Disney Finally Responds To Advocate’s Call To Create A Disabled Princess
"We love Hannah’s passion and hear her important voice on why inclusive and representative storytelling matters."
Disney has finally responded to calls from Australian advocate Hannah Diviney to create a princess with disabilities.
The 22-year-old started a petition in 2020 to address how she has “always loved Disney films but never seen herself in them”, calling on the entertainment giant to create a role model for both children living with or without disability.
“As the first company to hopefully take this bold step, Disney would be a visionary leader in what I hope will become a powerful trend of better representation across the board,” she wrote.
“You would actively be creating a culture of tolerance, acceptance, empathy, and understanding to replace fear, confusion, and the seeds of bigotry that are often unconsciously sowed when we are confronted with something different that is hard to understand.”
After two years, Disney Studios has finally responded to her call-to-action, which has since garnered over 62,000 signatures from around the world.
“We love Hannah’s passion and hear her important voice on why inclusive and representative storytelling matters,” they said in a statement to the Australian Women’s Weekly.
“As storytellers at Disney, we’re committed to reflecting the incredibly rich diversity of the human experience, and in ways that inspire, open minds and hearts and bring people closer together in a world where we all belong.”
Diviney recently made headlines after encouraging Beyoncé and Lizzo to change ableist lyrics in recent song releases ‘Heated’ and ‘Grrrls’, respectively.
She told the Junkee Takeaway that speaking up with the world watching her has come with a cost, including constant rebuttals and vitriol online.
“My campaign for a disabled Disney princess, for example; there have been people who have tried to say that we don’t need that,” she said. “Or [trolls have] tried to say that Disney has already done that, or actually used ableist slurs against me sometimes.”
“I try and constantly advocate, and I’m using this conversation to redirect people … to my Disney campaign, or to think about disability more politically — it all feeds into one.”
Photo Credit: The Australian Women’s Weekly/Supplied