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They may have recently gotten into hot water over lightening Princess Tiana’s skin in their latest promo for the Wreck-It Ralph, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not trying very hard to continue in their efforts to offer more diversity in their movies.
Over the years we got Pocahontas, The Princess and the Frog as well as Moana, but the one thing we’ve never seen is a purely African princess get more screen time.
With diverse movies like Black Panther and Girls Trip busting the myth that diversity doesn’t sell, it’s not only about time that studios really start asking for more culturally varied casts and stories, it’s a tremendous moment for marginalised groups who hardly get to see themselves reflected in stories.
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And to add to our joy, it’s now been revealed that Disney is developing a new fairy tale movie featuring the first African princess in the lead role.
Refinery29 reports that the movie will be a live-action film focusing on a warrior princess named Sadé (which is the name of the film’s title as well), who has to use her magical gifts to defend her home from villainy.
Along the way she’ll get a little help from a prince (who for once is the sidekick in the role) and even an animal familiar. The movie is set to be produced by Rick Famuyiwa and also has Ola Shokunbi and Lindsey Reed Palmer on board with the project.
There are no details about any tentative release dates, nor does the movie have a director, but we can’t wait to hear and see more.
In the meantime, I can totally see Lupita in the lead role, don’t you think?
