Walt Disney Welcomes New Princess

Walt Disney Welcomes a New Princess

Walt Disney Co. is being defensive to its newest princess after the criticisms over her Hispanic-influenced ethnicity.

A new character named Sofia will star in the TV movie "Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess" airing Nov. 18 on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior. Hispanic advocacy groups have questioned whether the fair-skinned, blue-eyed young princess is a correct reflection of the Hispanic population and speculated why Disney isn't doing more to promote its first princess with Hispanic-inspired roots.

Craig Gerber, co-executive producer of "Sofia the First," clarified in a Facebook post on Friday that Sofia is "a mixed-heritage princess in a fairytale world." He said her mother and birth father respectively hail from kingdoms inspired by Spain and Scandinavia, though Sofia was born and raised in Enchancia, a "make-believe 'melting pot' kingdom" patterned after the British Isles.

The film and a subsequent TV series will follow the young princess as she adjusts to royal life after her mother marries the king of Enchancia.

"Sofia considers herself a normal Enchancian girl like any other," said Gerber. "Her mixed heritage and blended family are a reflection of what many children today experience."

"Sofia's world reflects the ethnically diverse world we live in, but it is not our world," said Nancy Kanter, senior vice president of original programming for Disney Junior. "It is a fairytale and storybook world that we hope will help spur a child's imagination. It's one where we can have flying horses, schools led by fairies, songs that have a Latin beat and towns with markets like those found in North Africa."

Little girls look to these characters to see themselves represented," said Navarrete. "If they don't see themselves, it makes a difference. It would be nice to see Disney make a full-out push for a Latina princess, whether it's 'Sofia the First' or not."

Posted by Kade Quinn on Wednesday October 24 2012, 8:54 AM EST. Ref: Google. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0