In our article, we will talk about Disney and its stereotypical world of princesses.
By: Dayoon 7.1 and Emma 7.2
Disney is an established film making company who has made over 59 animated movies. Despite the range of films produced, the favorites of this industry have always seemed to be princesses. Many childhoods were spent watching Disney princess movies all day, every day. We have grown up watching these works and some of us continue to love them. We have watched all these movies evolve, for example, Cinderella has over 8 versions from Disney alone! However, there is a question specifically about these portrayals...
Why were some princesses depicted as though they were helpless before their respective princes came to the rescue?
Some of Disney’s most well-known characters are, in fact, princesses. These include Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora (more commonly known as the ‘Sleeping Beauty,’). Many of us refer to these characters as the ‘traditional’ princesses, being as they were created over decades ago (with many of them being based off the Grimm Brother’s Fairy Tales).
In Disney’s early works, the female characters, or more so the princesses, are portrayed as nothing but hyperfeminized. Think about it. What does Snow White do? She waited around before being ‘naive’ enough to take a bite out of a poisoned apple from a stranger. What did Sleeping Beauty do? Nothing. She waited around before she was ‘naive’ enough to prick a finger on the spinning wheel.
See a pattern?
Much of what these princesses do is sit around and wait for some ‘Prince Charming’ to come kiss them. Have you noticed this too?
Although some people may argue that this happens to follow the original story, some alterations to the storylines have been seen in films such as ‘The Little Mermaid.’ The end of the story originally featured the mermaid turning into sea foam as she was not able to kiss the prince. This differed to the Disney remake as they produced a ‘happier’ ending, having Prince Eric save her from the evil witch. This still sparks arguments on how the ending portrayed independence to young girls as Disney still presents the need for females to be saved by strong males.
Let’s look at another example, Cinderella. Her story begins with the passing of her father, forcing her to live her life as maid for her stepmom and stepsisters. Some people may disagree about this character being dependent as she still fought in a strong mental way, defying her stepmother. Also, in this movie it wasn’t really a ‘Prince Charming’ who saved her, but more so her fairy godmother who had changed her so that she could go to the ball. Even after that, how did they find out that the glass slipper was hers? Because of the prince. How was she able to live happily ever after? Because of the prince.
Although those were the first princesses Disney procured, they were not the only ones. As time went by, Disney produced many more. Mulan, Tiana, and Elsa were some of the newer princesses. Mulan is a princess based on a Chinese folk song called “The Ballad of Mulan”. She is a girl who disguised herself as a boy to go fight instead of her father. Tiana is a princess who turned into a frog, found her true love then turned back into human. Elsa is technically a queen. She has magical powers, but she doesn’t know how to control them. The character then saves her sister, Anna, and they live a happy life.
As you can see, it has been proven that Disney has started to change how their female characters are to be portrayed as. Mulan is a warrior, stronger and braver than most men. That distinctly shows that they have recognized the capabilities of women and that they can be equal to, if not, better than men. Despite the recent improvements, there have still been a few issues mentioned, an example being, the stereotypical comments in Mulan, where she was denied the right to fight in the war and Tiana from the Princess and the Frog having to find the kiss Prince Naveen to turn back into a human. Although there is the understanding that Disney follows specific formulas such as: the ‘damsel in distress’ or the ‘finding of one’s true identity’ tropes, there is still the question, why are men the saviors and not women?
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