Disney’s New Princess

Get ready Disney fans…there is about to be a new princess in town. Disney is set to release its first Latina Princess: Elena of Avalor. She will make her introduction in Fall 2016. She is set to debut at Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom and will appear in her own show. She will be the protagonist in the upcoming Disney Junior series Elena of Avalor. Adding a princess like Elena is adding diversity and inclusion to the Disney community. She is bold, caring, funny, and clever; she is also slender, has long brown hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. Although I am happy that Disney is adding diversity, they seem to be relying on old and pervasive stereotypes about Latinas in terms of Elena’s appearance. She has long black hair, has rosy cheeks, olive skin, and brown eyes. But not every Latina fits this stereotypical image. Elena is also portrayed to be very slender, again reinforcing certain body ideals for young girls. There are some flaws in her portrayal, but there are also many benefits. It is important to know that her voice is one of a real Latina; Aimee Carrero is a Dominican Republic born American actress who plays the voice of Elena. This provides a great intersectionality to the role. Rather than having a white person play Elena, they are actually having a Latina play a Latina role. I see many strengths and weaknesses with this character, but would like to say that I think its great that Disney is continuing to diversify the princesses.