The African-American Disney Princess Maddy -- A Step Forward, or Another Miss?

The picture shown has her resembling a real African-
American and the other is not only "cartoony", but
can't help to ask if that is so white girls will
also have appeal to her?

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i am SO happy this is finally happening. I have been waiting and waiting to see a black disney Heroine because there has been white, asian, gypsy, indian, arab, and Hawaiian....it is about time to include african! I think her design is great and doesn't look too European. And on another note...... DISNEY IS STILL MAKING ANIMATED MOVIES? I thought they gave up on those after The EMperor's New Groove. The Last great DIsney Animated movie was Tarzan. I am 23 and i will be interested in seeing this new princess!

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Personally, I think you're being far too analytical, and critical of C-a-r-t-o-o-n-s. First off, these cartoons are made to entertain small children who don't give a rats ass what the hero's or heroins look like.
They adore a half fish, half naked, teenage girl named Ariel who has the I.Q. of a fifth grader and couldn't, in her wildest dreams, pass a standardized test in today's world. They think she's pretty. They think she can do whatever she wants because she's older, she's a princess, and she's adventurous.
They adore a cynical, teenage, arabian princess named Jasmine who has, like other girls her age, no matter what race or generation, been spoiled beyond belief by her father (and/or other present legal gaurdian). Be it because she's a princess or what have you. They adore her because she does what she wants, she's older then they are, she's adventurous, courageous and she stands up for herself and others. Oh yes, and she's above all else pretty.
They love Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, because they're beautiful, they talk to animals, and the animals "talk/sing" back or at the very least understand them word for word. They glide effortlessly around their domains.
Pocahontas and Belle, they get to save their men. They're adventurous, and pretty, they know different languages.
All of those girls also have a true love, which as a little girl (which most of these movies are directed towards) is the biggest thing since sliced bread.
Do you seriously think that as children they sit there and wonder why Ariel isn't Taiwanese? Or why Snow White wasn't Kwakiutl?

Hint: Your kids don't care. They're watching the movies because they like the story, and the adventure.

By the way, if you're going to bludgeon Aladdin for being, "far from a beacon of multiculturalism and racial respect," when we had just come out of a war, and unless you are seriously looking for "hidden" items throughout the movie you can't fairly say something like that when all the characters, save for Genie, Abu, and Iago were of the same race and only the bad guys were displayed as severely bad. Now if you were looking for items, maybe you need to do more viable research before you write an article about this considering it won two oscars, two golden globes, and two grammies, ontop of countless other awards. One of those awards, which, by the way, was for best picture.

And on another note, the reason Disney stopped making hand drawn cartoons wasn't because of 'The Emporers New Groove' (though it was the yellow light on the "you're screwing up" stop sign they were about to run through), it was because of their screw up 'Treasure Planet'. While the idea in itself was good, they didn't have the imagination to make Treasure Planet as good as it could have been, and it completely bombed at the box office and put the hand animated portion of the Disney Empire out of buisness so to speak.

Now, I don't know where you bought your artistic degree from but you should get a refund. Why? Because that African Princess doesn't look anything like Jasmine. First off, the bone structure that's implied on Jasmine is entirely different. If anything, Princess Maddy looks more reminicent of a Barbie Doll circa 1990. Her eyes are much smaller, and they are half lidded or open, while Jasmines are either wide open or 3/4 of the way open. Jasmine also has thin lips, while Maddy has Angelina Jolie lips that are pretty much typical of her race.

Snow White was almost exactly like Sleeping Beauty. Both girls living in the woods. Could communicate with woodland creatures. Both got caught by their nemisis in the woods. Both slept for a really long time till their true love saved them. Both were modest, both didn't know they were princesses until the end of the stories. I don't know what versions of these stories you've been watching, but it sure as hell wasn't Disney's.

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As an African American female that grew up watching cartoons that included no one that looked like me, except the Tambourine player on Josie and the Pussycats. I think its great that Disney has decided to create an African American princess, however, "Maddy" does not sound like an African princess. If you are going to fair, it would be nice to incorporate elements that are true to our culture. How can one person's opinion of what is beautiful speak for everyon? I'm sure that little girls everywhere will flock to the theatres just because its Diney and some will come specifically to see the new princess. While I think its wonderful, I hope that thise involved can stay focused and produce a tastefully entertaining show without offending anyone.

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I must agree with last statement. Being a young African American woman it is so good see a darker complected cartoon figure with such pretty and facially proportioned features. How ever, on the Disney channel there is another African American family called the Proud family and they do a good job of teaching valuable life lessons for the youth of all ethnic backgrounds. I also agree that the name choice (Maddy) is questionable but I also hope that they capture the culture of the black community to help enlighten those who have been blindfolded by stereo types and negative worldly perceptions so that our children do not become limited to the idea of unity and equality do to the lack of diversity in kid intended movies and television which they emulate as their heroes teaching that anyone can be a lead/role for others.

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As a British pakistani I was pleased to see a black character from Disey. The name of the movie is silly, yet the charatcer does not look like a princess. Disney have faile din showing her affluence and any of her sidekicks/princes.

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As the mother of 2 very small girls, I think that it is great that Disney is finally coming out with an African Princess. I am black and so are my girls. I am not too thrilled about the name Maddy, however both of the pictures are pretty and I like them both. I plan to support this princess by going to the movies and by all of the toys associated with her. I hope that others will also support her and show Disney how important she is to us. It is a step in the right direction. I hope that there will be more black princesses in Disney's future.

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I am estatic about Disney finally coming out with an african americian(black)princess. The name, however, does not sit well with me and my family who are african american. Why can't the name reflect who she is. We have beautiful names and Maddy is not one of them. Where did this name originate from? I will not be so upset if the name is proven to be of african orgin. Maddy sounds very caucasian and that is not fair to all the little africian american girls who has waited so long to see someone on screen who looks like them. This is not a racial issue, trust me, it is an identity crisis. Was she given this name to throw people off and make that money because Maddy sounds more pleasing to the ear than Camille,Latrice,Chade or BriMonet(which Chade and BriMonet happens to be my daughters' names.)Why cant she have a name like those just to through out a few. Please to keep this issue from growing CHANGE HER NAME!!!!! Also, let her story line be ongoing so that my children's children can have someone to identify with as time goes on.

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My daughter's name is Addy (named after her great, great, great grandmother). I've always taught her to be proud of that name. Her name means "noble and kind". It may be a slave name - but whose shoulders do we stand on anyway ? I feel that we stand on the prayers of our ancestors and yes, some may have been slaves.
Addy is a name to be proud of and so is Maddy. We should not see it as a disgrace or lower than any other name given to our young beautiful black princesses. I was so excited to hear that the new Disney princess would not only be African American but that her name would be Maddy. Then came the name change and I sit here wondering, "WHO is Disney listening to?"

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I have always tried to teach my daughter that there are many ways of being beautiful physically and being blonde and blue-eyed (which we are) is only a tiny slice of the world's amazing variety.

I always thought it odd that there was no African princess in the Disney tales, so I went looking for one. A search of the internet came up with ONE book which the authors said they wrote after being unable to find a story themselves following the princess-on-a-quest theme. Kalilah - go find her story.

As to Disney making their princess a servant, so was Cinderella; her being American, I guess they were going for the musical element of the jazz era when they've already plumbed African music with The Lion King.

The name change issue is a whole other situation - I think Maddy sounds like a typical name for a girl from 1920's New Orleans; but who wants a typical name for a princess? The new name being reported -Tiana - sounds like one of those contemporary, concocted names girls get saddled with today; not a name from an African language, not even a French name, which would at least be believable in the setting.

Disney, yes, is a money-making venture. That is their purpose. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised when I fork over the cost of tickets, toys, DVD, and assorted other merchandising that will go along with this movie and find that Tianna/Maddy/Whatever her name ends up being is smart and funny and kind.

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