media users hailed the fact Tiana was shown with her natural curly hair, they pointed out that it was lighter and her skin tone was fairer.
Tiana, the star of the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog (pictured above), was Disney’s first black princess and was hailed at the time for bringing diversity to the screen