In the article "The Strange Case of The Princess and the Frog: Passing and the Elision of Race," Ajay Gehlawat looks at Tianna's racial identity and the film's portrayal of her race. Specifically, Gehlawat mentions a possible motive for Disney's choices in their rendering of Tianna: money. This motivation for financial gains definitely seems to make sense given its context. As a business, Disney definitely should be concerned with enhancing their bottom line by producing films that audiences want to see. As Gehlawat notes, it appears that Disney attempts to broaden its audience base by appealing to people of different races with characters of various races. In other words, Disney tried to increase its viewership by adding characters of different races so that more people could relate to them. Gehlawat argues that Tianna's race is completely ignored, so much that she is shown as a princess (of sorts) who just happens to also be black. While some may think that this completely negates Disney's progress by showing a black princess for the first time, I feel that it shows how Disney has evolved with the times and now promote an updated mentality. They make a leap forward by having a princess who is black in the sense that they no longer view it as much of a taboo subject anymore. Since people have become more open-minded and less racist over time, Disney was able to have their protagonist be a character of color. While in the past it is possible that some people would have boycotted the film due to this, Disney's decision reflects how they think that the public can now embrace a black princess. For this reason, even though Disney largely ignores the issues of race in the film, their decision to make such a movie in the first place reflects how they believe people have an updated mindset of acceptance.
"The Strange Case of The Princess and the Frog: Passing and the Elision of Race" by Ajay Gehlawat
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