Disney Takes One Step Forward, One Step Back

Last night when I came home, I logged on to MSN, checked my emails, and logged out. As everyone knows, logging out shoots you over to msn.ca or msn.com. I often skim through these pages looking for new articles to read. The articles here are very diverse and recent compared to any magazine or newspaper on stands, and so I enjoy reading them as they expand my knowledge pool of random facts. I always have a new fact, it's true.

A particular title caught my eye last night. I pried myself away from Facebook and MSN, and read something that would put a smile on my face.

Disney, the company with fairytale Princesses (that have created a revenue of 3 billion thus far), is introducing to their roster, the very first (drum roll, please)...black princess. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Disney feels that it's time to enlist Maddy - who hails from the French Quarter of New Orleans - into their latest full-feature length film.

Disney, company that aims it's Princess line at young girls aged 4-8, has realized that multiculturalism in their films will fare well with modern consumers. Introduced in 1992, "Aladdin" was released and starred Jasmine, the first Princess who was of middle-eastern decent, as opposed to the past princesses who were all white - Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel. To follow were more examples of the move towards diversity - the sucessful releases of Pocahontas and Mulan.

Yesterday I watched Queen Latifah doing an interview on PBS. She spoke about a large, untapped market of African-Americans in the United States who need films aimed towards them. For instance, she said that there isn't a Christmas movie starring African-Americans. I think that Disney is taking the hint by including Maddy in their movie.

Now, Disney made two announcements. They both pertained to the movie "The Frog Princess", the first of which I just explained. The second made me so, so happy. Disney has committed to this film, set to release in 2009, and is taking a step back with their animation. The company plans to hand draw this movie. No more computer animated, cheaply slapped together, Cinderella XIV, straight-to-video movies. They will return to the method of cartooning that we all grew up with, and that everybody should grow up with. The way The Little Mermaid was, Fox and the Hound, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. They had personality; they were crafted by artists who studied lions for months to get the movements of their limbs down right on paper.

Well, I'd like to say to Disney, congratulations on your first African-American Princess, on your return to hand drawing your cartoons, and to taking one step forward, while taking one step back.

(to read the article I read, please go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17524865/?GT1=9145)

First Up

Nearly a year since I became a blogger, I've taken up the creative hobby once again. This time, however, I'm not speaking from an adventurous, European standpoint. The tales of burgeoning mountains, bustling cities, and babbling brooks (nice alliteration, Michelle!) are fini. I now call out to you from the comfort of my own home, back in Uxbridge. Oh, Uxbridge.

The posts to follow will - as the title so suggests - chronicle my life (my normal Canadian life). And so will be discovered, the adventure within the workings of my days. Enjoy.