By Elly Herrick, Editor-in-Chief
Writing Disney’s first Latina princess show, Elena of Avalor, was an important feat for Silvia Olivas as she wanted to include her LatinX culture and have a show that LatinX children can see people like them in the media. In 2020, Olivas was the first Latina ever to win an Emmy for ‘Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Program’. She has worked as a writer in many films like The Nanny and The Wayans Bros.. Olivas has gone on and produced an animated action-adventure TV mini series called Maya and the Three on Netflix.
In an interview with the lifestyle blog Week99er, Olivas talked about the importance of a Latina princess and what the show meant for her to write: “When I was a little girl, I always wanted there to be a Latina princess because it said that I mattered, that they saw me. Now that I get to be the head writer of the series and get to craft her story and really evolve her character, I really think of the audience. I think about the little girls who have been waiting for her. They get to see that they matter, that there is someone just like them who’s a crowned princess. She’s not precious, she makes mistakes – just like them, but she learns from them.”