Rachel Zegler has just been announced as Snow White in the classic Disney story's upcoming live-action remake — making her the first Latina princess!
The West Side Story star, who is of Columbian and Polish descent, was confirmed as the lead on Tuesday, and she took to social media to mark the moment, exclaiming: "I HAVE MANIFESTED MY ENTIRE LIFE I THINK I THINK."
Disney has certainly made strides towards increased representation in recent years, what with the likes of the recent remakes of Mulan and The Little Mermaid. But while they — like much of Hollywood — still have a way to go, Zegler's casting is arguably a positive step forward for greater diversity within the industry.
We take a look back at Disney's most diverse castings to date...
1. The Little Mermaid live-action remake (2021)
In the summer of 2019, Halle Bailey was announced to play the role of Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. This marked the first time that the studio had chosen a woman of colour to play a part that has traditionally been portrayed by a white woman.
While most people were supportive of Bailey's casting, there was some trolling on social media, which the actor has since said she is taking no heed of. The Growish star told Teen Vogue: "We’ve always learned to just keep our heads up no matter the situation. No matter what anybody has to say about you…just keep pushing."
The live-action remake of The Little Mermaid is due to hit screens on July 9th, 2021.
2. Mulan live-action remake (2019)
Disney's live-action remake of Mulan made history when it premiered on Disney+ last year. The film features an all-Asian cast — a demographic that is known to be widely underrepresented in Hollywood.
Speaking about the casting choices, actor Tzi Ma, who plays Mulan's father stated: "This is huge, that a major studio has the confidence in an all-Asian, Asian-American cast, to put their weight and financial support behind it.
"It should be a benchmark. It should be something the world can see, that this is viable."
3. Queen of Katwe (2016)
Queen of Katwe, starring Lupita Nyong'o, was an important milestone for Disney as it marked the first time a family film featured a cast of exclusively non-white performers and was set in an environment not familiar to western audiences.
The film — which is directed by female Indian director Mira Nair — tells the extraordinary true story of Phiona Mutesi, who was a young girl growing up selling corn on the streets of rural Uganda. Her life changed forever when she discovered that she was incredibly talented at chess, and she eventually went on to become an international champion.
4. Coco (2017)
Animated film Coco touches on the Mexican Día de los Muertos holiday — a tradition which is known as "The Day of the Dead". It is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd in Mexico, and anywhere else associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. During the two-day holiday, people gather to pray for and remember friends and family who have passed away.
In the film, 12-year-old Miguel is accidentally transported to the land of the dead, and must figure out how to return before he is trapped there forever. And notably, it's the first Disney film with a nine-figure budget to feature an all-Latinx principal cast.
5. The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Princess Tiana became the first Black princess to join the Disney crew in what was a win for representation — at long last.
Based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, The Frog Prince, Tiana is a hard-working waitress who dreams of opening her own restaurant. While catering an event, she meets a talking frog, who says he is a prince and promises to help her achieve her dreams if she kisses him. As expected, things don't exactly go to plan...
6. Moana (2016)
The animated romp, Moana, tells the story of the daughter of a Polynesian village chief, who is chosen to get the demigod Maui to return something he stole from a goddess. It's full of catchy songs that speak to the power of culture and family tradition — but more notably for our purposes, it has been praised for featuring a diverse cast, which includes actors from Polynesian descent, including Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, and Auli’i Cravalho.
It's been reported that the directors and producers went on trips to islands in the South Pacific Ocean to learn more about their cultures — and there's also a Hawaiian-language version of the film to boot!
7. Big Hero 6 (2014)
In Big Hero 6, four out of the five main characters are not white. At the centre of the animated film is Hiro Hamada, a biracial Japanese-white student, as well as two women of colour: Go Go Tomago and Honey Lemon.
This was something that the directors of the film, Chris Williams and Don Hall, had in mind from the get-go.
"This [film] gave us a perfect opportunity to create a diverse cast," Hall told BuzzFeed News. "When you look outside your window, you go to any city anywhere in America — the world for that matter — and it's a diverse world. Our films should reflect that.
"So very early on, we decided that we were going to have a lot of diversity in this film, and the main characters were going to be a mash-up as well, because this is a mash-up of Disney and Marvel. It's a mash-up of Eastern and Western culture."
"One of the things that I am proud of is the fact that we do have this very diverse cast," Williams added. "In one sense, we don’t make a big deal out of it. The characters are certainly not defined in any way by their race and I’m very proud of that."
