With the recent casting of Halle Bailey in the live-action “Little Mermaid” and Yara Shahidi in “Tinkerbell,” Disney has been overflowing with Black girl magic and it’s just the beginning.
Disney has announced that a live-action “The Princess and the Frog” movie is in the works and they are searching for the perfect Princess Tiana.
Since the announcement, Black actresses, singers and entertainers have been coming out of the woodwork for a chance to play Disney’s first and only official Black princess.
Among the hopefuls are singers Ari Lennox, Baby Tate, and actress/singer CoCo Jones. All three ladies took to social media to share their vocals and resemblance to Princess Tiana.
Jones posted a video of her cooking and singing “I am Almost There” which was performed in the original animated film by Anika Noni Rose.
Lennox also shared a video of her practicing the song for what looks to be an audition for the role.
COCO JONES WANTS TO BE TIANA. I REPEAT COCO JONES WANTS TO BE TIANAAAA pic.twitter.com/SPGAE0dCLZ
— ✨Kyla ✨ Tom’s one and only wife (@dayaholland04) March 22, 2023
Hi @Disney I’m Ari Lennox and I would love an opportunity to audition for Princess and The Frog in person. ❤️ Here’s #AlmostThere by Anika Noni Rose pic.twitter.com/iFft7v249B
— Ari Lennox (@AriLennox) March 21, 2023
I SAID WALK WITH ME!!!! @Disney pic.twitter.com/GBuh2P4caN
— tatey ???????????????? (@imbabytate) March 26, 2023
The battle of the “best” Tiana was quickly won by Coco fans, who attacked anyone who wasn’t claiming her as the head princess in charge.
CoCo’s fans went so far as to cast the Norwegian – Sri Lankan runway model, Jeenu Mahadevan, as Prince Naveen.
Now I can dig this. They may have to lower the key a lil bit on the iconic records from Princess and The Frog but I would love to see how Coco Jones interprets Tiana. pic.twitter.com/W63HK7qrlj
— Media Guru loading… (@KyngCassius) March 22, 2023
But not everyone was convinced, with some saying that CoCo has too deep of a voice to play Tiana.
There were also mentions of Zendaya and Chloe Bailey stepping into the role, which brought up the colorism issue, with many complaining that the actresses’ complexions were too light.
This brings into question the double standard of light versus white, because the Little Mermaid and Tinkerbell are both white characters who are now being played by Black actresses. Does this mean that a Black actress can play any role but a white or light-skinned actress can’t?
The debate intensified as social media began to share photos of Mexican-American actress Jenna Ortega, who recently starred as Wednesday Adams, pictured in the role of Princess Tiana.
no way you put jenna ortega. disrespectful to princess tiana https://t.co/Gxdl0gneEH
— brandalyn ⍟ (@brandalynmk) March 21, 2023
I love jenna ortega so much and zendaya but I'm going to be MAD AS HELL if either of them play tiana ???? she's our only dark skinned disney Princess bro let us have this pls
— Lupin ???????????? (@cream63181153) March 22, 2023
tell you this right now whoever plays princess tiana BETTER be a dark skinned woman https://t.co/tzyvViZ5pE
— Sade ???? (@danasiasade) March 23, 2023
i find it interesting to see black women pushing so hard to make sure princess tiana is not even a single shade lighter than her cartoon counterpart but were up in arms over white people being upset at the mermaid shit. just an observation lmao
— ???? (@rdpgary) March 24, 2023
Disney gonna lose a lot of money if they don’t pick Ari Lennox or Coco jones to play Tiana. And they better not pick a light skinned woman either
— Tooda J so (WOKE ) ???????? (@JordynTerika) March 25, 2023
It has nothing to do with racist… they should just change the title to become Black Mermaid or else, not Little Mermaid. This will be a big Riot if Princess Tiana change to be white. What a double standard world we live in. https://t.co/4Sx7qtKn3L
— I’m a Splenda Daddy (@kevinkalagita) March 29, 2023
now .. I love Zendaya down , like that’s my girl. But y’all know damn well she should not be playing nobody’s Princess Tiana … that role belongs to a dark skinned black woman. Not biracial nor light skinned .
