DVDizzy Forum

Mooky wrote:Perhaps Kronk is there for the sake of diversity. There are only three POC princes, so having Kronk there ups that number to four. Kuzco would make more sense, but Kronk is more popular.

But he isn't even recognizably of color because he's so stylized. If they wanted to include more men of color for diversity's sake they could have gone with Kocoum, David Kawena, Kenai/Denahi/Sitka, John Henry, Joshua Sweet, or Tadashi Hamada. There are so many better options other than Kronk or Kuzco.

This is Disney we're talking about. None of those guys come even close to being as popular as Kronk. Some Disney fans have never even heard of John Henry for example. And some of those guys you listed don't even have any of Kronk's screen presence or likeability. It's the same reason you won't see Kida in the princess line: Atlantis is still seen as a dud, unlike The Emperor's New Groove which experienced a reappraisal and a surge in popularity in recent years, especially online.

I doubt most people are even familiar with John Henry. The only character somewhat popular would be David, but this just goes to show that for all the complaints that Disney gets for not having enough racial diversity in princesses, the real problem is in their male characters. Prominent male characters anyway. There's an interesting double standard here that goes both ways, because the princesses are also the ones most commonly attacked for not being progressive enough or being flawed, but the male characters rarely get this criticism. They get far less attention, for better or for worse, and tend to slip under the cracks.

If the Disney princes received the same amount of attention and merchandise as the princesses, they would also be criticized. The reason they aren't is because nobody cares about Disney princes apparently.

Disney's including John Smith on some merch.


Source: https://i.imgur.com/3TnkiKi.jpg