Disney films create a magical world that highlights diversity from around the globe. Despite the success of its past films, there is a controversy surrounding casting an African American actress as Princess Ariel in its newest live-action film, “The Little Mermaid.”   

Although it has not had an entirely positive response from the public because of the change in character design, there is a deeper issue that lies in the negligence of originality within Disney’s recent works.   

Of course, the problem is not that the new Little Mermaid has casted a Black actress as the lead. The problem is the way Disney responded when faced with the issue of a lack of representation. 

Rather than creating new characters to appeal to a broader audience, they slapped a new face on an old character. This essentially says, “Is this good enough for you?”  

Disney needs to include more Black characters, and it needs to give them the effort and representation they deserve.   

From Jasmine representing women in the Middle East to Merida representing Scottish culture, they have attempted to spotlight many different cultural backgrounds.  

Until “The Princess and the Frog” premiered, there were no Black Disney princesses. This inspiring movie displayed a beautiful portrayal of Black, Southern and Cajun culture. With an original plot, profound cultural aspects and new characters, it was easy for people to fall in love with this movie.   

People have asked for more representation of Black culture in Disney films. However recently, Disney has done more revamping of previous productions than it have created original work.  

If Disney wants to please its audience with greater racial inclusion, the company must stop being so lazy. If it was more willing to come up with original, well-done and culturally inclusive productions, many more people would be interested in the movies again.