About a year ago, Sarah wrote about Disney's plan to introduce its first black princess in the animated fairy tale The Princess and the Frog.

The story has literally been back to the drawing board several times since its conception, due to allegations of racism.

Disney executives are right to heed the outcries: Their overtly animated racism dates back to the 1940s. The lead bird in 1941's Dumbo was named Jim Crow, and sang: "I'd be done see'n about everything/when I see an elephant fly!" The Siamese Twin cats from Lady and the Tramp were only a slight step above the portrayal of the Japanese in American propaganda during World War II. The Merchant from Aladdin called his Middle Eastern homeland a place "where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face." And I don't even want to talk about King Louie, the African-American voiced monkey from The Jungle Book.

In the original storyboard for The Princess and the Frog, the princess was to be called Maddy, and her character was subservient to a spoiled, white Southern debutante. Critics said the echoes of slavery were too close to home, and that Maddy sounded way too much like "Mammy." … continue reading

Anika Noni Rose, probably best known as Lorrell in Dreamgirls, has signed on to costar with Jill Scott in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Alexander McCall Smith. Jill Scott will play Precious Ramotswe, the owner of an all-female detective agency in Botswana. Rose will play Grace Matsuki, Precious' assistant. Uh, Precious and Grace? Hmm. Those aren't exactly kick-ass detective names. If you've read the book, fill me in — is this going to be any good?

The Hollywood Reporter says it's likely that a TV series will follow the movie. I can't help but get excited about the prospect of Rose and Scott playing detectives on TV. Sounds a lot better than the Nancy Drew movie, unless we're talking about bad machine's version. … continue reading

Disney's upcoming animated movie The Frog Princess, an American fairy tale musical set in New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age, will star the first black princess in Disney history. No announcement has yet been made about who will voice the 19-year-old a chambermaid named Maddy, but Alicia Keys and Dreamgirls Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose are reportedly among the contenders.

This is a really great - if long overdue - development, but I rolled my eyes when I saw that that the movie was set in New Orleans. Of course the first movie featuring a black princess would be set in New Orleans - because that's where the black people live, according to Hollywood. Not Cleveland or Seattle, or Boston, but New Orleans. Yes, there is a very large population of African Americans (and Caribbean Americans) in New Orleans, but a lot of black people live elsewhere, too! Apparently a movie about a black princess from Cleveland just isn't as appealing. Why not?

In a word: voodoo.

Every time there's a special New Orleans-themed episode on a TV show, like the one on Bones earlier this season, or the latest episode of Blood Ties I watched last night, it always features black folks who practice voodoo. And sure enough, one of the characters in The Frog Princess is "an elderly, 200-year-old Voodoo priestess/fairy god-mother."

Nevermind that (I'm guessing) the majority of black people in New Orleans don't practice voodoo - white people just can't get this idea out of their heads. It exoticizes black folks and makes them seem more like the "other," and less like your neighbor down the street. I'm not black, and I'm not from New Orleans, but I'm offended on behalf of both. And intelligent people everywhere. Yes, I know I'm on a rant, and probably about something no one else cares about, but I don't like lazy writing that's based on stereotypes.

Watch, now I'll go home tonight and discover a voodoo doll that looks like me with pins stuck in it on my doorstep. If I turn into a giant snake in my sleep tonight, you'll know why!