Elena of Avalor is a Disney cartoon about a princess that exists in the same continuity as another Disney cartoon, Sofia the First. The show is about Elena, a princess that was trapped inside of an amulet for 41 years after an evil queen took over her country. With the help of Princess Sofia, she’s been released and is now the crown princess, preparing to rule.
Elena has been hailed as Disney’s first Latina princess. Personally, I believe that is not a title that is rightfully hers. Elena does not come from a Latin American country. Avalor is not part of Latin America, it a fictional country inspired by Latin America. Some of the customs are made up for the sake of a magic princess story, but other customs of Avalor are based on real customs of Latin American countries. For example, Elena has two last names. Her name is Elena Castillo Flores. In many Latin American countries, people have two family names, they inherit their first from their father and their second from their mother. There are also ruins in Avalor of an ancient civilization called the Maru, which seems to take inspiration from the Maya people and the Incas, both of which come from different parts of the Americas.
My main problem with Elena being referred to as Disney’s first Latina princess is that it feels like of all Latin America is being lumped together in this fictional kingdom. She comes from a country that seems to take most of its aesthetics and cultural customs from Mexico while throwing in bits of other countries. Growing up I used to deal with some of my “friends” thinking it was funny to call me Mexican. Whenever I would correct them and say my family comes from El Salvador, the response was either, “Whatever, it’s all the same anyway” or “But isn’t that in Mexico?” By making Avalor represent Latin America as a whole, rather than basing it on a specific country, I feel like the idea that Latin America has one main culture is being reinforced. Latin America is made up of many countries, each with their own distinct cultures.
I decided to give Elena a chance and I watched her movie, Elena and the Secret of Avalor, as well as the first episode of Elena of Avalor. I didn’t expect to like a kids’ show about a fake Latina, but I did. It’s honestly pretty cute. And despite my issues with Avalor, I am happy to see that this Latino-coded country reflects the real-life racial diversity of Latin America, rather than falling into the “Latino is brown” stereotype.
Overall, I like Elena of Avalor, but Disney can’t call her Latina. One day Disney will give us our real Latina princess. That princess will probably be from Mexico or Puerto Rico, but as long we get an actual Latina princess from a specified place in Latin America and a story based on the legends of that place, then I’ll be happy. As unlikely as it is, I’d love for Disney to make a movie about a Salvadoran girl with a story that includes kid friendly versions of Salvadoran stories. It’d be pretty cool to see a Salvadoran princess with el cadejo bueno as her animal companion. I suppose if I want to see the type of representation that would really make me happy, I’ll just have to write it myself.
I should probably be happy that we're even getting some sort of Latina representation at all. Little girls can watch her and see a princess that looks like them or see a girl that calls her grandma "abuela" just like they do. And that's great! But I really feel like Disney can do better.
