I believe every child has seen some Disney movie or knows of one or about one. Disney movies are always typical of the beautiful princess who is saved by some handsome young stranger and they live happily ever after. The female is often the passive character while the male hero is always the active participant saving the damsel in distress from the ugly villain. I believe this is due to the fact that, “Women are mere “beauties” in men’s culture so that culture can be kept male (Wolf 59).” If the villain is male, he wants the beautiful princess, but if the villain is female, she is jealous and ugly. Every woman is drawn to be beautiful unless she is viewed as the evil and mean villain made to thwart the princess at finding true love with the handsome young male.
The first Disney movie that I wanted to analyze was the classic story of Cinderella. She was the beautiful stepsister but you couldn’t tell under all the dirt and cinders on her face from cleaning after her evil stepmother and two ugly stepsisters. They even went to the extent of mentioning that the villains were ugly as to make the decision for you. Cinderella is the young blonde Caucasian ideal of beauty. One of her stepsisters is a red head and the other is a brunette. They both have larger noses and bigger eyes than that of Cinderella. Disney perpetuates an ideal of what is beautiful and what is not just by the drawing of the characters.
At the end of the story, Cinderella of course goes to the ball and the prince locks eyes and they instantly fall in love. Love at first sight is a common theme of Disney movies. Her two stepsisters end up getting shafted in the end because they don’t even find love at the ball. I’m sure there were other well off suitors at the ball other than the prince, but they are deemed mean and unlovable by a male counterpart. They must stay at home with their stepmother and lose their maid. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Cinderella should have stayed the maid instead of living in a castle with many maids. I’m just saying that the stepsisters need some love too.
The story of Snow White is another story of a wicked stepmother who treats her stepdaughter as the maid. The queen is considered beautiful and the fairest of them all, until her stepdaughter grows up and the queen grows old. The queen also looks a lot like Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis which is a little suspicious since they had the same sleeping issue, but that is beside the point.
It’s Disney’s interpretation of beauty as being young. The queen used to be the fairest, but someone younger will come and take your place. It also sends a message of how important beauty is. The queen put a hit out on Snow White because she was prettier than her. It all sounds a little extreme when you say it aloud. What always confused me about the story is why the queen had all this magic, but didn’t just make herself prettier than Snow White. She made herself this frail and wrinkled old lady. I don’t understand why she couldn’t do the opposite if it was such a problem.
I think it is interesting how all of the princesses have a lot of the same facial features. It is continually big eyes, big lips, hourglass shape, and a little nose. Jasmine is the only one who is of a different race. The rest of the princesses are Caucasian and Ariel has a little bit of a tan probably because she lives in the ocean by the beach. The only real differences are their hair color and length.
I’m still waiting for the day where the male is in distress and must be saved by the princess but as Wolf says, “A beautiful heroine is a contradiction in terms, since heroism is about individuality, interesting and ever changing, while “beauty” is generic, boring, and inert (59).” I’m sure that the drawing of the heroine would not be the popular Disney princesses. I remember watching Mulan, and she never gets the same coverage or credit as the others. Even Pocahontas doesn’t get the call for the photo. There are probably others that just don’t get the same recognition. I know that I have never seen the Disney movie of Sleeping Beauty but I know of her because she is in the photo with the other princesses. I wonder if they were not considered beautiful enough.
The first Disney movie that I wanted to analyze was the classic story of Cinderella. She was the beautiful stepsister but you couldn’t tell under all the dirt and cinders on her face from cleaning after her evil stepmother and two ugly stepsisters. They even went to the extent of mentioning that the villains were ugly as to make the decision for you. Cinderella is the young blonde Caucasian ideal of beauty. One of her stepsisters is a red head and the other is a brunette. They both have larger noses and bigger eyes than that of Cinderella. Disney perpetuates an ideal of what is beautiful and what is not just by the drawing of the characters.
At the end of the story, Cinderella of course goes to the ball and the prince locks eyes and they instantly fall in love. Love at first sight is a common theme of Disney movies. Her two stepsisters end up getting shafted in the end because they don’t even find love at the ball. I’m sure there were other well off suitors at the ball other than the prince, but they are deemed mean and unlovable by a male counterpart. They must stay at home with their stepmother and lose their maid. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Cinderella should have stayed the maid instead of living in a castle with many maids. I’m just saying that the stepsisters need some love too.
The story of Snow White is another story of a wicked stepmother who treats her stepdaughter as the maid. The queen is considered beautiful and the fairest of them all, until her stepdaughter grows up and the queen grows old. The queen also looks a lot like Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis which is a little suspicious since they had the same sleeping issue, but that is beside the point.
It’s Disney’s interpretation of beauty as being young. The queen used to be the fairest, but someone younger will come and take your place. It also sends a message of how important beauty is. The queen put a hit out on Snow White because she was prettier than her. It all sounds a little extreme when you say it aloud. What always confused me about the story is why the queen had all this magic, but didn’t just make herself prettier than Snow White. She made herself this frail and wrinkled old lady. I don’t understand why she couldn’t do the opposite if it was such a problem.
I think it is interesting how all of the princesses have a lot of the same facial features. It is continually big eyes, big lips, hourglass shape, and a little nose. Jasmine is the only one who is of a different race. The rest of the princesses are Caucasian and Ariel has a little bit of a tan probably because she lives in the ocean by the beach. The only real differences are their hair color and length.
I’m still waiting for the day where the male is in distress and must be saved by the princess but as Wolf says, “A beautiful heroine is a contradiction in terms, since heroism is about individuality, interesting and ever changing, while “beauty” is generic, boring, and inert (59).” I’m sure that the drawing of the heroine would not be the popular Disney princesses. I remember watching Mulan, and she never gets the same coverage or credit as the others. Even Pocahontas doesn’t get the call for the photo. There are probably others that just don’t get the same recognition. I know that I have never seen the Disney movie of Sleeping Beauty but I know of her because she is in the photo with the other princesses. I wonder if they were not considered beautiful enough.
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