Death of the Disney Princess
I don’t know if any of you have already heard this juicy tidbit of news, but Tangled may be the last princess movie Disney will make for the indefinite future. The rationale behind this era-ending decision? Girls these days just don’t want to be princesses. Making the typical “Princess” movie is now a losing bargain.
Now, I don’t think little girls have ever stopped wanting to be princesses, but that isn’t the point. The point is that Disney’s princesses defined whole generations of girls’ childhoods. They survived the explosive growth of feminism. Princess movies were popular for decades. Why are they dying off now? What does that say about how women see ourselves and what we want out of life? Let’s engage in some rampant, groundless speculation.
First of all, Disney princesses could be becoming less popular because there is something wrong with them. Disney princesses all share a certain set of problem characteristics. They are excessively gorgeous, often blatantly and directly perpetuating the idea that “good = beautiful.” They often – by which I mean “practically always” – lack a positive mother figure in their lives. Most importantly, all of the Disney princesses share one single goal – finding a man. Even the recently-written princesses suffer this man-crazed myopia. For example, most of the drama of The Little Mermaid comes from the ultimatum that Ariel has to win her man’s love within an absurdly short period of time or spend her life as an ugly anemone on Ursula’s floor. Belle cannot achieve her grand dreams of exploring the world without marrying the ex-Beast. And Mulan, after spending an entire movie kicking serious butt, has a rather abrupt if not completely unforeseen romance unceremoniously thrust upon her. Maybe Disney princess movies are less popular now because they don’t represent what women hope for anymore.
Of course this begs the question, is the princess storyline dead? Have we outgrown our princess love? Let’s ignore the slew of princess books for the under-seven set. What about books for us sophisticated types? Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to draw your attention to Exhibit A: the Twilight series.
Let’s search for the elements of princess-hood. We can assume that Bella is beautiful. The author never comes out and says so, but, seriously she has two hotties fighting over her by book two. I doubt it’s all thanks to her scintillating personality. Bella even shares Ariel’s adorable clumsiness – without the whole ‘combs her hair with a fork’ thing, as hilarious as that would be. Most telling, however, is Bella’s lack of goals outside of her relationship with Edward. I know, she protests when he demands that she marry him, but as she wants to spend eternity as a vampire with him, I doubt she has a problem with commitment. Also, keep in mind that Edward is technically a monster. For three out of four books the possibility exists that he could lose control and eat Bella at any moment. Falling in love with a monster is definitely princess territory – Beauty and the Beast, anyone?
The fact that Twilight is so insanely popular is, I think, a clear indication that the princess storyline is not dead. When you look around, many other popular books have elements of the princess – without necessarily focusing on love and romance. A key part of the appeal of the princess story is the idea of being ‘chosen’ or ‘special’ because of royal heritage. Replace ‘royal heritage’ with ‘magical abilities’ and you have scores of manga series including InuYasha, Magic Knight Rayearth and Fushigi Yugi. If, instead of being the heir of the king, the princess is the heir of the kingdom’s official zombie-killer, you have Garth Nix’s Sabriel.
This brings us back to our original question: With all these modern princess-types running around, why is Disney abandoning its princesses? The girls in the examples above share a certain complexity that Disney princesses have always lacked. Bella contemplates mortality and undeath, the magical manga girls fight evil and survive betrayal, Sabriel saves a prince and battles monsters to restore his throne. These girls have a light side and a dark side, and the worlds they inhabit can be frightening in sadly realistic ways. Maybe that’s why girls can’t empathize with Disney princesses anymore – the princess of today needs to be tough enough to face a hard world without counting on someone else to rescue her.
Now that I’ve ranted and raved, what do you think? Is the Disney princess dead? Am I crazy for calling Twilight a ‘princess’ series? Who is your favorite modern ‘princess’?
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I think being a princess (especially becoming one, like Belle) used to represent a magical, effortless transformation from a regular person to a person of rank, beauty, wealth… But these days, that’s what instant celebrity represents–all of the celebutantes who are famous for being famous, who are admired (God knows why, in many cases), celebrated, given clothes, drinks, parties, etc.
I don’t think it’s the advantages of being a princess that girls have given up aspiring to; I just don’t think it’s generally believed anymore that you need to catch the eye of a prince to attain those advantages.
I absolutely can see Bella as a princess. Maybe instead of abandoning the whole princess theme, Disney needs to refresh it, give it a modern twist. Like Enchanted that was a fun movie and gave a unique twist to the princess story.
