Over the past few years, there has been a lot a controversy over the limited diversity of Disney princesses. The focus of this discussion has recently been centered on Disney’s representation of Hispanic  and Latina/o people. Princess Elena is the newest addition to Disney royalty. Elena is the brave and caring crown princess of the kingdom of Avalor. With dark skin and raven hair, Disney fans everywhere were ecstatic to finally see a Disney princess who abandoned the typical Caucasian Disney princess mold.
However, when people began to ask about Elena’s nationality and which culture influenced Avalor, Disney refused to comment. Instead, the producers of the show simply stated that the inspiration for the princess and the show was “inspired by diverse Latin cultures and folklore”.
After that statement many became concerned that Disney is trying to use Elena to represent all Hispanic and Latin American cultures. Many have wondered: why can’t Elena simply represent a single culture? Disney’s response makes it seem as if they believe that there is only room for one Hispanic/Latina princess in their royal court, which isn’t right.
It is great that Disney is trying to represent Hispanic/Latino culture through princess Elena. However, there are such a wide variety of people who identify as Hispianic or Latina/o and also so many diversities within these cultures that it is impossible for a single princess to justly represent them all. It’s time for Disney to take the next step and diversitfy their cast of characters to include pricesses from multiple Hispanic and Latino cultures and also from other ethnicities and cultures around the world. Representation matters.Â