Women Matter April-May 2014 | Page 13

myself, thank you very much. I would also like a kick-ass library, but I suppose that’s just perks of dating a prince. Belle is absolutely kick ass, and saves her unruly prince, the Beast, twice in the whole movie. Twice! But funnily enough, she is not the first to do it. In fact, while blinded with love, our little Ariel, did the same, just two years earlier in The Little Mermaid (1989). And then Pocahontas in 1995 and Meg in Hercules (1997) and then Mulan in 1998 and then… you get the gist. Since 1959, where Aurora the heroine from Sleeping Beauty did nothing in the movie, apart from singing and sleeping and being passed around from one person to another, Disney made a huge step forward. Just try and compare Aurora, who was all but just told what to do, to Mulan the feisty Chinese heroine. Disney let its females grow, creating a new, updated image of what a woman can be. And that is, anything. Anything she wants. With no spoilers, I have to say that this was a fantastic plot twist. And you know what else? This is probably the most truthful the studio was with a depiction of a relationship. Elsa’s and Anna’s, sisters relationship was not only what drew the story forward but also proved to be the most important element of the plot. For the first time, Disney concentrated more on showing the importance of family bonds, making that the centre of the story instead of making sure that both their heroines are both deeply and meaningfully in love and most likely married by the end of the movie. There were quite a few other nice little bows to independent women: Elsa not having a love interest, just for the sake of having one and instead staying single and lovin’ it; and Anna and Kristoff’s relationship not being set in stone as some magical love story that is sure to lead to a happy ending. They’re dating, that seems reasonable for a young teenage girl. No need to rush into a wedding. So if we established that a little girl could grow up to be anything she wants, why is it, that the love interest is still the most important plotline in most of Disney princess movies? I’m saying most, as recently, by positive influence, it seems that the studio is breaking away from their usual style. Also, extra points to Frozen for having a first female director, Jennifer Lee, credited in a Disney Princess movie. Makes you wonder if she sat down with the boys and calmly explained that they can’t keep reheating the same old ideas. The world has moved on, time Disney does too. Let’s take a look at Frozen. And before you whisper “Merida” to me. Let me set you straight here. PIXAR studios where bought out by Disney in 2006, they’re a much more forward thinking company than Disney. They also don’t have the pressure of having to keep making a certain type of movie. They are also well known for unusual animated movie concepts (WallE, Toy Story, Up!) and 2012 Brave while it did introduce a new “Disney princess”, you could tell on first glance she didn’t come from the original Disney studio. Often described as the first, properly “feminist” Disney movie, but does it actually do what it says on the tin? Oh, yes, yes it does. For most of the movie we will be presented with the usual “Disney princess” formula: love at first sight, pretty heroines, loves’ true kiss, a princess in need. Don’t get me wrong, there are things that break away from that, but those elements that I mentioned, where left in….only to get crushed under Elsa’s beautiful ice heels in the final act. She strays away from the usual princess look, which is one of the problems I have with Disney studios these days. I don’t have that problem with Pixar, as they’re less concerned about “perfect” and more about representing “real-looking” characters in their stories. Merida with her big, frizzy hair, freckles, a pink skin tone and a very round face is the anti-thesis of the earlier Disney princess. She’s pretty in her own way without looking like a photo shopped Barbie. Now, if only Disney took a lesson from