Comments | 90scartoonman: In Defence of Disney Princesses

90scartoonman

In Defence of Disney Princesses

Aug 24, 2011 23:25

So, continuing my investigation into my fandoms, I decided now is a good time to tackle this one. When I eventually organize and number them, I'm sure Disney is going to be in the Top 5, if not Top 3, which is interesting. Therefore, for our purposes, I'm going to subdivide and talk about the Princess branch of Disney. I like Disney Princesses, ( Read more... )

disney, little mermaid, fandom, aladdin

Comments 12

(The comment has been removed)

90scartoonman August 27 2011, 06:35:57 UTC

Well, you're one of the more level-headed ones. People are quick to criticize them based on appearance. They never complain about those silly talking animals giving girls a poor body image.

(The comment has been removed)

90scartoonman August 30 2011, 03:47:09 UTC

Grrrr...that angries up the blood!

shadzane August 26 2011, 07:38:08 UTC

Ariel for the win!

90scartoonman August 27 2011, 06:54:52 UTC

Yes, Ariel for the win. Very much so. She should inspire people regardless of age, gender, race, or religion!

mattzimmer August 26 2011, 12:15:56 UTC

Excellent essay. My favorite princesses are Ariel and Belle and I have varying degrees of like and dislike for the others. I haven't seen Tangled yet. Is it good?

90scartoonman August 27 2011, 07:03:34 UTC

Thanks! Ariel is obviously my number one, and Belle's my three (tied with Tiana). I had to give Jasmine two because I feel like we know her better, and she has the best boyfriend/husband out of all the princesses!

Tangled is very good. Some of it may remind you of past Disney movies, whether that's a good or bad thing, and you will be able to predict some plot points, but there's a lot of unique stuff in it too.

mattzimmer August 27 2011, 11:37:38 UTC

I dislike Jasmine and hate Aladdin the character so I strongly disagree about her. I disliked them in the first movie but the more we got to know them on The Animated Series the less I liked them.

I'll have to check it out sometime.

90scartoonman August 30 2011, 04:04:26 UTC

I loved them in the movie, and in the animated series, their characterizations were all across the board, but there are many episodes where I think they're awesome.

eldarwannabe September 9 2011, 05:55:06 UTC

I don't have problems with most of the Disney princesses per say. I mean, in reality I love almost all of them, even ones you didn't necessarily count (Nala, Kida...) and I enjoy the movies immensely.

I think the problem is more that, in many ways, these seem to be the only role models we offer girls in animation. There are some (Lilo, Penny) but on the whole, while the boys seem to have the whole wide world of possibilities before them...girls end up as princesses. Awesome kick-ass princesses, but princesses nonetheless. Not even Queens, mind you. It's the overall trend that disturbs, not any one specific example.

All my grouchy complaining aside, your breakdown ins fantastic. You've pinpointed why so many of these characters are excellent role models and why they make such fantastic characters. :)

90scartoonman September 10 2011, 01:20:11 UTC

Nala is a beast, not much problem having little girls wanting to dress up like her. I love Disney movies so very much! The hype backlash annoys me.

Penny from the Proud Family? Well, I have a HUGE counterexample to Disney princesses being the only role models for girls, and that's Kim Possible, one of the awesomest cartoon characters of the 21st century. There isn't even a recent male role model up to her standards from Disney, as she is much better than Jake Long.

As for making them queens, that would definitely age them and make them slightly less relateable to kids. Same for why you see male characters who are princes and not kings. They even made King Arthur a kid in Sword in the Stone.

eldarwannabe September 11 2011, 03:41:38 UTC

I suppose I should clarify that I meant Disney animated movies. We get plenty of examples of girls from their other stuff, but a quick glance through their animated movie selection is a little more disheartening. Best non-princess female role model I could think of was The Rescuers, which doesn't star actual.

We don't have so many king examples outside of Kuzco, and the upcoming King of the Elves, true. (The Sword in the Stone was just lifting from the book, so I'm not sure where to put it.) Good point.

I think the thing that bothers me the most is the fact that Pixar, the modern lead in animated movies, has had a male lead in every single movie they have done. And now that they are finally making a movie starring a girl...she's a princess. And I can't help but wonder how much that is influenced by the Disney precedent on the medium.

I'd like to again clarify that I really, really enjoy every Disney princess movie, and again, not a single one of them is bad. The values they teach tend to be really valid and good, and Tangled has ( ... )

90scartoonman September 12 2011, 04:51:03 UTC

Ah, animated movies. See, there's NO REASON to put Mulan in the Disney princess line considering she's not really a princess and would qualify as an awesome female role model! Wait, diversity, but...still. Also, as I said, the fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty make better role models than Aurora.

Kuzco may be a king, but he's hardly an adult.

True about Pixar, although long, female hair is hard to animate, ALTHOUGH half their characters aren't even human. Hm, Pixar needs to break the mold! At least we have the Incredibles gals.

Tangled kicks butt!