Disney revises first black heroine movie after complaints of 'sterotypes'

After decades of making animated films, Disney is finally making a movie with a black heroine. But some critics are already upset about the concept behind a new film.

"When Disney announced it was casting its first black princess for its latest animation film, the African-American heroine was hailed as a positive role model for little girls and an ambitious marketing ploy," writes Arifa Akbar in London's Independent.

The film provided an opportunity for the studio to "ward off the allegations of racism that have lurked since the heyday of Walt Disney Productions in the 1940s and 1950s," she wrote.

But more than a year before the film is set to be released, critics have already been complaining about the setting, story line, and the characters.

Set in 1920s New Orleans, the animated musical was originally supposed to depict a black maid named Maddy. With the help of Maddy's voodoo practicing fairy godmother, she was to win the affection of a white prince after being rescued from another voodoo practictioner.

The original story was allegedly canned after criticism and Maddy has since become Tiana, a 19-year-old black girl played by Anika Noni Rose. The movie's title also reportedly changed, from The Frog Princess, the title of a classic fairytale, to The Princess and The Frog.

William Blackburn, a columnist for the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina, was one of the first to complain. "Disney should be ashamed of what it is trying to pass off as its first black princess," he said. "Despite all its resources and experience, it has failed to create a black princess to rival its predecessors.

Plans for the film have been known for years and the controversy is not exactly new, but for some reason the story has resurfaced in newspapers in recent days. The Telegraph of London and The Independent both reported the story this week. The Orlando Sentinel, located in the hometown of the Disney empire, also reported the story on its blog this week.

But it's not the first time the studio has run into trouble for allegedly insensitive depictions of various ethnic groups. Some Muslims objected to the animated film Aladdin because of its depiction of Arab culture. One line in the movie: "I come from a land, from a faraway place, where the caravan camels roam, where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face; it's barbaric, but hey, it's home."

The New York Times editorial board even criticized the Aladdin stereotype in an editorial titled, "It's Racist, But Hey, It's Disney."

Thanks to the early complaints, The Princess and The Frog may never get to that point. The film also stars John Goodman, Jenifer Lewis, Keith David and Bruno Campos. It's set to be released around Christmas 2009, which should give the studio plenty of time to address all the concerns of the critics.