Disney and Sofía, its first Latina Princess

Disney is all set to premiere a film with its first Latina princess. Named Sofía, she will join Jasmine, Belle, Mulan, Pocahontas, Snow White, Cinderella, Tiana and Ariel as a Disney princess or female protagonist.

Princess Sofía, will make her debut on the Disney Channel on November 18, 2012 in the television movie "Sofía the First: Once Upon a Princess," ahead of a 2013 television series on both Disney Channel and Disney Junior. The television movie and the show are geared toward viewers age 2-7.

Sofía's appearance has been causing a controversy. The United Kingdom newspaper The Daily Mail notes that she has "fair white skin, light brown hair, and blue eyes, prompting critics to say that she looks more Caucasian than Hispanic." Disney representatives confirmed that Miranda 'is Latina' but they are purposefully avoiding making such statements about the main character. 

"We never actually call it out," said Joe D'Ambrosia, the vice president of programing at Disney Junior. 'When we go into schools [to talk to young students about the show], what I find fascinating is that every girl thinks that they’re Sofía," he said during a recent press tour.


NBC Latino wrote that a blogger "pointed out that in concept art, Sofía's mother Miranda, the newly crowned queen of [fictional kingdom of] Enchancia had a darker complexion than the other characters."

Princess Sofía will be voiced by Ariel Winter, one of the stars of the hit television series "Modern Family" will voice Sofía, while Sara Ramírez (of "Grey's Anatomy" fame) will voice her mother, Queen Miranda.

To read the respective articles from The Daily Mail and NBC Latino, click here or here.

It is interesting to note that Disney has often hired actresses of Latino descent for its live action television series. To find out more about that interesting tidbit of information, click here.

[Images courtesy of Disney.]