Meet Mickey's crew!

The original Disney family have transcended through generations and generations. But what is the story behind all these bizarre yet incredible critters?

Mickey Mouse

Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y! Mickey mouse was created as an anthropomorphic mouse in 1928. His original outfit was red shorts, white gloves and big yellow shoes. Between his creation in 1928 and 1947 he was voiced by Walt Disney himself and the job was also carried out by various individuals such as James MacDonald, Stan Freberg, Alan Young, Wayne Allwine, Les Perkins, Peter Renaday, Bret Iwan and Chris Diamantopoulos afterwards. He is brave, helpful, kind and adventurous.

Minnie Mouse

Minerva Mouse, most commonly known as Minnie Mouse is Mickey’s girlfriend. She was also created in 1928 as an anthropomorphic mouse. She is recognized for her dotted dresses, big flouncy bow and high heels. She first appeared in Plane Crazy alongside Mickey. In these earlier cartoons she was often shirtless with a skirt and a flower on her head in place of her bow. She was also originally voiced by Mr. Disney, followed by other individuals before finally taken over by Russi Taylor. She is known to be thoughtful, caring, intelligent and fun.

Pluto

Pluto came barking into Mickey’s family in 1930 as Mickey’s pet. He is therefore not anthropomorphic, although very expressive. He is yellow with long black ears and a bright green collar. He made his first appearance in Chain Gang. Like Mickey he is also adventurous, but also cautious and has a tendency to panic quite easily. He is nevertheless very loving and is known to be Mickey’s best friend.

Goofy

Pluto was followed by another dog Goofy in 1930. Unlike Pluto, Goofy is anthropomorphic and wears blue pants, an orange turtle neck, black waistcoat, a bright green hat and brown shoes. The crazy colour combination of his clothes attributes to his name and personality. He is one of Mickey’s best friends, but does not appear to be as intelligent. Instead he is clumsy, mindless and foolish. He is however caring and lots of fun. He first appeared in Mickey’s Revue and was later included in the Mickey, Goofy and Donald trio films. He has a son called Maxwell, more commonly known as Max who first appeared in 1951.

Donald Duck

Donald Fauntleroy Duck, more commonly known as Donald Duck is a quirky anthropomorphic duck with an uncontrollable temper. He was created in 1954 and is one of Mickey’s best friends. His original outfit is a blue sailor style sweater with a red bow tie and a blue hat. Unlike, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and his girlfriend Daisy, he does not wear any shoes and has one of the most identifiable voices in animation history. His speech is sometimes incomprehensible which attributes to his being a short-tempered duck and adds to the comedy he brings to the audience. Despite his being one of Mickey’s best friends he is jealous of Mickey’s popularity and rivalry is often shown between the two. He is also very excitable and typically mutters ‘oh boy oh boy oh boy’ when he comes across something interesting. He has an extended duck family that appear in various cartoons with him, his three triplet nephews Huey, Dewie and Louie being the most memorable.

Daisy Duck

Daisy Duck is also an anthropomorphic duck and was the last to join the crew in 1940 when she featured in Mr. Duck Steps Out. Her original outfit consists of a purple t-shirt, a pink bow and heels. She has prominent eyelashes, which she uses to flirt and wears a bangle on her left wrist. Thoughtful and caring, she is Minnie Mouse’s best friend, but like Donald also has a bad temper. She has a sultry, diva-like demeanour, which also adds to her comical value as a female duck.

So there we have our loving Mickey crew! All different shapes and sizes but one loving family! They will continue to put smiles on our faces for years and years to come.

Come along lets sing the song
And join the jamberre!
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!
Yay Mickey!
Yay Mickey!
Yay Mickey Mouse Club!

Lets hear it for Mickey and his crew!

By Tasneem Mahmoud

From Feminine to Feminist; the evolution of the Disney princess

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.

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.

Lets hear it for all our Disney Princesses!

By Tasneem Mahmoud

Rodents to the rescue!

There is absolutely no doubt that Mr. Disney had a soft spot for little critters given how many rodents in the Disney animations list have saved the day. But why are rodents so popular in the Disney world? Let’s explore.

To start off, Mickey and Minnie are both mice, both kind, clever and charismatic. They are two of the world’s greatest celebrities, one of the world’s cutest couples and are a source of inspiration to so many people young and old.  Then there was Chip and Dale the adorable and troublesome chipmunks who have their own film called The Two Rescue Rangers! Talk about saving the day.

