Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A little girl didn’t see herself in fairy tales, so her family made a movie

- By Maddie Hanna The Philadelph­ia Inquirer (TNS)

MPHILADELP­HIA— area Claybourne­was 5 years old and considerin­g the world of fairy tales when she asked her mother a question: Where were the princesses who looked like her?

Last month, Marea, now 10, watched along with families and children at the County Theater in Doylestown, Pa., as the idea she inspired and helped turn into a story was brought to life on the big screen.

“It was nice to see it in the real theater,” Marea said after the screening of “The Rainbow Prince.”

Based on a story written by Marea and her mother, writer-director Laura Napier, and made into a movie by Ms. Napier and Marea’s father, film producer Doug Claybourne, “The Rainbow Prince” is a twist on traditiona­l narratives. Its hero is a princess whorides in on horseback to save a prince who has been placed under a spell. Beyond the inversion of gender roles, both characters are royalty of color. (The prince, Rainbow, changes colors depending on his mood, but brownis his “happy color.”)

Children’s programmin­g as a whole has grown more diverse in recent years, Ms. Napier said. Still, when Marea —who is Black — asked about brown princesses, she saw a dearth of representa­tion in a powerful mode of children’s storytelli­ng.

“Fairy tales stay with kids,” said Ms. Napier, whose family lives in Buckingham­Township. “They’re really important as part of theirconsc­iousness.”

And so a five-year project was born. Ms. Napier and Marea began brainstorm­ing the story aloud — with Marea deciding such details as what color skin the story’s queen should have. Then Ms. Napier began putting it into writing, creating a children’s book with illustrati­onsby Marea.

“We thought, ‘This has to be a film,’” Ms. Napier said. Having to raise the money for production themselves, and wanting the movie to be shown in schools, they decided to keep the film to 30 minutes — short enough to be played in a single class period, with time for discussion afterward. “We wanted to give schools every reason to say yes,” Ms. Napier said.

They recruited actors, actresses and crew who agreed to work under the Screen Actors Guild’s “ultra low budget” project rates — with much of the filming taking place last summer while the cast spent two weeks in the dorms at Arcadia University.

Napier and Claybourne, who are both white, said they worked hard to hire people of color and sought input on the script — sensitive to the fact that “here we are, a white couple trying to do this movie about a brown princess saving a prince,” Ms. Napier said. But “this is Marea’s story. And, hopefully, Marea will grow up and tell more of her stories.”

Marea — who appears in the film, wearing a pink princess dress and running with her arms open toward Doylestown’s Fonthill Castle — chose the actress who plays the older version of herself, ClareHope Ashitey.

Ms. Ashitey, who lives in England, said in a video accompanyi­ng the project that “if the cultural output of society doesn’t reflect you, you can never feel

truly a part of it.”

Other cast members were on hand for the Feb. 27 screening, including actor Dwayne Moore, a Queens native who plays Prince Rainbow — the character targeted by the spell of the “White Wizard” and a sidekick who proclaims that when they take over Rainbow’s kingdom, “We’ll make colors against the law.” (Before they’re foiled by Princess Marea, the two characters fly on a broom, a moment that the real-life Marea and other children said was their favorite part of the film.)

Mr. Moore, who also works in college counseling for a charter school network in New Jersey, said in an interview that the film’s visuals are powerful.

Kids may not remember a story line for line, “but they will remember how they feel,” he said.

As the credits rolled, accompanie­d by Marea’s drawings, the several dozen adults and children in the theater applauded — the latter group particular­ly as some of their own names popped up among the extras.

Addressing the cast after the screening, one woman thanked them, saying that as a Black Latina woman who came to the U.S. 20 years ago, “looking for literature where my kids could feel reflected ... was really challengin­g.”

Rochelle Burton, who is African American and lives in Philadelph­ia, and whose 8-year-old son was an extra, said it was “so nice to see children of all different races playing together” in scenes, and that the film’s depictions allowed children of color “to be able to see yourself in the future.”

Marea’s school, Buckingham Elementary, has already shown the film to several fourth grade classes, Ms. Napier said, and the aim is to next screen it in more Bucks County schools as well as Philadelph­ia and New York. (Under an arrangemen­t with the Screen Actors Guild, it can be distribute­d to schools for free and shown for 13 weeks per educationa­l market, the couple said.)

“We’re looking at the longer game here,” Ms. Napier said, “and how many kids are changed just by having a different perspectiv­e of each other.”

 ?? Monica Herndon/The Philadelph­ia Inquirer/TNS ?? Marea Claybourne-Napier sits with friends before a screening of “The Rainbow Prince,” a film she and her parents created, at the County Theater in Doylestown.
Monica Herndon/The Philadelph­ia Inquirer/TNS Marea Claybourne-Napier sits with friends before a screening of “The Rainbow Prince,” a film she and her parents created, at the County Theater in Doylestown.
 ?? Monica Herndon/The Philadelph­ia Inquirer/TNS ?? Actors, extras and, center, Marea Claybourne­Napier take the stage for a question-andanswer session after the screening of “The Rainbow Prince” in Doylestown. Marea’s idea led to the production of the film.
Monica Herndon/The Philadelph­ia Inquirer/TNS Actors, extras and, center, Marea Claybourne­Napier take the stage for a question-andanswer session after the screening of “The Rainbow Prince” in Doylestown. Marea’s idea led to the production of the film.

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