Historically
Disney princesses have been inspirations to children on a global spectrum.
Their gentle demeanors, elegant appearances, struggles against the conventions
that surround them and wishes for dreams to come true render them as likable,
relatable and motivational to all young viewers. Typically all Disney
princesses give off a air of cautiousness innocence, naivety and decorum but
over the decades the conventions set by Snow White have been liberated more and
more.
All Disney princesses have undoubtedly faced both internal and external conflict in their fairy tales. Snow White longs for her prince to come someday and free her of the evil queen’s confinement and pursuit to kill her. Cinderella longs for her wish to be loved to come true and to be freed from the cruelty inflicted on her by her wicked stepmother and horrid step sisters. Aurora also hopes for prince charming to whisk her from her berry picking days.
Then we have Ariel longing to be with her human lover and to discover the fruits of being human much to the disapproval of her father. Belle struggles with the social constructions of the tiny provincial town she lives in longing for greater adventures while being viewed as a strange maiden by her local community. Lets not forget Jasmine who battles against the rigid traditions of the sultan’s kingdom being expected to marry for law rather than love. She was followed by Pocahontas who finds it difficult to live under her father’s restrictions and has to see her foreign lover in secret. Mulan is made to honour her place as a woman by adhering to silence and obedience.
Next we see Tiana struggle to raise funds for her restaurant. Rapunzel strives to find satisfaction with living in a confined tower away from society and real love, Merida tussles with having to marry and fulfil the customs of being a princess, Anna endeavours to understand, reconnect and free her sister, after her parents tragically perish in a ship wreck and finally Elsa with her effort to conceal her magical powers from her kingdom and in doing so building herself a solitary and miserable existence.
It is fair to say all the princesses have their own shares of 'trials and tribulations' as Tiana puts it like all young girls do. Despite their happy endings, none of them have it easy. The behaviour and reaction of each subsequent princess has however changed as time has passed.
As you have all probably noticed, the first three princesses whose films were released between 1928 and 1960 had very mature and classical voices and were all rather obedient and submissive. They knew how to resort to tears when things did not go their way, but not how to put up a fight. Snow White and Aurora had to be brought back to life by true love’s kiss and Cinderella had to be freed from the tower by rodents and birds for crying out loud.
Then the tide began to turn with Ariel, the first girl to stand up to her father and disobey his orders to follow her dream. Belle also refused to succumb to the horrid Gaston and to the bad tempered beast. Jasmine showed no fear in maintaining her objection to be forced to marry any prince to satisfy the law and fled from the palace in search to find her identity. Pocahontas, the only Disney princess based on a real person, also stood her ground against her father and John Smith in order to create peace in her village. She was followed by Mulan who defies historical China’s sexist’s views on women. Instead of holding her tongue in a man’s presence and allowing herself to be married off and become a silent and obedient wife, she impersonates a soldier to save her father’s life and to prove women have more ways to fulfill their honour (talk about moving from feminine to feminist). We can already see the princess has evolved by a mile by this point.
Then we have Tiana, the first working girl trying to raise money to open her own restaurant! The girl with two jobs! The girl who works morning, day and night who states she ‘ain’t got time for messing around’ and that she doesn't care that people think she is crazy, topping it with ‘look out boys I’m coming through.’ Yes we know Cinderella worked hard, but that was her own house not her own business so there is a difference here especially when we are talking about 1912 New Orleans. Tiana therefore brought the modern hard workingwoman into the Disney spotlight, making the Disney princesses more identifiable to modern day viewers.
We then saw the beginning of the 3D princesses; Repunzel, Merida, Anna and Elsa, the most modern and most recent Disney princesses, all with modern girl voices and all with guts. Repunzel disobeys Mother Gothel’s orders and leaves her tower in order to fulfil her dream and does not fall in love with Eugine until further on in their adventure together, a contrast to earlier princesses who experience love at first sight. She also does not appear to be a damsel in distress and does her fair share of battling and saving others.
Merida is the official tomboy, who is anything but feminine. Similar to Jasmine, she refuses to be forced into marriage for royal tradition, but nobody has this red head’s style.