There were then a series of Disney animated classics where rodents are the heroes of the film.

We have Timothy Q mouse who saves poor baby elephant Dumbo when separated from his mother in a circus and convinces him of his abilities to fly through life. After they first meet, Timothy Q becomes his mentor and his companion and the pair embark on amazing adventures together despite the size difference.

Of course we can’t forget the mice in Cinderella. Jaq, Gus, Luke, Mert, Bert, Perla and Suzy, are,  along with the birds, her only friends who care for her throughout the film and stop at nothing to make her happy even if it means risking their little lives to the malicious Lucifer. They make her ball gown, the boys volunteer to be her horses and they all manage to get the key from Lady Tremain’s pocket to free Cinderella from her confinement allowing her to live happily ever after as one of our charming Disney princesses. 

Roquefort the mouse from The Aristocats proves himself a loyal housemate to his feline friends by saving Duchess and her kittens from the naughty butler Edgar’s grasp by rallying the alley cats to help him.

Then there is a whole two movies, The Rescuers and the Rescuers Down under based on two courageous mice who have the guts to travel long distances to save two human children’s’ lives and trump human villains!

There are  also smaller appearances like that of  the Porcupine in the Fox and the Hound who, concerned for Tod’s safety, takes him into his house on his first night in the woods.

Basil the mouse from Basil the Great Mouse Detective who has a whole film named after him uses his intelligence system to reunite a little mouse with her father and tackle the evil Professor Padraic Ratigan, the notorious vicious sewer rat (one of the only rodent villains).

After Pixar came along, Remy the rat took on the spotlight with his cooking skills helping Linguini the young chef to achieve his lifelong goals.

Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten little Pip, the Chipmunk from Enchanted, Giselle’s loyal friend who does whatever he can to save her from harm.

So what of all these lovable creatures? Why has Disney chosen to feature these little things as heroes again and again? Is it because children can relate to small and fluffy friends more than people or is it because they add comic relief to all the fright? Or maybe Disney’s underlying message is that it does not matter how small or vulnerable you are, when you have courage, you have power. If you believe, you will achieve. That is the message that has allowed these tiny individuals to resonate through the screen, into our hearts and around the world.

Gotta love the rodents!

R-E-S-C-U-E, Rescue Aid Society, Heads held high, touch the sky, You mean everything to me

In a fix, in a bind, Call on us anytime, We'll appear from nowhere, Mighty are we

R-E-S-C-U-E, Rescue Aid Society, Honesty, loyalty, We pledge to thee

R-E-S-C-U-E, Rescue Aid Society, Heads held high, touch the sky, You mean everything to me

In a jam, in a scrape, And you think, "no escape", Do not fear, we'll be here, Courageous are we

R-E-S-C-U-E, Rescue Aid Society, Heads held high, touch the sky, Our hearts we pledge to thee.

The Rescuers (1977)

Bernard and Bianca from Disney's The Rescuers

                                                               By Tasneem Mahmoud

Along came Pixar

We all know the hype began on December 21^st 1937 when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s first full length cell animated feature film, was released. This was followed in the next five decades by hundreds of other animated films, most of which became known as the Walt Disney animated classics. 

In the mid-nineties there was another surge in Disney extravaganza when the first Pixar animated feature was released. But how did this all come about?

In 1986, a man by the name of Steve Jobs, now known as one of the world’s greatest revolutionaries in consumer electronics, bought The Graphics Group, a division of the production company Lucafilm which was first established in 1979. The group was later renamed Pixar Animation Studios. The company struggled throughout the early nineties and Jobs considered selling it to other companies on several occasions.

In 1991, Pixar made a $26 million deal with Walt Disney Feature Animations to create three computer animated films. The unforgettable characters of Woody the cowboy and Buzz Lightyear the Space Ranger skyrocketed into the global spotlight after the partnership released Toy Story in 1995 bringing in a gross income of $415,004,880.

In the years that followed, Steve Jobs, now CEO of Pixar, had a series of disagreements with Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner. Even though Pixar was responsible for the creation and production of the films leaving Disney to handle marketing and distribution, Disney exclusively owned all story and sequel rights. As a result, in 2004, Jobs announced he was seeking other partners to work with. In May 2005, Disney finally agreed to buy Pixar for $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal. Jobs was now Disney’s biggest individual shareholder and joined the board of Directors.

