Just like any other girl, I loved princesses when I was four. Recently, my friends and I were discussing Disney princesses and their characters. I've decided to compile our opinions, along with my opinion on Odette in The Swan Princess (She was too much of a character for me to ignore).NOTE: I AM CONSIDERING MAINLY THE ORIGINAL FILMS. Let's start:- Snow White (1937): Snow White isn't the hottest princess around (I can't believe the queen actually got jealous of HER; beauty is a matter of opinion). Furthermore, I hate the way she runs off with the prince when she hardly knows who she is. And WHY didn't she listen to the dwarves? It was almost her way of saying "I'm smarter than you"; in the original Snow White the witch actually ate part of the apple to dupe her. That made some sense, but seriously, Snow White forgot her enemy so quickly. Rating: 1/5
- Cinderella (1950): Let me get this straight. Cinderella can stand up for herself when she wants to go to a ball but not when her family works her to pieces? Very smart. Worst of all, she hardly knew the prince for an HOUR and she wants to stay with him for LIFE. I agree it's an escape from slavery, but it's a rash choice. In Cinderella 3, she does stand up for herself and become a character. Nevertheless, she just sits there and moans in self-pity while the mice rescue her again and again. Yeah, I think that's her fatal flaw: self pity. Oh well, it makes her a character with a personality nevertheless (an annoying one I must add). By the way, the animators deliberately try to make Cinderella pretty; BIG MISTAKE, she looks normal and plain. Rating: 2/5.
- Aurora (1959): This princess barely shows up IN HALF OF THE STORY! Absolutely ridiculous. All she does is meet Prince Philip, dream about him, sing in the forest, prick her finger, and then wake up. BIG DEAL! She's really pretty (prettiest blond Disney princess in my opinion) but she LACKS character development big time. Well, at least she KNEW her prince before she MARRIED him (they were betrothed anyway). Rating: 1.5/5.
- Ariel (1989):This used to be my FAVORITE Disney princess when I was little. I still don't know why (I loved mermaids, maybe that was the reason). Now when I look at her character, she frustrates me. Her dad warned her all her life "Don't go up, they will kill you" and she ignores him. When your parents tell you not to talk to strangers, you take their advice eventually,don't you? Not in this case. Why didn't Ariel explain to her father about her feelings on the matter rather than her anger? She only have THREE DAYS to spend with Eric, and fell in love with him. Amazing. She was alright in the beauty aspect, except her fringe on her forehead annoys me. Nevertheless, I was really,really disgruntled when she chose a GUY over her FAMILY. Very nice message to kids, Disney. Rating: 3/5 (biased opinion)
- Belle (1991): After watching this later, I appreciated the movie more. Belle is human, FINALLY. She doesn't swoon over the hottest guy in town (YAY, IT TOOK A WHILE DISNEY!). Even better, her loyalty is to her father who raised her up; at least SOME Disney princess appreciates their parents. The one thing I absolutely LOVE is that Belle loves the Beast for who he is, not his appearance. I don't think we've had many other Disney princesses do that. Belle even takes the time to know her guy (or maybe that's stockholm syndrome, God knows).. She also passes the beauty test with natural beauty, not the standard blond hair (no offense to all the blonds out there). Rating: 4/5.
- Jasmine (1992): I remember Aladdin only vaguely so this is what I have to say: I admire Jasmine. She affirms her freedom while trying to find love. Jasmine is the ONLY Disney princess who tries to escape forced marriage--and I applaud her for that. She has natural beauty, and therefore passes the beauty test. ;). Rating:4/5.
- Odette [From The Swan Princess] (1994): Though Odette is not a Disney princess, I appreciate her so much I HAD to put her in. From the start, I admired her character. She wants to marry for love rather than beauty and puts that straight. She avoids shortcuts to
save her kingdom and keeps other people's desires above own (talk about unselfish). Odette is the one who actually FIGHTS her own battle (not all physically) rather than having the prince do all the work. Disney has a lot to learn. She surpasses the beauty test and best of all ,looks plain as a kid, just like all kids are. Rating: 3.5/5 - Pocahontas (1995): This character annoyed me; I can't say I hated the movie but I can't say I loved it either. The main reason I didn't like her was because of her passive approach to reason with her father. Her father said "No" and she didn't even refute that. THIS IS WAR! I don't understand why she would avoid an argument when there's lives at stake. What I do like about her is that she sacrifices her love for the sake of someone else. Her appearance is well...passable. Rating: 2.5/5
- Mulan (1998): Mulan was never an actual princess. Shang was never an actual prince. Yet, she is one of the few Disney princesses who actually seem human. She risks her life for her father (loyalty to parents-yay!) and uses defiance for selfless reasons. Mulan perseveres and sacrifices unlike other Disney Princesses. Best of all, Mulan loves for personality rather than looks. She also has a less stereotypical appearance. YAY! Rating: 5/5.
What do you guys think? The beauty aspect wasn't counted in my ratings, it was just my thoughts. Here's a poll to vote:
dude mulan was so stereotypical
ReplyDeleteasian girls = small&chinky eyes, high cheekbones
i dont get why people think all asians look like that.
