YouTube channel for kids enters racism row after cartoon turned woman black when cursed

A kids’ cartoon uploaded on YouTube has been met with backlash amidst accusations of racism after portraying dark skin as ugly.

The 13-minute short animated film titled Dina and the Prince was posted on YouTube children’s fairytale channel My PinguTV in July 2019. The video shows a Caucasian maiden who gets punished with “losing her beauty” by gaining darker skin, curly hair and scars on her face.

On July 17, 2019, My PinguTV uploaded Dina and the Prince, which has since been taken down after over 400,000 views. On July 22, a Twitter user uploaded a short clip from the video which drew attention to the film and sparked conversations on beauty standards and indoctrination of children.

In the film, Dina, who is an angel, falls in love with a Prince but is forbidden to communicate with him.

Dina goes ahead to communicate with the said prince and “loses her beauty” by becoming dark-skinned with curly hair. She bemoans her fate and cries to the prince, explaining to him why she is “ugly” now, but the prince tells her he loves her all the same.

The blatant racism in the film has led to people all over the world criticising the producers.

The producers have since retracted the video and have apologized, saying it was a great mistake, unintentional and will not happen again.