What do Disney princesses and urban fantasy girls have in common?

[seanan_mcguire]

I think everyone is familiar with the Disney princess by now: a collection of boiled sugar girls in sparkly dresses and high heels who happen to resemble the spirited, interesting heroines of the movies we love, all of them posed to perfection in big groups of rainbow loveliness. They stare soullessly from bookstore walls and supermarket shelves,

Comments

[jslinder]

The potential for a cross-over story/anthology/novella here is kind of impressive. I picture a bunch of current Urban Fantasy heroines all sitting around a bar tossing off stories that fit the theme. (Full caveat, Trek lit tried something similar with it's Captain's Table line of books - the results of which were.. mixed...)

The kickstarter campaign for this would be EPIC.

[seanan_mcguire]

That a) could be incredibly fun, and b) would REQUIRE an Amy Mebberson cover with the various characters as Disney Princesses.

[jslinder]

I hereby advance pledge at least $20 - if I had a way to wrangle all the talent I would start it now. Perhaps you shall see some folks at SDCC if you are going?

Working title (permission for use granted of course), Heroines of the Round Table?

That said, the cover is a great idea but with a for profit venture, you may not wish to incur the wrath of Lawyer Mouse (Mickey's Shyster Cousin, once removed) - Then again a cease and desist may already be on the way...

Lawyer Mouse?

[dewline]

Wasn't that the point of adding the Punishers (plural intended), Wolverine, et al. to the character library?

[seanan_mcguire]

That book made me think ALL THE THINGS. I want it to be required reading, whether you have a daughter or not. It's the best discussion I've seen of the commercialization of childhood.

[tikiera]

And another book goes on my to read pile. :)

[reedrover]

Thanks for the food for thought, and well-timed, too. I just read an e-ARC for an upcoming urban fantasy release by R.L.Naquin, and I'm happy to report that our heroine has a gal-pal who is better at some things than she is, and worse at others, with whom she runs a business. They have a relationship of equals where strengths balance weaknesses. And our heroine goes out for coffee with one lady, shares emotions with a few others, and generally has other women come through the book who are not there to only provide a magic plot twist or a quick comparison of how our heroine is The Fairest. (... And as a total aside - there is a hightop-wearing closet monster named Maurice who is a fabulous cook - he makes the best muffins.)

[scarybaldguy]

And our heroine goes out for coffee with one lady, shares emotions with a few others, and generally has other women come through the book who are not there to only provide a magic plot twist or a quick comparison of how our heroine is The Fairest.

Thinking about it, this may be why I love Verity so much. Yes, she kicks much ass on her own, but she has an entire crew backing her up. Same with Toby.

[seanan_mcguire]

AWESOME.

I will read this thing.

[lunalelle]

*L*

I'm laughing because I'm writing a story that centers around one person, but she's hardly the uber-awesomest of her little group, and as the series goes on (at least as I plan it), she loves other people playing in her sandbox. What can I say, the girl is personable and since she's far from the most powerful, she has to depend on other people.

It does make managing the cast effing difficult, but my protag is far more sociable than I am, so it's actually kind of fun to balance her little group.

For the princesses, I think part of it is that they're all from different stories and different times, so maybe they really don't see each other, because then we'd have a dimensional paradox and chaos would ensue. :)

But hard to say the same for the urban fantasy heroes and heroines, and maybe Avengers addressed that in its own way: Bringing a bunch of Type As into one group is damn hard, and that's why none of them are looking at each other in the poster.

[seanan_mcguire]

Except that the Princesses do appear in media and stories together, usually under the veil of "Disney Princess Storytime," and in those instances, they supposedly interact, sort of in a Disneyland-esque "outside of time" setting. And even there, they never look at each other. I think that's a good guideline/justification, but it doesn't change the imagery we present, and hence the message it conveys.

I don't want equality, or even necessarily friends. Just multiple girls. Much as I loved The Avengers, their omission of any female heroes beyond Black Widow was where that movie let me down.

[pickledginger]

I know they call them princesses, and that's the baseline story, but really? all that jewelry, all that makeup, all that decolletage? the swooning at feet of men? I can't help thinking: Disney prostitutes-in-training.

[ext_1409155]

This was also a problem of mine with avengers. They had Maria and Natasha who I ADORE BOTH GREATLY, but was surprised they didn't interact at least once. And yet another problem why I don't like the line up of guardians of the galaxy/Ant-man when they could introduce Wasp, Valkryie (I'm hoping they add her in Thor 2 but it looks doubtful) along with Ms.Marvel and other female heroes of the marvel universe. This is why I took it upon myself (for nanowrimo) to write an all female ensemble of superheroes with strong friendships outside of it and I just really want some ladies on the screen that kick ass and have great friendships.

[dragonsally]

I think this is the reason why I love Kim Harrison's Hollows series - two kick-ass gals sharing a house, amongst other things.

[seanan_mcguire]

Fully.