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Oddly enough, I had a very similar reaction to the recent "Frog Princess" Disney trailer.

While it's true that color doesn't matter in this day and age and we're supposedly all equal, it comes down to the fact that when I watch movies w/ my niece, not ONE of the princesses looks like her Essentially, Disney is telling my darling little girl that they'd rather have an Islamic princess (Jasmine) and the daughter of a Native American chieftain (Pocahontas-- let's not get into the gory implications of that) as qualified "princesses" before they'd have one that looks just like her or her best friend from next door. (Not touching Fa-Mulan Awesome, but EXTREMELY Disneyfied) Now it's true that these are perfectly wonderful princesses However, for a company based in a country that was predominantly Caucasian and African American for the majority of its rein since its 1950s inception, it's just a strange and winding detour. Oh, I've heard the arguments that they just haven't gotten to it yet or that Nala is the black princess (NALA'S A CAT-- A CAT! ), etc. etc. It's just not the same as having little blonde, blue-eyed Cindy or dark-haired Snow, or even RED-HEADED Ariel!

So, having weathered all the excuses, a little bud of hope blossomed upon my bosom when I heard they were going to finally make a black princess movie. It'd be interesting, unique. And then... the spoilers and teasers started to leak. Firstly, they picked the WORST princess from all fairy-tale-dom: The "Frog Prince" princess- A princess who was not only selfish, but a liar and a cheat who had "happily ever after" FORCED upon her by her father.... Gee, thanks. Secondly, early inceptions of the princess (possibly false, I'll admit)portrayed her in the style of "Proud Family", which, though comedic and fun, is still a caricature and nowhere near the charm a typical Disney princess is given. And finally, the location of it all-- N'Awlins. Now, I'm a Louisiana kid myself, nothing wrong 'bout the place as it's the place where everything's right ...most of the time. My only issue of contention in Disney's choice of this venue over a number of cosmopolitan cities was Louisiana's long history of convoluted racial identity, which... as I think of it now, may have been the point; however, Louisiana has been home to a number of races, including mixes which have not always been well-received I hope this means that Disney not only embraces the darker ethnicities as a whole, but encourages the further integration of peoples

I saw the first "official" trailer last night. I was disappointed that it seemed to focus on the villain and there was very little indication of there even BEING a princess; so.... I can only hope. The few clips I've seen look promising for what Disney is now. It's true that it's likely to not have the brilliance of the Walt or Eisner years; but, I hope enough of their legacy remains to have given it the shine it needs to stand within the collection I anticipate good things