GO AURORA ;D
I guess...I like how she was portrayed as a natural beauty rather than a wannabe beauty.
ReplyDeleteI have to say i am tied between Belle and Mulan.
ReplyDeleteBoth seem really good in their own way.
But Mulan is super cool since she actually trained to become a warrior and stuff. I just hate Cinderella and Snow White. They are really big airheads in my opinion. I guess Aurura didn't come in half the movie but she had a nice personality.
Jasmine is super cool too.
Ariel is actually ok. She really matured between the first and second movie. I really like her kid - Melody - she was actually a pretty good mom.
I never like pocohontas for some reason.....
u should do a blog about disney villans!
mulan is not a princesssssssssssssssssss i hate to see her in the group of princesess she just dont fit they should put odette intead.
ReplyDeleteOdette Stinks!!!
ReplyDeleteBelle is the one I always liked. Although Mulan is really brave, cool and nice she kind of takes things to personally like the way her father yelled at her, she did not do any thing about it she just cried. Belle's really nice and down to earthe doesn't always take things wich is reallt cool! I've alway hated the other pricesses for a lot of reasons.
ReplyDeleteOdette, Aurora, Cinderella and Snow white really skink! I mean they let the prince do all the work and all they do is wait for someone to rescue them. I Mean they don't even pay attention to stuff that really matters too!
ReplyDeleteOdette is one of my favorites. She DOES to stuff to help, like risk her life to get a map to figure out a way to the prince's castle and then when he's trying to shoot her down with arrows she keeps going, doesn't take it personally (he didn't know it was her), she tries to rescue Derek's friend from the dungeon they were in (even though she can't talk and he doesn't go), and then she flies back to the lake after Derek confessed his love to a different girl to try to live. She's pretty and I think plays a pretty good role. The story's about her, not the prince.
ReplyDeleteMulan to me is a good princess. She's noble and loyal, but she IS stereotypical looking. She may not wear big poofy dresses, but she's not in 80's outfits or anything. She dresses traditionally, even when she's acting as a guy. Her story is unique, but even though she joins the army to save her father she almost gave him and her family a heart attack.
Pocahontas. I perosnally like her. She doesn't wear a big poofy dress (like Mulan doesn't) and she's pretty to me. I love her hair. It's like a cape. She is loyal to her people and prevents a bloodbath. She sacrafices a lot and respects her father, although she may not agree with him. She is very exotic. Native Americans have almost completely died out. To me she's the most exotic princess on the list. She may not be drop-dead gorgeous, but it's realistic. Since when are real princesses (or in this case chief's daughters) super-model beautiful? Last I checked Queen Elizabeth 1 had an afro in her princess years.
Every ohter pricess stink except Belle. But Mulan isn't bad either she is brave. And Belle' really nice and generous
ReplyDeleteOdette did not let her Prince do all the work! First, she turned him down because she wanted Derek to love her for personality, not looks. Then, she worked hard to meet Derek halfway. She was definitely one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteBelle is my other favorite. She was kind of a feminist, loved reading, and didn't swoon at the omst attractive guy in France. She did anything she could to save her father, and loved the Beast for who he was rather than his looks (obviously).
Mulan is pretty awesome, but she isn't a princess..
Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora are my least favorites. I just don't see what's so good about them.
As for Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Ariel. They were alright, I liked that they didn't have the stereotypical looks for a "Disney Princess".
And everyone is forgetting the newest Disney princess, Tiana from Princess and the Frog. Set in New Orleans, staring as a waitress trying to work her way up to buying her own restaurant. She has no intention of finding "true love" Until she realizes that she's fallen in love.. She is probably my favorite of the newer princess.
I've always loved Belle, Mulan, Pocahontas, and Odette (and Esmeralda and Anastasia (who isnt disney, btw)) Mulan was just a badass, she knows karate and saved china. Pocahontas created peace between the Jamestown colonists and her tribe. Both Odette and Belle fell in love based on personalities versus looks.
ReplyDeleteI think some of the reason these movies do not fit into your ideals is yes Disney and other filmmakers do stray from details but often they are stuck to the original story. The reason some of their ideals are archaic is because the stories are doubly so for the oldest ones like Snow White and Cinderella. Disney does an ok job sticking to the main idea of the story for many of their movies.
ReplyDeleteim sure the older disney movies were made for kids, and we at that age were not going to nit pick like we are now, back then it was just the airhead princes idea that was popular and now they realise that isnt the right aproach for children now and try to teach them to like for personality instead of looks.. i picked mulan personally coz i love asian people for being pretty thin and have good hair/fashion/culture plus anime ;3
ReplyDeletei then would choose belle, he dress is my favorite, her hair is lovely and her eyes are so pretty and big, her personality was beautiful like her name meant and she wanted the beast for his personality which tottaly worked coz in the end he was "handsome" well not to me... lol, i recently liked Tangled, and rapunzel, she is cute, young, trying to be a free spirit, happy, funny, and full of fight and enthusiam about learning like teens should be :| anyway that is all from me!