A(n Enchanted) Catch 22 (!) — When Disney Dodges Race
So apparently, some people are upset that Princess Tiana’s love interest in Disney’s upcoming animated film, The Princess and the Frog, is not black. Instead, he’s white. Maldonian, rather. Maldonia is the fictional place of Prince Naveen’s origin. Because Maldonia is not real, Naveen technically could have been of any color. Disney chose to give him a sort of peachish tanish shade, which actually leaves open to imagination the question of the Maldonians’ real-life racial equivalent. Let’s imagine for a moment that, perhaps Maldonian’s are not all the same shade. That there are brown Maldonians and tan Maldonians and pink Maldonians and black Maldonians and white Maldonians and and most every shade in between. Why, that would make the Maldonian race quite similar to the black race. Who then is to say that Prince Naveen is not black?
Several sources report that Naveen is supposed to be of Middle Eastern heritage, which would make for a very interesting back story, given that the film takes place in New Orleans.
So why is Disney being so ambiguous when it comes to Naveen’s roots? In defense of the Mickey Meister, I will point out that, starting with its initial title, The Frog Princess, each new detail released to the public about the film has stirred up some form of criticism or controversy: Why does the black princess have to be a frog? Maddie sounds like a slave name! And she’s a chambermaid?! Hold up! What’s up with the mosquito with the missing teeth? Why can’t he have teeth? What’s Disney trying to say? And I, personally, think the voodoo godmother is a poor substitute for a fairy!
In response to some of the major criticisms, change has followed. The Frog Princess is now The Princess and the Frog; Maddie is now Tiana. The fate of the voodoo godmother, however, remains a surprise. There will always be some objection to any choice that is made regarding the movie. If Naveen had been created as a decidedly black character, some would complain about him being a frog. And since he would have been Disney’s first black animated prince, why risk even more bad publicity — and possibly another change?
who cares about Naveen, the Villian (Dr. Facillier) is so much better.