Disney fixes Princess Tiana's skin tone after complaints of whitewashing

Company reanimates scenes from upcoming 'Wreck-It Ralph' sequel

Disney has decided to reanimate some of the scenes from the upcoming "Wreck-It Ralph" sequel after people and advocacy groups complained that animators lightened the skin and changed facial features of the movie's only black princess.

Princess Tiana, from Disney's 2009 "The Princess and the Frog" is briefly featured in the new "Wreck-It Ralph" sequel along with a slew of other Disney princesses. Disney released stills from the movie over the summer, and people were quick to point out that Princess Tiana looked a little different from her animation in her original movie. Specifically, people said that her skin tone was lightened and her nose was skinnier. 

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According to the WSJ, after the social media backlash, animators at Disney immediately went back to the drawing board to reanimate the way Princess Tiana looked before the film's Nov. 21 release. 

Disney asked the voice of Princess Tiana, Anika Noni Rose, to help weigh in on the animation process, along with representatives from Colors of Change, an advocacy organization that helps Hollywood include accurate racial representation in movies. 

Colors of Change said in a statement that it was happy to see Disney “restore Princess Tiana’s image to that of an unapologetically black princess with full lips, dark skin and dark hair.”

 

People on social media are now praising Disney for doing the right thing, and thanking advocates for demanding that the studio do better. 


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Jack is a Digital Content Editor with a degree in creative writing and French from Western Michigan University. He specializes in writing about movies, food and the latest TV shows.