With Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th-October 15th) kicking off, it only felt right to give a shoutout to the newest member of our community: Princess Elena of Avalor! Elena is Disney’s newest princess and is voiced by Aimee Carerro, who is Domican-American.
Elena made her debut back in July on the Disney Channel. Even though I seem a lot older than Elena’s demographic, I was definitely in front of the couch on the night the show premiered, anxiously awaiting to see how Disney would portray their first Latina princess. Growing up, I dreamed of being a princess, just like everyone else did. The difference was, I never had a princess that looked anything like me, so Elena is a revelation. The premise of the show is that Elena rules her kingdom with the help of her younger sister and her grandparents since her parents passed away. Unlike most of her counterparts, Elena doesn’t have a love interest at all; she is the most worried about doing right by her kingdom and setting a good example for her younger sister, Isabel.
There are male characters, such as her friends Mateo and Gabe. Gabe is her royal assistant and, as the trope would have it, assumes that she needs help with everything, but Elena proves him wrong time and time again. There are times when he tries to save her because he thinks she’s the damsel in distress, but she can do everything for herself. She is strong, kind, funny, and independent, which is everything a princess should be. She also happens to be Latina—she’s giving young girls everywhere, especially young Hispanic girls who never quite knew which princess to dress up as because she never had one that looked like her, someone to really look up to. So, thank you Elena, for joining the cast of incredible Hispanic role models!
Stay tuned for more celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month!