This is an interesting argument. Personally, I really wanted to like Twilight but I gave up after book 2 rolling my eyes, so I may not be the best person to answer the argument.
I will say I’m glad Disney’s going to stop adding to the princess phenomenon. Just a few minutes ago I was thinking about the whole princess thing, and why it bugs me so much. It’s not princesses per se; I think all girls like the idea of being rich and dressed beautifully and given adventures and being pursued by handsome men. I think that what bugs me about it is that the marketing, these last few years, has transformed a dream/imaginary play world into “this is what I deserve.” Not that kids pretend to be princesses, but that they think they actually ARE. Or at least, their parents think they are, as evidenced by what I call “attitude” T-shirts (I am Queen, worship me; incapable of doing wrong–messages like that).
Hmm, I’m not sure if I’d connect the “special due to magical abilities” storylines to princess storylines. First of all, the princess storyline is inherently female, while the magical abilities storyline is not–take Harry Potter, for example. I also think the appeal of most princess storylines is that their specialness is passive. Either princesses are princesses from birth, in which case they’re special just because of who they are, or they become princesses after a prince falls in love with them–just because of who they are. Magical abilities storylines, although they do often star protagonists with inherent specialness (they happen to have the ability to do magic), focus on what the protagonist does with their ability.
Not all princess stories fit into this mold, of course–take Mulan and Tiana–but I’d say the appeal of the princess story general lies in passive specialness. Which would make Bella fit in pretty well, from what I know about Twilight.
I would agree to every point except for one. They did make a princess movie with a good female figure parent and a princess with goals other than a man and then achieved them. Princess and the Frog with princess Tiana. Everything else is spot on.
Is it gauche to comment on my own post?
In any case, here’s another take on the whole princess issue, for little girls.
Oh please. Such sophmoric balderdash and fiddledee dee commentary about something so innocent as the Disney Princess. ” Princess” is an ARCHETYPE. It’s not that they are all so sweet and without spunk.. Belle was definetely a strong character, . Belle saw beneath the exterior..Hardly a flaw, but a depth of character.
My favorite Princess is the Adorable Character in Enchanted.! AMY ADAMS was stellar.
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The princess archetype will never go away. Little girs will continue to buy princess dresses and crowns and pretend to be all their favorites. Disney may give up on making princess movies (dumb idea in my opinion), but thats probably because most of the movies they are making now are remakes or based off of modern teen and adult books. Or possibly because of all the female heroines in the books like Hunger Games, Catching Fire, etc. They may want to empower women instead of make them feel like they can only be happy if they marry aprince. But you are so right about Twilight! Bella is so a princess and I love that you compared her to Belle and Edward to the Beast, Spot on! If I had to choose one modern day princess…For Books it would be Brittany from Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. Brittany was the princess of her school and she never let Alex get away with anything. There is even a happily ever after. …For a Movie it would probably be from Beastly if it ever came out, but since it hasnet yet I will have to pick Mia of the Princess Diaires.
I think you make some great points, except the most modern examples of Princesses (Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and Repunzel from Tangled), fit your description of what a modern princess would have to be. They’re original goals have nothing to do with finding a man. Tiana is even vocally uninterested in the idea.
I’m truly sad to hear that Disney is considering ending their Princess movies reign, but I’m also doubtful that they’ll stick to the idea. Didn’t they swear off 2d animation just a few years ago, only to recently start producing them again? I don’t see Disney Princesses dying off any time soon, I just see a lot of continuing change as to what forms those Princesses take. Maybe they’re just swearing off the royalty angle. Mulan isn’t technically a princess. Maybe Disney’s just planning to take their heroines in a new direction.
I don’t think you’re off base calling Twilight a princess fantasy. Good observation.
As a mother of daughters,I hope princess films and books never die. Everyone needs an escape sometimes. My girls know they aren’t princesses in the ‘I live in a castle and have all the best clothes’ sense, but I tell them often that every little girl is a princess in that she is special just because of who she is.
I agree with a couple others in using Disney and their counterparts as escape. These stories, whether they are about a girl who falls in love with a beast and helps them see their own inner beauty (Belle, Bella, etc), or about a person who has to overcome challenges–whether magical or mundane–are all about escape to a happy ending–whether it is perfect or not. The princess trope is not as strong as it was in the 1950s, but we love their stories just the same.
Even stories that make fun of themselves and their predecessors like Enchanted still have elements of the trope. So we just update the trope, and make our heroines more like ourselves.
