Colorism in Animated Movies

    The lack of representation in films and media, also known as colorism, is conveyed throughout live-action forms of media. But, did you know that it even occurs in animated movies?

    When Princess Tiana, from Disney's Princess and The Frog, made an appearance for the trailer Disney's Wreck-It Ralph 2, the animators changed the original features she had. In the trailer, they made her nose much smaller than her original nose, and they made her lips dainty and small in comparison to her full lips that she had in her original film. And to top it off, they changed her skin tone from a darker shade of melanin to a lighter shade of melanin. 

    It took public outrage on social media for the changes to be made for the final release. Although they recognized her blackness and kept some of her features like her natural hair, the changes they did alter changed the character fans grew to love and adore. It may have seemed like a small change, but to an entire community, this former iteration continued to perpetuate the lack of dark skin women in media.

- Derrian Carter