Brandy Norwood was honored on Tuesday in celebration of Disney Princess week. The “I Wanna Be Down” singer broke history alongside the great Whitney Houston as the first black Cinderella in “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” 1997.
During an interview with ABC news Brandy Norwood reunited with fellow castmates.
She said, “My dream when I was a young girl was to be a singer, have my own band and meet Whitney Houston. That was it,” she said. “I had no idea that my destiny would take me to a role [like] Cinderella, [or that I would] be the first woman of color to play her. And then for Whitney Houston to be my Fairy God Mother… you gotta be kidding me.”
The executive producer for the movie, Debbie Martin Chase described the shift of not colorblind casting. This basically means not holding a certain nationality, or race to a specific character. But making that character possible in any and all nationalities.
“One of the hardest things” she’s ever done. She said they decided to do “not colorblind casting, but diverse casting,” she stated.
Chase said that Whitney Houston “loved Cinderella” and understood the impact the film would have.
“It was one of the things she was most proud of in her career,” Chase said while reflecting on Houston’s appreciation for the film. “She totally understood the value and the importance, the significance of having a Black Cinderella.”
The diversified members of the cast along with Brandy Norwood included Whoopi Goldberg, Paolo Montalban, Victor Garber, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander and Veanne Cox, also spoke during the special about the film’s impact.
This shifted the idea of colorblind casting and opened the door for future Disney princess. For example, “Princess and the Frog”. Which was the first black initially characterized princess for Disney. As well as the new Ariel, played by Halle Bailey.
The Wonderful World of Disney airs on Disney+, at 8 p.m. CST, following the special.