Anna does in fact experience love at first sight, like some of our older princesses, but in her
story, it is not about pursuing a boy, it is about pursuing and saving her
sister. She demonstrates an impeccable level of loyalty, regard and
unconditional love for Elsa throughout the film sacrificing herself to
save her and reinforcing family values to viewers at home. It is also worth pointing out here how princesses such as Rapunzel and Anna possess certain levels of clumsiness and authenticity stumbling and tripping over things like a lot of teenage girls today. Their comical, upbeat and not always so leisurely and lady like manners shows a contrast to our earlier princesses. Snow White definitely would never sing about being 'elated or gassy' for one thing.All Disney princesses have undoubtedly faced both internal and external conflict in their fairy tales. Snow White longs for her prince to come someday and free her of the evil queen’s confinement and pursuit to kill her. Cinderella longs for her wish to be loved to come true and to be freed from the cruelty inflicted on her by her wicked stepmother and horrid step sisters. Aurora also hopes for prince charming to whisk her from her berry picking days.
Then we have Ariel longing to be with her human lover and to discover the fruits of being human much to the disapproval of her father. Belle struggles with the social constructions of the tiny provincial town she lives in longing for greater adventures while being viewed as a strange maiden by her local community. Lets not forget Jasmine who battles against the rigid traditions of the sultan’s kingdom being expected to marry for law rather than love. She was followed by Pocahontas who finds it difficult to live under her father’s restrictions and has to see her foreign lover in secret. Mulan is made to honour her place as a woman by adhering to silence and obedience.
Next we see Tiana struggle to raise funds for her restaurant. Rapunzel strives to find satisfaction with living in a confined tower away from society and real love, Merida tussles with having to marry and fulfil the customs of being a princess, Anna endeavours to understand, reconnect and free her sister, after her parents tragically perish in a ship wreck and finally Elsa with her effort to conceal her magical powers from her kingdom and in doing so building herself a solitary and miserable existence.
It is fair to say all the princesses have their own shares of 'trials and tribulations' as Tiana puts it like all young girls do. Despite their happy endings, none of them have it easy. The behaviour and reaction of each subsequent princess has however changed as time has passed.
As you have all probably noticed, the first three princesses whose films were released between 1928 and 1960 had very mature and classical voices and were all rather obedient and submissive. They knew how to resort to tears when things did not go their way, but not how to put up a fight. Snow White and Aurora had to be brought back to life by true love’s kiss and Cinderella had to be freed from the tower by rodents and birds for crying out loud.
Then the tide began to turn with Ariel, the first girl to stand up to her father and disobey his orders to follow her dream. Belle also refused to succumb to the horrid Gaston and to the bad tempered beast. Jasmine showed no fear in maintaining her objection to be forced to marry any prince to satisfy the law and fled from the palace in search to find her identity. Pocahontas, the only Disney princess based on a real person, also stood her ground against her father and John Smith in order to create peace in her village. She was followed by Mulan who defies historical China’s sexist’s views on women. Instead of holding her tongue in a man’s presence and allowing herself to be married off and become a silent and obedient wife, she impersonates a soldier to save her father’s life and to prove women have more ways to fulfill their honour (talk about moving from feminine to feminist). We can already see the princess has evolved by a mile by this point.
Then we have Tiana, the first working girl trying to raise money to open her own restaurant! The girl with two jobs! The girl who works morning, day and night who states she ‘ain’t got time for messing around’ and that she doesn't care that people think she is crazy, topping it with ‘look out boys I’m coming through.’ Yes we know Cinderella worked hard, but that was her own house not her own business so there is a difference here especially when we are talking about 1912 New Orleans. Tiana therefore brought the modern hard workingwoman into the Disney spotlight, making the Disney princesses more identifiable to modern day viewers.
We then saw the beginning of the 3D princesses; Repunzel, Merida, Anna and Elsa, the most modern and most recent Disney princesses, all with modern girl voices and all with guts. Repunzel disobeys Mother Gothel’s orders and leaves her tower in order to fulfil her dream and does not fall in love with Eugine until further on in their adventure together, a contrast to earlier princesses who experience love at first sight. She also does not appear to be a damsel in distress and does her fair share of battling and saving others.
Merida is the official tomboy, who is anything but feminine. Similar to Jasmine, she refuses to be forced into marriage for royal tradition, but nobody has this red head’s style.
Then finally we have Elsa, Disney’s fastest selling and most popular leading lady is a headstrong ice queen who has no interest in falling in love and living happily ever after. Her declaration of independence, empowerment and individuality marks her as the true example of the transformation from feminine to feminist (even though she still looks pretty feminine in her fitted ice dress, glittery hair and heels). Her transcending message of letting go of your personal fears and allowing your talents to resonate has made her into a role model to millions of little princesses out there.
So there we have it. The evolution of the Disney princess. From classic to modern, from submissive to dauntless, from dainty and feminine to gutsy and feminist, developing with the times and allowing Disney to reverberate around the world as a source of reflection and inspiration.
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| Lets hear it for all our Disney Princesses! |
By Tasneem Mahmoud
