When Disney released footage from the Wreck-It Ralph sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, fans of The Princess and the Frog’s Princess Tiana noticed that the first black Disney princess didn’t look the same in this new film as she did in her standalone movie. Her nose was slimmer, her hair lighter and curlier, and her brown skin a few shades lighter. Now Tiana herself is addressing the change. In a statement posted to her Instagram, Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Tiana, said she met with The Princess and the Frog and Ralph Breaks the Internet animators to discuss rendering Tiana closer to her original likeness. “[The Ralph Breaks the Internet animators] explained how CGI animation did different things to the characters’ color tones in different light compared to hand drawn original characters,” Rose wrote. “And I was able to express how important it is to the little girls (and let’s face it, grown women) who felt represented by her that her skin tone stay as rich as it had been, and that her nose continue to be the little round nose that [The Princess and the Frog animator] Mark so beautifully rendered in the movie; the same nose on my very own face and on many other little brown faces around the world, that we so rarely get to see represented in fantasy.”
The result: as seen in the latest Ralph Breaks the Internet trailer, a CGI Princess Tiana who looks more similar to the animated original. Noni thanked the filmmakers and Disney for entering into a conversation about Tiana’s animation: “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 time and money to make the adjustments necessary.”
