美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Elena Of Avalor' Takes The Throne As Disney's First Latina Princess（在线收听）

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: 

This year, Disney premiered its first Latina princess.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ELENA OF AVALOR THEME SONG")

GABY MORENO: (Singing) Elena, Elena of Avalor.

SIEGEL: Elena of Avalor sings and plays guitar. She goes on adventures and rules her kingdom. And she has her own highly rated animated TV show on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior. NPR's Mandalit del Barco has her story.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ELENA OF AVALOR THEME SONG")

MORENO: (Singing) In a kingdom old and grand, a princess bravely rules the land.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Elena Castillo Flores is a 16-year-old crown princess who was trapped in an amulet for 41 years, so technically she's 57, which would make her one of Disney's oldest princesses. At any rate, her backstory begins when another animated Disney princess, Sofia the First, sets her free. Elena confronts the evil sorceress Shuriki, voiced by Jane Fonda, who killed her parents, imprisoned her in that amulet and took over the kingdom.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELENA AND THE SECRET OF AVALOR")

JANE FONDA: (As Shuriki) Princess Elena...

AIMEE CARRERO: (As Princess Elena) The time has come to pay for your crimes.

TRAVIS WILLINGHAM: (As King Roland II) Crimes - what crimes?

CARRERO: (As Princess Elena) Shuriki invaded Avalor and overthrew the royal family - my family.

DEL BARCO: Elena drives Shuriki out and begins her reign over Avalor. Aimee Carrero, a Dominican-Puerto Rican actress, is the voice of Elena.

CARRERO: She is the first princess actively ruling her kingdom. And I think that's new. So she has a day job. You know, there's no Prince Charming. She's her own hero. She's learning that leadership is about sacrifice and not about this sort of totalitarian control over the people that she rules and sort of resembles more of a president than, you know, princess. There's never been a better time to tell this story.

DEL BARCO: Since Elena didn't age inside the amulet, she's still a teenager who tries to convince her grandfather she's responsible enough to rule.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ELENA OF AVALOR")

EMILIANO DIEZ: (As Francisco, singing) One day, you'll be ready.

CARRERO: (As Princess Elena, singing) I am already ready.

DIEZ: (As Francisco, singing) You almost are ready.

CARRERO: (As Princess Elena, singing) I'll show you.

SILVIA OLIVAS: I've been waiting for a Disney Latina princess since I was a little girl.

DEL BARCO: Silvia Olivas is co-producer and head writer of "Elena of Avalor."

OLIVAS: I asked the same thing. Why did it take so long? But I'm happy that we're here now. I think about when I was a little girl, what I wanted to see. And now that I'm a mom, it's so important to me to make sure we get Elena right.

DEL BARCO: That meant having a brown-skinned Elena but also characters of many hues to reflect the diversity of Latinos. The show was inspired by Latin American traditions and folklore, says executive producer Craig Gerber, who created Elena.

CRAIG GERBER: She'll travel into the jungle to save her sister who's been kidnapped by, you know, these shapeshifting creatures. Or she'll try to deal with this volcano monster, and every time he gets angry, the volcano erupts, you know? And she's going to eventually travel to the magical realm that the jaquins come from. These are the flying jaguars. And the sport that they play in Avalor is based on the ancient Meso-American ballgame.

DEL BARCO: One episode celebrates Brazilian-style carnival - another, Mexican-style Day of the Dead. The latest episode about Navidad - Christmas - includes a Puerto Rican-style parranda, or caroling. The show's music also draws from different Latin American genres like merengue, salsa, bossa nova, banda. While Aimee Carrero sings most of Elena's tunes, it's Grammy-nominated Gaby Moreno who sings her catchy theme song.

MORENO: Indirectly you are sort of teaching everybody about who we are. And I think that's a wonderful thing I think to have a better understanding of a culture. That creates empathy, and that is so badly needed nowadays.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As Princess Elena, singing) This is my time.

DEL BARCO: At Disney's California Adventure theme park in Anaheim, Princess Elena already has her own parade. Among her fans are 7-year-old Lauren Stenger, Grace Elena Enriquiez and sisters Milani and Jay Tibayan.

LAUREN STENGER: I like that she's brave and she likes to go on adventures.

GRACE ELENA ENRIQUEZ: She loves to help her friends.

MILANI TIBAYAN: She's fierce because she's a great ruler.

JAY TIBAYAN: The stories are telling that girls can do anything.

DEL BARCO: At the parade, Dora Vilanova says Elena is a great role model for her 4-year-old brunette daughter Liana.

DORA VILANOVA: The other day, she was talking about the princesses with blond hair, and she said, Mommy, the villains have darker hair color. And now she says that Elena looks like her. And she has, like, the same hair color that she does. That was sweet. She looks up to her.

DEL BARCO: The new Latina princess is on TV every day. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELENA AND THE SECRET OF AVALOR")

CARRERO: (As Princess Elena, singing) Now off I must fly to the palace once more to win back the freedom of all Avalor. I've spent my whole life waiting just for this day, and nothing will get in my way. This is my time. I have a...