A three-year-old Aboriginal girl who was racially vilified at a Frozen-themed children's function last month had one thing she wanted to say to her favourite film character, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, when she finally got to meet her: "I love you".
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After being specially invited to a Frozen high tea at the Langham hotel, Samara Muir was excited to meet a "real-life" Queen Elsa, telling the ruler that she admired her strength and her magical ability to manipulate ice from her hands.
The experience comes after Samara was racially abused at a Disney princess event at a shopping centre in Taylors Lakes in May. The girl's mother, Rachel Muir, said her daughter was dressed up in a sparkling blue Elsa costume while they waited in the queue to go into the centre's snow-pit installation when a woman in the line ahead turned to them and said: "'I don't know why you're dressed up for because Queen Elsa isn't black".
Samara began to cry and, after the event, Ms Muir said she started to refuse to attend her Aboriginal dance classes and starting trying to "scrub off her black skin". Saddened by her little girl's dramatic change in behaviour, Ms Muir shared the experience on Facebook, quickly receiving thousands of messages of support from across the country.
"It was heartbreaking for me," recalls Ms Muir. "But with all the messages from everybody it has been overwhelming. She's not scrubbing her skin any more. I read her all the messages she receives, including a [video] message from Queen Elsa, messages from people telling her not to be ashamed of who she is and to be proud.
"I think all those those messages have sunk in."
Samara has also been invited to several events, including being asked to perform in the Disney On Ice Dare to Dream performance at Hisense arena on Friday, where she met Princess Cinderella and helped Princess Rapunzel lift a lantern into the air as part of the show. But absent at the performance was Samara's favourite characters, Norwegian sisters Elsa and Anna.
On Sunday afternoon, after being invited to the high tea when staff heard of her experiences, Samara again donned her blue Elsa costume and set out to meet her idol.
"She makes magic and turns everything to ice," Samara said of Elsa. "I love her. And Anna."
Samara joined more than 240 other Frozen-obsessed pre-schoolers for the high tea party. At a hefty $79 a ticket, the event included a high tea frosty feast of snowflake cookies, reindeer cupcakes, white chocolate crackles and more traditional fare such as fluffy scones and fairy bread.
