The Daily Doss

2009 is shaping up to be a banner year for African-Americans: in January we got our first Presidential family (our beloved Obamas), then we got our first head of the Republican party (although I don’t necessarily like to give Michael Steele too many kudos), and now we have Tiana – our first Disney Princess.  Set to be released in December, The Princess and The Frog updates the classic fairy tale to 1920′s New Orleans and seems to follow the format of the classic Disney 2D musicals of the 80′s and 90′s.

When I was coming up in the 80′s, I was grateful to catch any glimpse of black people in cartoons or comics, even though they were often cliched and offensive.  It happened so rarely when I was a kid, that I felt lucky for whatever I could get.  I was even happy to see cartoon animals that were clearly supposed to be the black character and had African-American voice actors playing them – yes, Panthro from The Thundercats, I’m talking about you.  Gone are the days when I had to be satisfied with the occasional appearance of rhymin’ Roadblock on G.I. Joe, old reruns of Fat Albert, or hope that Chuck and Nancy would show up in the background of an Archie comic.

It’s refreshing to see an African-American character headlining a major animated feature, especially one in which they are positioned as a role-model for small children.  I don’t doubt that most young girls, black or otherwise, will want to wear Tiana costumes or have Tiana dolls.  It’s 2009 and even Disney is acknowledging that “black is beautiful”.