Pixar’s timeless animations have been cherished by generations of children and adults, the three most lucrative being Finding Nemo, Up and Toy Story 3. According to the disneymovieslist.com poll, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Toy Story 3 are the most popular. Their humour filled characters, quirky concepts and creative features have helped to elevate Disney’s fame and the novelty of modern day technology. Global excitement has already began to mount as we await Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo which is due to release in the US in 2016.

So there we have it, the development of Pixar in the world of Disney. It is with the success of Pixar Animations that one might ask how different Disney would be if the partnership was never formed and to a greater extent, how different the world would be if it were not for innovative geniuses like Steve Jobs who when commenting on Pixar, stated: We believe it’s the biggest advance in animation since Walt Disney started it all with the release of Snow White.  

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

                                                               By Tasneem Mahmoud

The cutest Disney animal

 

Okay, this is going to be a tough call because all the Disney animals are cute in their own special ways so lets broaden it out to the top 5 cutest Disney animals! 

Fifth place: Lucifer the cat from Cinderella

‘It’s Lucifee! Now be carefee!’ Yes he's probably one of the meanest Disney animals around, but we can't blame him given his owners. Black, grey and fluffy, he spends his time making life difficult for Cinderella, Bruno and the mice, but he also has a lot of character and the sweetest if not naughtiest little grin. Unlike many Disney animals, Lucifer does not talk, but communicates through actions and gestures which actually adds humour to his character and brings comic relief to the film.  In Cinderella 2; Dreams Come True, we see more of a sentimental side when he falls in love with the palace Persian Pom-Pom and even makes a deal with the mice to stop harassing them in order for them to set him up with her. What more can I say about Lucifer, he’s fat, furry and fun!

Fourth Place: Flower the skunk from Bambi 

‘He can call me Flower if he wants to’. I always thought Flower was a girl from his sweet gentle voice and the feminine name Bambi gives him, but no, he is a male skunk. What always struck me about him was his soft pink feet and his gentle demeanor. He is also an animal that hibernates in the winter, but like his friends Bambi and Thumper becomes ‘twitterpated’ in the spring and ends up with an offspring of his own which he names Bambi after the prince of the forest. He may not be one of the most popular Disney animals, but he is definitely one of the cutest.

Third place: Remy the rat from Ratatouille
 

‘No no no! Don’t just hork it down!.....I have got to teach you about food!’ It is not everyday we come across a rat obsessed with hygiene and good food. The Pixar-animated comedy challenges the stereotype of rodents being omens of grime, filth and disease through displaying the ambitions of countryside rat to make something of himself and prove his passions of cooking to the world. It is not only his hope and determination that mark him as an adorable character, it is his appearance and mannerisms too. Grey with pink coloured hands (to him), feet, ears, nose and tail and a charming little smile, Remy chases away all the rat phobias anyone could have. Despite his unconventional interests, Remy realistically doesn’t speak to humans; he demonstrates legitimate fear towards them and communicates through shaking and nodding his head. He doesn’t shy away from helping Linguini achieve his goals and in the end is a friend to everyone. It's not everyday we see a rat befriend a chef! 

Second place: Dumbo the elephant from Dumbo
  
''Thats it! Dumbo! You flew!' No doubt one of the saddest Disney films in my books, but who could forget that baby elephant. From his first appearance in the film when he sneezes and reveals his huge wing sized ears to when he takes off in flight with nothing but a feather in his trunk and a quirky mouse in his hat he never fails to be cute. After being separated from his mother by a cruel circus crew Dumbo does the unexpected by befriending a mouse who takes him under his tail and guides him through his adventures. In contrast with the other animals in the film the baby elephant never utters a word but communicates with his trunk, his ears and his endearing little smile.

And first place goes to...: Gus the mouse from Cinderella

'Duh, duh, duh... Happy Birthday!’ I didn’t give 5^th and 1^st place to characters from the same film on purpose; it is just that Disney did a very good job at making the Cinderella animals unforgettably cute. From his inimitable little voice and his chubby appearance Gus Gus has always been my number one. He is not as slick as his best friend Jaq, but humbly follows and supports him throughout the film. His clumsy and naïve ways makes him Lucifer’s main target, which serves to fulfill the films comic relief. His devotion towards Cinderella, his rodent friends and of course food makes him one of the most cheerful and sincere Disney animals. Lets hear it for Gus Gus! "

So there we have it, my top 5 cutest Disney animals. There are so many that I have not forgotten about, but these 5 have something special and form part of the reason why Disney is known to be one of the world's leading animators in the industry. He did not just bring these animations to life, he brought life to these animations. 

