Disney’s Newest Princesses Are Announced

As the Ultimate Princess Celebration continues, two more female celebrities have been chosen as honorees to receive honorary Disney princess titles in the ELLE magazine Modern Heroines series (which is a series that focuses on women who exude the “courage and kindness” that are Disney princess signatures.

This month’s recipients of the honor are two famous actresses who both have hit series under their belts and lots of impressive accomplishments in addition to being Modern Heroines! The first honoree is Marsai Martin from Black-ish, a popular series that is finishing its eighth season. Marsai Martin is only 17 years old, but she has set the world record for ‘youngest executive producer’ since she was the producer on the 2019 movie Little.

Marsai Martin is now working on her own Disney Channel show called Saturdays, which will follow an aspiring roller skater and is the newest project from Martin’s very own production company called Genius Entertainment.

Martin’s Genius Entertainment production company has a “no Black pain” policy, because Martin said she does not like “to watch Black trauma over and over again.” “We are more than that,” she added. When asked about her favorite Disney princess who demonstrates courage and kindness, Marsai Martin chose Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

“Everything was falling down on her, and she worked her way back up on her own terms,” one of the newest Modern Heroines mused. “That’s something that I can totally relate to. In my industry, you will hear a lot of ‘no.’ So you gotta find your ‘yes’ and show people that whatever you have in your dreams can become a reality. That’s what we’re doing right now.”

The other nominee was the iconic actress and protester Jane Fonda! Although Jane Fonda has fought for everything from peace to civil rights, her current focus is climate change. In 2019, the highly-respected actress moved to Washington, DC and started to lead Fire Drill Fridays, which are protests about our ongoing climate crisis that occur weekly on Capitol Hill.

“People started coming from all over the country, from Oregon, Arizona, Wisconsin, Massachusetts,” she says. “It was quite something.”

Jane Fonda chose Elsa as her favorite Disney heroine, praising both the Frozen princess’s bravery and her style. “It’s quite a look. I think it would be a great look [for me],” the Grace & Frankie actress said, referring to Elsa’s recognizable blue Ice Queen outfit.

Other Ultimate Princess Celebration and strong Modern Heroines honorees for this campaign have included Eva Longoria, Naomi Osaka, Misty Copeland, Padma Lakshmi, Amanda Nguyen, Olympian Sunisa Lee, Halima Aden, and many more actresses, athletes, models, and activists!