Racial Injustice & Bias: Disney Edition Script

Racial injustice and bias is present in our everyday lives. Socialization obscures and diminishes
these notions, so that it is not made evident. Films are no exceptions. Today we will focus on the
evolution of the portrayal of African-American female characters in Disney movies.

We will be focusing on Sunflower from Disney’s 1940 movie Fantasia, Disney’s 1997
Cinderella live action adaptation starring Brandy Norwood, Disney’s first evert Black princess,
as well as Tiana from Disney’s 2009 The Princess and The Frog, and The Little Mermaid live
action remake starring R&B singer and actress Halle Bailey.

The 1940s Fantasia is a beloved movie by many but under the surface of its majestic aesthetic
and orchestral ambiance lies a world of oppression. In the movie, while the rest of the characters
are centaurs with vibrant colors and soft features, Sunflower is not. She is a little girl portrayed
as a mule, with barely any clothes to cover her. Her features are stereotypes of an African-
American child, as evidenced by her hairstyle and exaggerated facial features, Furthermore, she
is portrayed as the subordinate, a slave, to the centaurs, those of light skin. It was not until the
Civil Rights Movement in 1969 that Fantasia was later adapted to remove scenes of Sunflower
for the racist backlash Disney received making it seem as if this character never existed. Scenes
were reframed by zooming in to avoid showing Sunflower. Where she was polishing the hoof of
a centaur, or centaurettes as they were known, reminiscent of the African-American shoeshine
boys of the time, the frame is changed to fit a different narrative. While Disney recognizes the
racism in its classic films in saying "We can't change the past, but we can acknowledge it, learn
from it and move forward together," the company at large is nonetheless reinforcing racial
injustice and bias by erasing the existence of this character by deleting videos of Sunflower on
the internet.

Another character whose existence seems to be forgotten is Cinderella from 1997, starring
African-American actress Brandy Norwood. With the 2015 remake starring Lily James many
come to believe that this adaptation is the epitome of the classic animated 1950s movie.
Compared to this adaptation, with a princess of blonde hair and blue eyes, Brandy Norwood’s
adaptation is overshadowed. To many, the casting of a Black woman as Cinderella was
significant in that it changed the standards of what a princess could look like or be and embodied
the hardworking poor Black woman who had to face the harsh reality of others living a more
privileged life. It became a revolutionary film that to this day inspires many. However, that is not
to dismiss the fact that Disney was still biased when producing this film. For one thing, the
movie was originally made for TV, and not for the Cinemas like the 2015 remake. While
integrating a multiracial cast, characters of power that being the King are White and not Black.
Cinderella’s Stepmother, a figure whose Cinderella’s freedom is dependent on, is White, not
Black, further adding to the discourse that Black women are inferior. Rather than relating to poor
and working Black women, Cinderella encompassed the limited mobility that Black women
have: that Black women are subordinates and whose work does not go beyond cleaning, cooking,
etc. Qualities that are present in Tiana from The Princess and The Frog.

Tiana is a hardworking New Orleans girl wanting to achieve her dream of owning her own
restaurant. Every little penny counts and so she works two jobs to fulfill her dream. In part of
Disney, this was an accomplishment in yet again introducing a Black female character to the big
screen and this time with the status of a princess rather than a “slave” as with Sunflower in
Fantasia. And yet again, Disney creates a movie about Black people working for White people
The movie does a great job at highlighting historical narratives, ahistorical albeit. It is biased in
the way that Whites and Blacks are shown happily congregating the same spaces in a post-racial
era. For the majority of the film, Tiana spends her time as a frog and once more does Disney
proliferate stereotypes. The Black woman’s struggle is minimized when juxtaposed with
problems of the dominant group (i.e., Charlotte’s devastation over Prince Naveen not arriving
even though Tiana’s struggle was a form of racism) *a little woman of your background*
Depictions of characters like Tiana are not absent from racist elements and the representation of
their struggles remains unjust.

With the upcoming The Little Mermaid remake coming next year, it is a wonder how this
formula of presenting Black women in film will turn out. With the recent news, naysayers began
the #NotMyAriel trend on social media as those criticizing the decision to cast Halle Bailey
could not fathom the idea of the story’s heroine, Ariel, being Black. Needless to say, a classic
had been reimagined before with 1997s Cinderella being a success, but as stated before that
adaptation would be overshadowed by the 2015 remake. The 1989 film is already criticized with
the female protagonist being robbed of her voice, playing on the social commentary that
women’s voices do not matter and are hindered by those of their counterparts. Now, imagine a
Black woman, Halle Bailey, being robbed of her voice in the upcoming remake. Is Disney
actively participating in subliminal messages that entail that Black women’s voices do not
matter? How will this play out with the recent Black Lives Matter Movement? Is Disney still
biased and diminishing the struggles of Black women? The answer to the last question is yes.
This can be seen in Prince Erick being casted as a White actor, condoning the White-savior
complex. It is difficult to say how the movie will turn out and how it will be changed to better
represent the narratives of the Black community. In the movie Ariel sings, “Wouldn’t you say
I’m a girl who has everything” but Black people don’t have everything; they are still prejudiced
against. As a Black woman, Halle Bailey has been under racists attacks for not looking like
Ariel. Will Disney finally accurately portray Black women on the screens or will their pain be
masked by “reframing” and obscuring racist elements such as with Sunflower.