Davian Chester, a 25-year old graphic designer and illustrator from Columbus, Georgia, has reimagined some of The Walt Disney Company’s most famous Disney Princesses as black women and the results are stunning.
Disney Princesses have brought magic to Disney fans around the world since the premiere of Disney’s first animated feature film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” back in 1937, where we first saw Snow White. And since then, we’ve seen 19 other Disney heroines, who have all told us stories of courage, strength and magic, and who have now been reimagined into these beautiful new designs.
The inspiration for these enchanting creations came from what Chester says is a “lack of representation of black women in mainstream media.” Chester told Buzzfeed, “I created this collection to ask people: What if some of the most iconic women in the world were black women? They would be bold, black, and beautiful with all shades of color.”
In addition to Chester’s reimagining of Snow White, he also went on to recreate Belle from “Beauty and the Beast,” Elsa and Anna from Disney’s “Frozen,” Ariel from “The Little Mermaid,” Merida from Disney/Pixar’s “Brave,” Cinderella, Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog,” Aurora from “Sleeping Beauty,” and Rapunzel from “Tangled.”
In addition to Chester’s physical re-designs of the princesses, he also went on to add additional elements to some of the designs to reflect the Princesses’ personality. In his recreation of Belle, Chester added Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings.”
In his recreation of Elsa and Anna, Chester took a more comedic approach with an image of Olaf holding a sign that reads “No Photography.”
In Chester’s recreation of Ariel, he added Flounder, one of the Disney Princesses’ closest friends, reimagined in a whole new look.
In his creation of Tiana, Chester included images of gumbo and hot sauce.
What are your thoughts on these stunning images of Disney Princesses reimagined as black women? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: BuzzFeed