Gus from Disney's Cinderella

 By Tasneem Mahmoud

Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the scariest of them all?

It's villain time! Before we get started may I just point out my opinion that Disney villains have been the funniest, freakiest, sassiest and cruelest characters produced in the history of animation. Lets consider the number one Disney villains. We will start with the females.

In most of the Disney princess movies, the villains have been mostly female (the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty, Lady Tremain in Cinderella, Ursula in The Little Mermaid and Mother Gothel in Rapunzel) and how different would these characters have been were they men? Would they have possessed the same merciless ways? The same oppressive appearances?  The same cunning schemes? What enhances their motives are the fact that like the Disney princesses they are also women which sets an incentive for competition. Its obvious Mother Gothel and the Evil Queen wanted to stay young and beautiful, but knew they would never outdo their enemies Snow White and Rapunzel and that Lady Tramaine hated the fact her daughters, clumsy and plain Drizella and Anastasia would never be as attractive as Cinderella. But who is the scariest?  
 

Being part octopus it is evident that Ursula would freak any child out, but her comical character renders her less foreboding. The Evil Queen is definitely a step closer to scary with her sinister glare,

Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty

her request for Snow White’s heart and her transformation into an old peddler with a high and wicked cackle of a laugh (I always hid behind a pillow in that part). But the female villain that has resonated in my mind as the scariest has always been the one and only Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. From her resounding name which means ‘doing evil or harm’ there is no doubt her intentions are as evil as all the rest. Cursing an infant to die on her 16^th birthday and capturing her prince to prevent him from awakening her with true love's first kiss as well as her dark demeanor, black robes, green face and curled menacing horns help to convey her as (in her own words) ‘the mistress of all evil’.  Her army of monstrous hogs, her home in the dark and dreary forbidden mountains, her callous crow and her transformation into a gigantic ferocious dragon all help to execute a malicious villain. Well-done Maleficent.
 
Now to the males. There is no doubt that Disney male villains are rather short tempered (like Hades), selfish and pompous (like Govenor Ratcliffe), revolting and haunting (like the Horned King) violent and unpleasant (like Clayton), arrogant and stupid (like Gaston) cunning and cruel (like Scar), gross and somber (like Jafar), comical and cowardly (like Captain Hook) and fearless and frightening (like Shan Yu) but none of these guys have anything on the sinfully wicked and viciously immoral Judge Claude Frollo, enemy to Quosimodo, other outcasts and the general public in the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

As a judge, Frollo is meant to represent justice and equality, but uses his pedestal to execute cruelty and injustice to those in most need of his help. He murders Quosimodo’s Romani mother and attempts to murder him as a baby. He then raises the boy to believe he is a deformed monster and that he must never see the outside world. He allows the crowd to torture Quosimodo at the festival of fools in order for ‘a lesson to be learned’. He then intends to slaughter the innocent in search of Esmeralda and punishes Phoebus for choosing not to follow orders.  
 

Judge Claude Frollo from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Then there’s that song; ‘Hellfire’ which actually serves as the film’s musical motif. Following Quosimodo’s ballad about Esmeralda, which refers to her as ‘Heaven’s light’, Frollo’s song demotes her as ‘hell fire,’ the cause of his sinful longing to lust with her and therefore a source of evil. The twisted part of the song lays in the beginning where he address the virgin Mary calling her to recognize his virtue and goodwill; ‘Beata Maria, you know I am a righteous man, of my virtue I am justly proud’ and then he goes on to criticize the poor who he describes as ‘the common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd.’ Hypocritical? Just a bit. He then goes on to describe his lustful feelings towards the beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda blaming her as ‘the witch who sent this flame’. He sings: 'Destroy Esmeralda, and let her taste the fires of hell, or else let her be mine and mine alone’. The song then returns to addressing the divine: 'Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy), but she will be mine, or she will burn.’ The notion of having her for himself or sending her to hell and blaming her beauty for his internal longing marks him not only as cruel and hypocritical judge, but a sexist, ungodly fiend, the wrong example to set to the public and to young viewers at home. 

