Wreck-It Ralph 2 Animators Changing A Princess After Whitewashing Complaints

Disney has agreed to change the appearance of one of its characters in the upcoming film Ralph Breaks The Internet after negative feedback and work from an advocacy organization. The film features a cameo from its wide array of Disney princesses, but fans complained that Princess Tiana from 2009's The Princess and the Frog--notably the first black Disney princess--had been given lighter skin and hair and a narrower nose.

USA Today reports that Disney animators met with the group Colors of Change, which campaigns for racial representation in Hollywood, along with voice actress Anika Noni Rose, who plays Princess Tiana. Following the meeting in which animators agreed to make the adjustments, Color of Change issued a statement calling it a "victory for Color of Change members, Black children and their parents, and Black audiences who want to see the variety of shades, shapes and sizes of Black characters accurately represented in the arts."

Rose issued a similar statement, recounting her experiences making The Princess and the Frog and how open the animators were to taking her own feedback into account. She said the Ralph animators expressed some difficulties with the technicalities of CGI animation that had led to the initial look for Tiana, but they ultimately decided to make the changes requested.

"It was important to me to hear what Disney had to say, and to have an open dialogue about legacy and representation," she wrote. "They did not have to make time to give me a presentation on the process, but I'm very glad they did. I also appreciate that this far into the process Disney had enough care and respect for all who love Princess Tiana and her legacy to spend the time and money to make the adjustments necessary. In doing so, they recognize that her legacy is also their legacy; two things I'm very proud to be a part of."

The princesses appear in a sequence that has been heavily promoted in trailers, in which heroine Vanellope von Schweetz sneaks into their private room while visiting the Internet. It's difficult to say from the trailers just how big a role the princesses will play in the movie as a whole. Ralph Breaks The Internet releases on November 21.