--- title: Elena of Avalor: Disney's First Latina Princess Is Powerful description: Elena, the teenaged star of Disney's new animated TV series 'Elena of Avalor,' is an independent Latina leader. The show premieres Friday. canonical: https://time.com/4419799/disneys-first-latina-script-flipping-princess-wont-be-looking-for-love/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-22T21:33:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:34:43.624Z og:title: Disney's First Latina Princess Won't Be Looking for Love og:description: The star of Disney's animated series 'Elena of Avalor' is an independent woman. og:url: https://time.com/4419799/disneys-first-latina-script-flipping-princess-wont-be-looking-for-love/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbac868c2e5901316/69889ef8428a9ef62ecd38f2/elena_of_avalor_disney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: ELENA OF AVALOR og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Disney's First Latina Princess Won't Be Looking for Love twitter:description: The star of Disney's animated series 'Elena of Avalor' is an independent woman. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbac868c2e5901316/69889ef8428a9ef62ecd38f2/elena_of_avalor_disney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Disney's First Latina Script-Flipping Princess Won't Be Looking for Love > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=74cf0bdb-127f-4c87-93d1-f6f7c30613ca&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jul 22, 2016 9:33 PM UTC  Elena of Avalor Elena of Avalor Disney Channel  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jul 22, 2016 9:33 PM UTC Disney princess stories have long followed a simple formula: put a girl in a tricky situation, and have an eligible young man (usually a royal one) help her out of it. (See: _Snow White_, _Cinderella_, _The Little Mermaid_, _Sleeping Beauty_). But in response to the groundswell [favor of female empowerment](http://time.com/4418973/anna-kendrick-trolls-princess-comic-con-body-image/), Disney has [reimagined](http://time.com/4378119/disney-princess-effect-on-girls/?iid=sr-link1) the role of romance in its storylines. (See: _Frozen_, _Tangled_, and [the upcoming _Moana_](http://time.com/4418682/moana-comic-con-2016-movies/?iid=sr-link1).) So for the introduction of the first Latina Disney princess — a teenage royal named Elena, who will star in an animated TV series titled _Elena of Avalor,_ premiering Friday night — the culture behemoth is making it a point to de-prioritize love interests, [FastCo.Create reports. ](http://www.fastcocreate.com/3062080/quick-hit/exclusive-behind-the-scenes-of-disneys-first-latina-princess-elena-of-avalor) The orphaned Elena will instead focus on being a good leader for her fictional country, a Latin-inspired land that Disney recruited cultural advisors to help craft with sensitivity. [Early reviews note that](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/elena-avalor-tv-review-912793) the character deals with things like magical imprisonment and trade agreements. 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