Indeed critics have pointed out that the song’s lyrics and visual are more suited to adults than a younger demographic although founder of filmtracks.com Christian Clemmensen has stated the song to be ‘one of the most stunning visual and aural combinations in animation history." The combination of the choir, biblical Latin references and sensual meaning of the song certainly renders Frollo as a representative of what socially elevated figures in the 15^th century Western Europe were often like when society was drowning in religious hypocrisy and corruption. On an even darker note, this sort of makes him the most realistic villain. He has no magical powers, but uses his position in society to fulfill his evil goals.  His last words upon trying to murder Quosimodo, "And he shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit" which is taken from the bible serves as a cherry on top of his everlasting religious falseness. So yes Frollo may not be dressed as a monster, but he impersonates evil on earth, scary enough for any villain. As a child I found myself shuddering from his cruelty over his appearance. 

So there you have it, two of the scariest Disney villains, both frightening on different levels that will have generations of Disney fans trembling in their presence for decades to come. 

By Tasneem Mahmoud

Princesses at heart: A look at the characters Esmeralda and Megara

Occasionally, the stunning Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame and gorgeous Megara from Hercules get thrown into the Disney princess pictures with all the classical fairytale princesses, but as we all know, they are not actually considered Disney princesses. Esmeralda however beautiful, kind and charming is a young gypsy on the streets of Paris. She is betrothed to no one and doesn’t have a palace.  Megara has no connections with royalty either. She is a ‘damsel in distress,’ an ordinary maiden in a town full of problems awaiting a true hero. So why are these gutsy beauties sometimes thrown in with the rest of the princesses? And more to the point, why are they not actually considered real princesses? Lets start with Esmeralda.

Up until 2005 Esmeralda was actually part of the Disney princess franchise, but her products were discontinued for a number of in-concrete reasons. Its obvious from the start of the film, that she is not the star character, merely a young Romani dancing in the streets, glared down upon by the public because of her gypsy heritage, but her valor and independence is very noticeable throughout the film, she serves no one but herself, she falls for no one's trickery and stands up to what she believes in; justice and equality (easy there, she’s only a cartoon). She stands up for Quasimodo as he is terrorized at the festival of fools, helps Phoebus, (although they get off on the strong start) when he is injured and stands up to the evil Frollo even when she is about to lose her life. Furthermore, her song to the Lord, ‘God help the outcasts’ in the picturesque Notre Dame where she acknowledges her place in society, but prays to God to ‘help the outcasts’ for we are all ‘children of God’ highlights her compassionate nature and deep understanding of social segregation and the injustices of social class distinction. Her words ‘I ask for nothing, I can get by, but I know so many less lucky than I’ adds somewhat of a saintly attribute to her character, she is not only beautiful, she is a real lady, a real human, and thus a real sovereign, a beacon of generosity, morality and love. Still not a princess? Think again.

And then we have the gorgeous Megara, whose friends call her Meg, (‘at least they would if she had any friends’), the girl who claims that ‘no man is worth the aggravation’ and that ‘people do crazy things when they are in love’ (both true) and also shows a sense of independence. Like Esmeralda, she is isolated from the majority of society and is also incredibly vulnerable. Due to past heartaches she joins the evil Hades in his plan to tear down wonder boy, Hercules. Consumed by her fear of being lost and alone she makes mistakes, but nobly picks herself back up, owning up to her wrongdoings and prompting the stubborn Phil, to save Hercules’ life towards the end of the film. So although she is portrayed as somewhat defenseless, she isn’t perfect, but comes out a true woman winning the heart of the film’s hero. Sassy yet classy, Meg also constitutes a princess role model as she demonstrates that no one is perfect and all young girls can learn from their mistakes and go with their heart. We can all fall for the wrong company due to internal conflict, but we can come out stronger and ever more beautiful.

So there we have it, two incredibly beautiful and strong young heroines set out to better themselves, as we all should in all ways possible. Despite their un-royal legacies, they both serve as an inspiration to young female watchers and if a princess is a reflection of inner style, vulnerability, beauty and morality then these girls are princesses at heart. I will definitely be dressing up as one of them at the next Disney princess party!

Esmeralda from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Megara from Disney's Hercules

  By Tasneem Mahmoud