For #InternationalWomansDay here's a bit of doll history! DreamWorks made a line of dolls in conjecture with Shrek fhe Third of Fiona & her princess friends. However the designs were different from their cinematic counterparts. They didn't even bother to add Doris >:(
I assume this was done to avoid a lawsuit from the mouse. Still, it's kinda hilarious that Dreamworks made their princess line when the entire point of the shrek series is to poke fun at Disney's ultra-corporatism.
First Fiona. Her doll form is her human form and included a bust of her Ogre form to change heads. She has her green gown which is the iconic item in her wardrobe. Her face does NOT look accurate to her human appearance in the movie!
Next we have Rapunzel. Her doll keeps the long golden hair but in a different style. In the movie she wore a yellow&red dress while the doll's dress is pink. Odd, given the other two princesses wear pink. Yellow would've stood out more. I got her & Cindy mixed up!
Third is Cinderella. Like with Rapz her doll form retains the blond and replaces her blue dress with pink. Funny the Disney version had its version of cindy wear a pink dress briefly.
Fourth is Sleeping Beauty! Her doll has a blue dress while the movie wears green&white. They also have different shades of brown. I guess they didn't want two girls to wear the same color. Also a bit of irony Disney S.B. wore a blue dress, and pink but never green.
Finally we have *sighs* Snow White. Honestly except for Immigrant Song she was my least favorite she came off as a total witch! But that's a rant for another time. Of the dolls she's the most accurate in terms of physical features. However her dress is dark pink, and her hair is long instead of short. Movie Snow wore red&purple. I think they should've went with that or have her wear entirely purple to fill in for Doris.
Speaking of, Doris was very much a main part of the group! It was Rapunzel who betrayed the team (for a guy no less!). My guess: to avoid spoiling the film. Given the films Anti Disney/status quo message including a Doris would've helped. To see someone not consisted attractive by society's standards get a glamorous doll of her own would be a huge step for the time! Alas, they had to play by the rules.
One can only imagine if DW revisit the Princesses & try again. Hope they actually make them accurate with their unique qualities including doris (& Lillian too! More older woman dolls please!). With success of The Last Wish, this may be one dream that might come true!
Sonequa and Celia did a live stream together on @CBStvstudios IG page. This whole stream is still up for those that want to see it. It was a very beautiful, honest, and reflective conversation about their journey with Star Trek and their respective roles as Captain Michael Burnham and Nyota Uhura. They are both beautiful people, inside and out. Definitely worth watching for anyone.
Today's Black History Month illustration is of Althea Gibson. She became the first Black athlete to cross the color line of international tennis and golf. (She has a TON of records, so here it goes!)
Gibson was born in 1927 on a cotton farm in South Carolina, but her family moved to Harlem in 1930. While growing up in NYC, she played paddle tennis under the supervision of the New York Police Athletic League. She became so good at paddle tennis that by the age of twelve, she won the NYC women’s paddle tennis championship.
In 1940, a group of Gibson’s neighbors put money together to pay for her junior membership at the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club in Harlem. A year later, she won her first tournament, the American Tennis Association’s NY State Championship, founded by Black tennis players. She won the ATA national championship in 1944 & 1945. In 1947, she won the ATA’s women’s singles championship, which she continued to win for 10 consecutive years.
Her success drew the attention of Dr. Walter Johnson, a Black physician from Virginia who was also an avid tennis player. He mentored her and helped her enter into competitions with the US Tennis Association (USTA). In 1949, she became the first Black woman and second Black athlete to play in the USTA’s National Indoor Championship. After that, she received a full athletic scholarship at Florida A&M.
In 1950, Gibson became the first Black to compete in the US Open at Forest Hills in Queens, NY. In 1956, she became the first African American to win the French Open. In 1957, she won Wimbledon, and received the trophy personally from Queen Elizabeth. She won the doubles championship as well and when she returned to NYC, she became the second athlete (after Jesse Owens) to receive a ticker tape parade.
In late 1958, after winning 56 national and international singles and doubles titles including 11 Grand Slam championships, she retired from amateur tennis at the age of 31. In 1964, at the age of 37, she became the first Black woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. Her best tournament finish was a tie for second place at the 1970 Buick Open.
Overall, Althea Gibson is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players in history and paved the way for players like Venus and Serena Williams.
I’ll be back tomorrow with another illustration and story!
On a mission … celebrating Black History Month with amazing and inspirational Black Women for the rest of the month and continuing into March to celebrate not only inspirational Black Women but International Woman’s Day
Born April 9, 1921 in Hampton, Virginia and died February 11, 2005 (at age 83). In 1958, she was the first African American female engineer to work at NASA, she was a mathematician and aerospace engineer.
She was known as a “Human Computer” at NACA with her math and science skills. She served a vital role in the development of the space programs as well as helped other women and minorities advance their careers.
Mary Jackson also served for more than 30 years as a Girl Scout leader, in the 1970s she helped African American children in her community and created a miniature wind tunnel for testing airplanes. She worked as an aerospace engineer for 20+ year, much of her work centered on the airflow around aircraft. She was denied management level positions and in 1979 she left engineering and took a demotion to become a manager of the women’s program at NASA where she sought to improve the opportunities for all women in the organization.
Tumblr's new app logo performative af 🙄 It looks like they just decided to smash Black History Month, which they did nothing for this year as usual, and Women's History Month together in a pathetic attempt to prove they're """allies""" to Black people and those affected by misogyny lmfao. And they waited till the end of WHM to do so!! The audacity ☠️☠️☠️