Um, you totally and conveniently left out Princess Tiana from Princess and the Frog…? Her goal actually has nothing to do with finding a man, and she’s one of the most popular princesses of the “newer” princesses (everyone from Mulan until now). Little girls come to the Park here in Anaheim dressed up like here an almost daily basis – and, I might add, not just girls that share her skin tone, either.
I think one goal that most of the more recent Disney princesses have in common is they want more than their regular life offers. Ariel wants to walk on land and experience another life, Mulan wants to fight in the army with the men, Belle wants to read and explore and go off on wild adventures, Tiana wants to start a business and prosper, Jasmine actually wants to get out of the sheltered life of the castle and see how her people live, and Pocahontas always wonders whats “just around the riverbend”. None of that screams “damsel in distress” to me, nor did most of the more recent princesses need much saving, if I recall correctly. And, in a kindof tongue-in-cheek example, doesn’t Eve save Wall-E’s life near the end of the film?
Another common trait that all the Disney princesses share is that when they do find love, they fight for it, and they fight damn hard, in some cases. Again, I don’t see this contributing to your point, as this seems to be what most girls respond to in their favourite princess – strength, beauty, grace, and courage are traits that we all respond to whether they’re animated or in a real person.
I think people see what they want to see in Disney films. It’s easy to hit something when you throw your dart at such a huge target like Disney, but honestly, I just don’t have the same takeaways from Disney films that some people have regarding their depictions of women.
Princesses are not “dead”, as you went on to say, they’re simply changing. Tiana is a perfect example of this – trust me when I say she’s one of the most popular princesses, and her merchandise moves off the shelves just as quickly as any of the other princesses.
As an aside, everyone forgets about poor Princess Tiger Lily.
I believe that it was Belle who denied the advances of a man, in hopes FOR a life of adventure, something more than the monotonous small town life everyone else seemed to be living. She wasn’t looking for true love. True love was not her ultimate goal, her goal was to find something the she felt was worth while. In the end it was not the Prince who rescued her, it was Belle who rescued him. The problem with the Princess stories is not in the stories, its with society and our indulgence in ridiculous reality TV, and searching out the bad and the ugly in anything and everything. The true messages of the stories have gotten lost behind paranoia and cranky people demanding political correctness.
The message was never meant to be “find yourself a rich, handsome man, and marry him, quick…you’ll be 17 next year!”
The message was always that True Love conquers all.
You’re right, Kristie, in the Disney movie, Belle is a very independent-minded young woman (which is why she is my favorite princess of all time). I liked your comment about the “true messages of the stories being lost” in the modern world, because I often find original fairy tales to be more exciting, more interesting, and often infinitely more disturbing than their modern, sanitized retellings. It’s when the complexity of the original story is lost that we get the “find a man already” message for lack of anything else. Thank heavens that some great YA authors are retelling fairy tales now. (My favorite — Shannon Hale’s “Book of a Thousand Days”)
Additionally — did y’all hear that not one, not two, but three live action Snow White movies are coming? And in one of them, Snow’s become a Katniss-style action girl! http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/02/08/new-snow-white-movie/ I’ll be interested to see what these movies add to the princess oeuvre.
I work for Disney and Rapunzel is not deemed as an official Princess. She was not crowned, etc. Read the story.
Thanks for the insight, Melissa. I must have been thinking of the original fairy tale, in which she does marry a prince. At least, in the version I grew up with. :-)
First…. let’s think.. as adults; do we see a princess as a real person? The answer is no. Next question? Do really think a kid is going to understand all this at age 5.Answer is no. By the time they do realize this they will be old enough to see that is fictional and aa cartoon. Grow up and let the kids enjoy the princesses. I really don’t think it is going to hinder there life. They like princesses because they are magical and pretty. DISNEY IS A PLACE WHERE A KID CAN BE A KID AND DREAM. LET THEM DO THAT.
Thanks for your input, Daniel. I agree that princesses are hugely attractive as frameworks for imagination among little girls — and, hey, I’m a huge fan of imagination. I would never tell a kid to stop dreaming. :-)
The question is — Is the princess ideal what we want girls’ imaginations to build on? It’s the same kind of thing we could ask about boys pretending to be Rambo, or girls playing with Barbies. Is it promoting an unbalaced view of gender roles, and an unhealthy self-image? It’s important to present a variety of options to children in terms of stories — stories where boys can be sensitive and girls can be strong, or the more “traditional” stories — and let them choose. Thank heavens that now these stories exist! (And can be found in your local public library!)