The Evolution of Disney

Disney, as a company, first began with essentially a "whites only" approach to the makings of its films. Beginning with Snow White, Disney eventually created the infamous prince and princess routine which involved a love story and a single race.  This was very appealing to the white audience that could afford to buy movie tickets at the time.
Yet, as you look further and further into the future, you can see Disney's divergence from the usual system it was using.  It wasn't until 1992 when Aladdin was released that Disney began to expand it's racial interpretations to involve another culture besides something caucasian. In Celeste Lacroix's article, Images of Animated Others: The Orientalization of Disney's Cartoon Heriones From The Little Mirmaid to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lacroix claims, "Jasmine of Aladdin posed problems for the Disney animators. Her skin tone is appropriately darker for the Middle Eastern setting of the story. Yet, she retains many White features, such as a delicate nose and small mouth." (220) In Disney's defense, they we're grappling with their first non-white disney animated film. Not being culturally accurate, though, seemed to be their downfall according to critics. Lacroix focuses on the fact that Disney labeled their non-white characters their respective races, they failed to illustrate them accurately.
Disney tried, and most first tries are a failure. Yes, they didn't portray the characters necessarily correct in Aladdin, Mulan, or Pocahontas, but they at least deserve credit for making a film and diverging from their "white princess" routine pre-1990s.


Sources:

Celeste Lacroix (2004): Images of Animated Others: The Orientalization of Disney's Cartoon Heroines From The Little Mermaid to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture, 2:4, 213-229