I’m rooting for Coco Jones ????.
— jordyy???? (@loveeejae23) March 23, 2023
What if they get a white princess tiana ?? ???? got all the r&b girlies auditioning on Twitter, for them to choose Taylor swift ????????
— Zen Kita (@La_Femme_Kita) March 27, 2023
Disney you’re INSANE you’re out of mind. I will wait for white Princess Tiana since you want to make the difference so bad. How long would it take disney to notice that it’s not about race. #tinkerbell #TheLittleMermaid2023 #Disney #Oscars2023 #TheLittleMermaid #earthquake pic.twitter.com/dXfUcdD2aN
— Curious (@whatswrongwithx) March 23, 2023
Additional cast members were also named, including Angela Bassett as Princess Tiana’s mom, Dove Cameron as Tiana’s best friend Lotte, and Jenifer Lewis and John Goodman reprising their roles as Mama Odie and Big Daddy.
Wait a min….. coco Jones for tiana…. Walk with me pic.twitter.com/eRQTZJ0RmZ
— Kay Kay (@hgchdfhr) March 24, 2023
Who do you think should play Tiana? Tell us in the comments below and don’t forget to like and share.
I just really want to understand why y’all want Coco Jones to play Tiana. Coco Jones can sing but she’s an alto , borderline tenor . Unless she had a voice over , her playing Tiana would be an epic fail. Lmaoooooo
— Caleb Eli ❣️ (@Caleb__Eli) March 22, 2023
Marsai Martin??? She’s the closest to Tiana’s age https://t.co/HcNAy1Ri7f pic.twitter.com/imGXllZ8AF
— ⁂????????????????????????⁂ (@erickacknowles) March 20, 2023
when disney still pick zendaya for princess tiana after seeing all these girls sing their hearts out on twitter… pic.twitter.com/yunMr55KCM
— i be like… DO IT 4 MY BABY! (@SUCKAW0RLD) March 22, 2023
the conversation is over. pic.twitter.com/TqDbMxqCqb
— ???????????? ????ℎ???? ???????????????????????????????? ???? (@joselynforbes_) March 26, 2023
Marsai Martin would be an AMAZING tiana though, she has that disney face pic.twitter.com/RCrQmpCJLz
— ???????????????????????? ♂✦♪½ (@thecatdeity) March 23, 2023
more than anything i want ryan destiny to be tiana in the live action princess and the frog pic.twitter.com/1XfSUkq6WK
— ✨????????Isaiah????????✨ (@isaiahjcaldwell) March 27, 2023
I feel like Ryan should be Tiana and Rome as Naveen but maybe Dove Camron as the bsf pic.twitter.com/VkP8rGe7KE
— ???????????????????????? ఌ (@theyluvvaugust) March 23, 2023
give it a rest coco jones is princess tiana pic.twitter.com/Jydgq6efwI
— hb (@cocoswae) March 22, 2023
Jai’Len Josey heard us y’all & delivered! ???????????????????? #PrincessTiana pic.twitter.com/bWCdKAuikD
— STYLED BY YB????????♀️ (@StyledByYB) March 24, 2023
Coco Jones on playing Princess Tiana pic.twitter.com/WHkcmIFr0V
— Coco Jones HQ (@CocoJonesHQ) March 28, 2023
i actually want Coco Jones to play Tiana????????♂️
Ari Lennox voice isn't Disney to me. it's more neo-soul Erykah Badu vibe (which isn't a bad thing at all) just think Coco's voice fits more of the disney aesthetic— rob???? (@L6NKY) March 24, 2023
Coco Jones and Ari Lennox trying to get the Princess Tiana role like: pic.twitter.com/MXqMcZ5fD9
— ✍???????? (@writtenbytruth) March 23, 2023
the only options to play as tiana is ari lennox coco jones and maybe ryan destiny THATS IT.
— nigga you mad? you irrelevant???????? (@yiikessitszee) March 24, 2023