Belle Breaks the Ideograph! Sort of...

Just when I had given up hope that a Disney Princess would come along that proved to be of any substance, enter Belle. With Belle, we are still a ways from having an ideal princess, but she is by far the most progressive to her date. What makes Belle so great? First of all, she is the first Disney Princess to be put into any sort of context. All of the princesses before her have no time period, no historical significance, and no country origin. By stripping these prior princesses of any continuity, Disney creates the princess as an ideograph, an interchangeable figurehead that allows the admirer to imagine themselves as a princess. But Belle is French.

The Third Wave feminism movement was emerging right at the same time as the release of Beauty and the Beast. The Third Wave movement was a backlash of the second wave, challenging the ideas of 'femininity' that were created in the 1960's and 1970's. Their main focus was on the acknowledgement that women are of all different races, cultures, and countries. Belle coincides with this movement as a post-structuralist princess. However, just because Belle is given a clearer identity doesn't mean that she is the poster child for Third Wave Feminism. 

My personal admiration of Belle has more to do with the message that Belle portrays to little girls. She is beautiful, but awkward, smart, and rather disliked. Some may argue that Belle conveys that it is alright to be awkward and disliked as long as you are beautiful too, but I believe she stands for more. Her compassion and affection for the ghastly beast show that it is ultimately the person within that counts. She portrays that it is okay to be kind, awkward, smart, and unpopular... AND you can be physically beautiful too. However, we still have an uncomfortable case of Stockholm Syndrome on our hands. And it also can't be ignored that she is still a slave and lives happily ever after. 

Under the Siege

After Sleeping Beauty (1959), it appears that the era of the classic Disney Princess began to fade. For thirty years, Disney's full-feature length films either starred young boys, or only consisted of animated animals. It should come as no surprise that the lack of Disney Princess films should correspond with The Second Wave Feminism movement. It makes sense that Walt Disney Productions would lay low during the peak of the bra burning, flower power years. The death of Mr. Disney in 1966 also played a factor, I'm sure. That is why I find the fourth Disney Princess  to be the most shocking. 

Princess Ariel was the rock star of Disney for my generation as well as the catalyst of the Disney Renaissance. Her emergence in 1989 was perfect timing, giving young girls like myself a new princess to idolize. And we did. I had Ariel sheets, an Ariel doll, Ariel jewelry, and the list goes on and on. For my generation, she is easily the most loved princess. So when Disney released The Little Mermaid from their beloved vault back in October, I naturally ran right out and purchased the $30 movie. It must have been over ten years since I viewed the movie and when I sat down to watch it, I was absolutely flabbergasted by the obsessive 16 year old girl I had idolized. This is the post second wave feminism princess?

Let's break down the underlying message that Princess Ariel is conveying. Putting aside her obvious hoarding and OCD, she becomes obsessed with a man that she doesn't even know. She then abandons her family and physically changes her appearance and who she is to be with said man. And that's not even the best part. She gives up her voice! Because we all know that as a woman, the last thing you need to get a man is a voice. Perhaps Disney was trying to implement a different message, but the fact that Princess Ariel is ultimately successful in captivating her man without her voice suggests otherwise. 

Don't Fix What Ain't Broke

Once again, Disney dipped into the fairy tales of the Brother's Grimm and softened up the story to make it 'Mickey Mouse' appropriate. It was released just nine years after Cinderella and follows the princess formula very closely (with the exception of still having both of her parents). She is beautiful, kind, shy, and a dreamer. Shortly after Cinderella received her castle in Disney World, Aurora received hers in Disneyland. My theory is that the world saw success with the constructed ideology of Cinderella and felt it was best to continue the trend. And lucky Aurora doesn't even have to be conscious to obtain her prince. Quite the message, huh?

Sleeping Beauty was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up. But anyone who claims that Princess Aurora is their favorite has probably never seen any other Disney movie ever. Aurora has less screen time than any other princess. In fact, she is rather boring. But still, the princess with the perfect pedigree saw success. Little girls everywhere still wanted to be her. Even future playboy bunnies. 

From Rosie the Riveter to Cinderella

It wasn't until thirteen years after the release of Disney's first princess did the world receive another. I find Cinderella to be the most interesting princess in terms of historical context. Not because she is rich in personality or charisma, but because she lacks these characteristics and is named the most memorable princess, as well as the leader of the princess pack. While doing some research on the origins of this adoration, I found that there is little to no explanation behind Cinderella's success. Not only is she named the leader of the pack, but she also has her ruling castle set up in Disney World, when Snow White was the true original. When researching the reasons behind this development, I again found very little. No statements. No explanation. Only mystery. Interesting...

The main facts that are known behind the making of Cinderella is that is started in 1945 and was released in 1950. I refuse to believe that it is a complete coincidence that in a post World War II America, a major production would be released with the image of a domestic, obedient, kind young woman for little girls to admire and aspire to become. With soldiers returning from the war and returning to the workplace, it became a challenge to scrap the Rosie the Riveter image and instill a more desirable woman for the 1950's family ideology. Maybe it was intentional, maybe it was coincidental. However, Cinderella was not supposed to be the second princess film. Originally, it was Alice of Alice in Wonderland who was to be crowned, but the project was scrapped last minute without any explanation or information as to why. Today, Alice is not even considered a princess due to her lack of pedigree that the Cinderella image eventually created. With the feminism movement where it is today, perhaps Cinderella should not be considered the leading princess...

Snow...White?

When Walt Disney released the first full-length feature animated film 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' in 1937 there is no denying its success or astounding achievements. The films debut changed poplar culture forever and set Walt Disney apart from the rest in animation success. Nobody, not even Walt Disney himself, could anticipate the unknowing formula that had been created for every little girls ultimate idol: the Disney Princess. Young, beautiful, lacking in either one or both parents, and desperately searching for her prince to come and save her from unhappiness, is the all too familiar set up of the Disney Princess. But should we be idolizing these women? And what does the overall creation of these characters really say about our society and history? It is time to deconstruct these stories and women and understand why Disney lied.

As most people know, the original story of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' is from the Brother's Grimm and is in fact a German story. Although the story has been revived and retold several times in several countries, it was not until Disney Americanized it that it became a happy love story. The story is not the only thing that Disney 'Americanized.' The voice of Snow was played by Adriana Casselotti; the daughter of an Italian immigrant. She was trained in opera by her father which allowed her to manipulate her voice into that youthful, angelic sound. She already possessed the dark hair that resembled Snow White but the black and white photography allowed her complexion to appear white, thus resembling a real life Snow White. Casselotti was under contract with Disney and was therefore not allowed to appear on any form of film or media, as Disney did not want to "ruin the illusion of Snow White." Although there was no denying of her Italian roots, the attempt to make Adriana resemble Snow White created a problematic trend for the faces behind all future Disney princesses.