To portray a “Disney princess” is a rare Hollywood honour and, until recently, one that remained largely out-of-bounds to certain demographics.– a magical-realist family fable set amid the coffee fields of Colombia – still can’t believe she’s landed a character that will join the ranks of Ariel, Bella, Elsa and Moana in Disney lore.
“When I got to audition for this I was like, ‘Well, I guess dreams come true, I’m auditioning for a Disney movie’ – never imagined that I would actually book it,” thestar, who was born in Argentina to a Colombian father and a Bolivian mother, says.“The impact of this is huge,” her co-star, veteran actor John Leguizamo, himself born in Colombia, adds. “I mean, she already has dolls that look like her. Little girls are gonna be singing her songs, fulfilling themselves in the mirror to her.
The film about the magical Madrigal family centres on Beatriz’s young misfit Mirabel. Unlike her relatives who have been gifted superhuman abilities, Mirabel is powerless and awkward. Its Colombian setting allows Lin-Manuel Miranda, who composed original songs for the film, to play with distinct musical genres like cumbia, reggaeton and rock en espanol.Which brings me to a brief aside: seeing one’s cultural experience reflected in a Disney film is a wild thing.
For all the discussion around the lack of cultural representation in Hollywood films and TV, the US remains light years ahead of Australia in accurately reflecting its population on its screens and telling stories that specifically speak to its diverse demographics.