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