‘Ralph Breaks The Internet’ Tweaks The Disney Princess Scene After Whitewashing Criticisms
At least this one time, criticisms of whitewashing in a major Hollywood movie will have a happy ending.
WhenRalph Breaks the Internetdebuted its first footage to eager fans at last year’sD23 Expo, all the buzz surrounding theWreck-It Ralphsequel was about the scene in which Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) stumbles upon the room housing all of the Disney princesses, voiced by most of the original voice actors. The rest of us finally got a peek at this scene inthis year’sWreck-It Ralph 2trailers, but excitement over the cameos soon turned to anger when fans noticed that Disney’s only black princess, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), was considerably lighter than when she had appeared in 2009’sThe Princess and the Frog.But before that controversy could break the internet, Disney moved quickly to change theRalph Breaks the Internetprincess scene.
According to a report fromThe Wall Street Journal, Disney heard your criticisms of whitewashing inRalph Breaks the Internetand are hard at work to fix that. Disney Animation began reanimating scenes with Princess Tiana immediately after the controversy broke this May, following therelease of imagesof the Disney princesses in a casual-wear slumber party with Vanellope.
The image in question showed the princesses after Vanellope had stumbled into their “room” and was met with initial hostility (including Cinderella’s jagged glass slipper) only for them to welcome the arcade game character with open arms after learning that she was basically a princess too. Inspired by Vanellope’s clothes, they slip on some casual-wear and lounge about, in an image that is absolutely delightful except for one thing: Princess Tiana’s appearance. The Tiana inRalph Breaks the Internethas lighter skin and a narrower nose than she had in her 2009 film, which ignited afirestorm of controversyonline over the racist implications of “whitewashing” Disney’s only black princess.
Now, merely two months before the movie’s release, Disney is working hard to revise Tiana’s appearance — which you can already see the results of in thelatestRalph Breaks the Internettrailer.“The revisions—an unusual move given the years-long process of making an animated film—come in the final months before the movie’s release,” WSJ writes.
Disney animators are also seeking feedback from Tiana’s voice actressAnika Noni Roseon the depiction of the princess, according to WSJ. They’ve also met with “representatives from Color of Change, an advocacy organization that focuses on issues of racial representation and political inequality, including portrayals of black characters in Hollywood.”
Color of Change president Rashad Robinson celebrated this win for representation with a tweet capturing Tiana’s appearance in the latest trailer.
Big news. Because of COC members and convos with@DisneyAnimation, Princess Tiana has been restored to her original depiction. Now when Black girls watch#WreckItRalph2, they’ll see Tiana and other princess of color that actually looks like them on screen#BlackGirlMagicpic.twitter.com/4ZPJm4aZyz
— Rashad Robinson (@rashadrobinson)June 03, 2025
