Brandy’s Cinderella: The Forgotten Story of Disney’s First Black Princess

Brandy’s Cinderella: The Forgotten Story of Disney’s First Black Princess

In September 2022, the trailer for the new Little Mermaid movie premiered on YouTube. The trailer featured Halle Bailey as a Black Ariel, which sparked very strong reactions on social. While the hashtag #notmyariel trended, there were also videos using the hashtags #representationmatters and #blackgirl, showing children excitedly reacting to the news. While many discussions revolved around whether it was appropriate to cast a black actress to play a character whose animated movie depiction has historically been white, very few pointed out that it was not the first time it happened. The new Little Mermaid movie offers an example of color-conscious casting, which Disney has used before in the live action version of Cinderella in 1997, where Brandy played the lead role. This was a groundbreaking moment for racial representation on screen. Taking a look at this particular film can help us contextualize the casting of black actors to play characters that have historically been portrayed as white in mainstream media. What was the original reaction to the version of Cinderella starring Brandy? What parallels can be drawn between the movie adaptation of Cinderella and that of the Little Mermaid? And, last but not least, why have opinions about the new Little Mermaid movie been so polarized?

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:31 Disney’s representation of minority groups through the ages

5:05 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella

11:38 Representation after Brandy’s Cinderella

12:38 The New Little Mermaid Movie

15:29 Conclusion