Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet, has been SO highly anticipated, mainly because every Disney princess is going to make a cameo in the film.
However, the film started to receive major backlash when fans noticed that Princess Tiana’s skin had been lightened.
Now, Disney has reanimated her as Wall Street Journal reports.
In May, Disney started releasing images of the movie that showed the princesses reuniting. In August, another photo of the princesses was revealed, including Snow White, Moana, Elsa, Pocahontas, Cindarella, Mulan, Tiana, and more in their pyjamas. The image was published by EW.
It was then that fans noticed the different colour of Tiana’s skin to her original look in 2009’s The Princess and the Frog, as the Huffington Post reported at the time.
A petition to change Tiana’s skin back was quickly created, to “stop [Disney] whitewashing their black characters”.
The campaign was obviously a huge hit, and the newest trailer for the movie was released on September 20, showing Princess Tiana back as her 2009 self.
In a statement released to Teen Vogue, Color Of Change’s senior campaign director Brandi Collins-Dexter explained what happened.
“Disney’s decision to restore Princess Tiana’s image to that of an unapologetically Black princess with full lips, dark skin and dark hair in Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 is a victory for Color Of Change members, Black children and their parents, and Black audiences who want to see the variety of shades, shapes and sizes of Black characters accurately represented in the arts,” Brandi wrote.
She added, “By redrawing Princess Tiana — Disney’s first and only Black princess — in Ralph Breaks the Internet as she was in Princess and the Frog, Disney has shown its commitment to addressing the concerns of Color Of Change members and the Black community. Disney is an incredibly powerful and influential company and its decisions have far-reaching implications for other companies that provide entertainment for children and adults around the world.”
Color of Change president Rashad Robinson shared similar sentiments in an official statement on Twitter. “Because of COC members and convos with @DisneyAnimation, Princess Tiana has been restored to her original depiction,” he wrote. “Now when Black girls watch #WreckItRalph2, they’ll see Tiana and other princesses of color that actually looks like them on screen #BlackGirlMagic.”
Fans were pretty happy to see the change.
Watch the newest trailer below: