Every single Disney princess is a great role model and here is why!
Table of Contents
· Opening
· The Original Disney Princesses
· The Princesses from the Disney Renaissance
· The Post Renaissance Era of Princesses
· The Revival Era of Princesses
· A Big Mistake
· Final Points
Opening
The Walt Disney Company is an American multinational entertainment and media conglomerate that basically almost owns the world at this point. They own many industries that make them billions of dollars every hour. Normally, it feels wrong to be so loyal to a faceless corporation that only cares about money. Yet, despite how immoral it is and being a full-grown adult, I love Disney.
Even though I am still critical of them, I adore the timeless characters that they have to create. I especially love one specific industry that Disney has created. That is the Disney Princess line.
Disney Princess is a media franchise and toy-line owned by Disney. It was created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney. The franchise features a line-up of female protagonists who have appeared in various other Disney franchises. The Disney Princess franchise also has to be the one that has made Disney more money than they can count.
Many things have been said about Disney Princess characters. People tend to have very negative opinions of these characters. Most of the time, these are criticisms of their original movies. Many Disney fans say that princesses like Cinderella or Snow White are not good role models or not engaging and memorable characters.
For example, I have seen video essays talking how Cinderella was just a simple damsel in distress in her original 1950s animated version. The existence of this media analysis proves my point.
There has been much slander of Disney princesses that has appeared in different forms over the years. In response, Disney tries so hard to change the princesses in reboots to make them more modern.
However, I have always found this unnecessary. I believe that each Disney princess has taught something valuable to children while being great characters in their original respective movies. I disagreed with the criticism launched against them.
Today, I am going to be defending these leading ladies. Hopefully, we can show that each one has something valuable to teach this current generation. I am not going to be covering every single Disney Princesses, because there are way too many of them at this point.
I am mainly covering Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, and Moana.
Those are the ones I have seen people talk about the most. They are also the “official” Disney princesses.
The Original Disney Princesses
We are going to start with the gal that started it all. The movie, Snow White and the seven dwarves, was the first animated Disney feature to be produced in English and in Technicolor. It was one of the few movies that Walt Disney himself had a hand in making.
Before I continue to talk about Snow White, I want to talk about the decade that her movie was released. The movie: Snow White and the seven dwarves was made in 1937.
At the time, America was still suffering from the Great Depression. The Great Depression was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. This period sparked fundamental changes in economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory.
Although it originated in the United States, the Great Depression caused severe unemployment and acute deflation in almost every country of the world.
It was basically a time when most people did not have much money to spend and many were going hungry. All of it was caused by forces beyond the general population’s control. You might be wondering something important.
What does this have to do with Snow White?
One of the biggest criticism against Snow White is that she is very passive in her story. People argue that she doesn’t fight for her happily ever after and instead it is given to her. While in some ways that is true, you have to remember three things.
Number one: This was a movie made in a period when women were not as respected as they are now. Disney did not even allow women to have high-level positions within its company.
So, the people in charge of making this movie were mostly men. So, it was impossible to expect Snow White to be just like our modern image of what a strong independent woman is.
Number two: Snow White technical does all that she can do. She doesn’t have magic powers or a huge army to fight the evil queen. During her story, she loses everything because of the evil queen. A normal person would lose their mind if they went through all Snow White suffered.
However, Snow White is not like most. She got up and move forward doing the only thing that she can do, survives. She continued walking through the dangerous forest until she found the dwarves’ home. She did not expect the dwarves to immediately help her just because she was a princess. She worked hard to earn a roof over her head. She stuck through the bad moments in her life and eventually life did get better for her.
Number three: Snow White was present to an audience that was going through some extremely traumatic events. They did not need a dashing young hero that easily defeated the villain and saved the day. They needed to see a strong young lady inspiring the message:
“Life may suck right now and you are valid for feeling bad. However, if you just smile and take on one bad thing at a time, you will get through it all. The bad time will eventually pass.”
So, despite the conditions her movie was made in, Snow White still manages to teach us a timeless message. Snow White reminds me of another princess.
I will be talking about Cinderella from the 1950s animated film: Cinderella. Like Snow White, many critics were angry that the main lead does not do much to save herself in this movie. They claim that Cinderella was too dependent on the prince to save the day.
This is why many reboots of Cinderella feature a stronger heroine to lead the story. However, there is something that many people do not consider about Cinderella in this 1950s film. Even though it was likely not intended, you could view this Cinderella as an abuse victim.
During the movie, we see that her father died when she was very young. The stepmother had plenty of time to basically brainwash Cinderella into believing she was nothing. Her stepfamily treated her as nothing more than a servant.
She does not want to go to the ball to get a man. She wants to go to the ball to get one night to relax and have fun. In the end, things get better for her and she is able to escape her stepmother and stepsisters.
Her story explains the moral that if you work hard and always do good, good things will come your way.
Now, we will talk about a girl who sleeps a lot.
I believe that Aurora may be forgotten when discussing Disney Princesses. Many people do not have much to say about her or view her as another damsel.
I believe Aurora teaches the value of self-sacrifice. She accepted her fate of being a princess by marrying the prince that she’s betrothed. She did so without resisting because she knew that it was her duty and responsibility to unite two kingdoms through marriage.
She did it all even if it meant leaving the man that she fell in love with within the woods. Little did she know that she was already being rewarded for the choice that she made. This is because that man in the woods was also her betrothed.
Her story tells the moral of being selfless and accepting your responsibility. These are all good morals to teach children.
For many early Disney movies, the princes are not really given any personality. They are treated more like a trophy for the princesses. Now, this is not really the fault of the princesses themself. It was more the fault of the writers of these movies and the time period that they were made in. This leads me to talk about princesses from a different era.
The Princesses from the Disney Renaissance
Now, we are going to talk about the princesses from the Disney Renaissance. We are going to start by looking at a princess from under the sea. Ariel is from the Little Mermaid, which was released in 1989.
Like with the princesses before her, many fans claim that Ariel only cared about a guy. They claim that she abandoned her home and her family for the prince. However, that is not the only way to interpret the situation.
Ariel was not just in love with Eric. She loved the culture and society around humans. The girl literally had a whole collection of human artifacts. When this little princess is on land, she is studying everything that she can.
Even though she loved her family, Ariel never felt comfortable living in the sea. During her time in the sea, we do not see her have any other friends other than Flounder. She doesn’t even seem to have any interest in attending her musical debut at the beginning of the movie.
She does not have any interest in mermaid society compared to the interest she has in human society.
You can interpret it to mean that she did not change for a guy. Instead, Ariel changed to live in the world that she wanted to live in.
Her story teaches the moral that sometimes where you belong is not where you were born.
Now, we are going to look at the other princesses from the Disney Renaissance.
We are going to be talking about the Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast, released in 1991.
The story is about an arrogant young prince and his castle’s servants falling under the spell of a wicked enchantress, who turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return.
The spirited, headstrong village girl Belle enters the Beast’s castle after he imprisons her father Maurice. With the help of his enchanted servants, Belle begins to draw the cold-hearted Beast out of his isolation.
Contrary to what the critics say, Belle technically did not start to like the beast until he stopped being a horrible person to her.
Her story teaches young girls to demand mutual respect in a relationship. I know that in this story Belle technically falls in love with her captor. However, that is not the only way to view it.
As the Beast learns to value and love Belle as a person, he allows her to have more freedom. When Belle asks the Beast if she can leave to save her father, he lets her do it. Belle only came back to save the Beast’s life. There is some consent in this relationship.
Let’s talk about a princess looking to see a whole new world.
Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation.
The relationship between Jasmine and Aladdin is sweet. Many argue that Aladdin tricked Jasmine into liking him, but that is not true. He helped her see the world and go on adventures like she always wanted.
This princess was able to see who he was as a poor man and began to like him for who he was. She was able to tell that he was the boy that she met in the marketplace. Jasmine is a smart and brave girl who wants to decide her own destiny and where it will take her.
Now, we need to talk about a controversial princess. I know that the real-life Pocahontas had a horrible life and suffered a lot. We are judging the Pocahontas from the Disney film released in 1995. I do find it weird that Disney decided to fantasize the story about the tragic life of Pocahontas. However, we are not talking about that.
This is the Disney animated tale of the romance between a young American Indian woman named Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith. John Smith journeyed to the New World with other settlers to begin fresh lives.
Pocahontas’s father, Chief Powhatan, disapproves of their relationship and wants her to marry a native warrior. Meanwhile, Smith’s fellow Englishmen hope to rob the Native Americans of their gold. Tensions begin rising between the two groups.
In this Disney version, Pocahontas helps these opposing groups reach a common understanding. This is a beautiful tale that says love and understanding will conquer violence.
Now, we can talk about a princess who everyone actually has positive things to say about.
Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation.
Mulan was derived from a Chinese folk story called the Ballad of Mulan. It was created during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534). The character of Hua Mulan is a legendary Chinese heroine.
People generally agree that this movie has a girl power message. Mulan literally saves China. In her story, she was not the one who had to change. The world around her had to change.
It is also worth adding that Mulan learns to love herself over the course of the story. In the beginning, she seems lost as she cannot fit in the traditional Chinese society. However, by the end, she is the confident and brave hero of china.
Next, we are going to talk about the first Black Disney princess.
The Post Renaissance Era of Princesses
The movie, Princess and the frog, was released in 2009.
In 1926 New Orleans, Tiana is completely devoted to opening her own restaurant, a dream she shared with her late father, who died in World War I.
Her dream takes a slight detour when she meets Prince Naveen, who has been turned into an amphibian by evil Dr. Facilier. Mistaking her for a princess and hoping to break the spell, Naveen plants a kiss on poor Tiana. However, this turns her into a frog as well because she is not a princess.
The pair hop along on an adventure through the bayous to seek the help of a powerful voodoo priestess. In the end, they defeat Dr. Facilier. Tiana learns to let go more often. Tiana and Naveen get married. Finally, Tiana opens her restaurant.
Tiana is the first Disney princess who is a workaholic. Her story teaches that it is ok to work hard for your dreams. However, you have to take the time to enjoy life and the things that you need. This is a very modern message that we all need to hear.
Next, we need to talk about a certain princess with really long hair.
The Revival Era of Princesses
Tangled is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Rapunzel has been locked away in a tower since she was captured as a baby by an old hag, Gothel. Her magical long blonde hair has the power to provide eternal youth, and the evil Gothel uses this power to keep herself young.
At the age of 18, Rapunzel becomes curious about the outside world. When a thief uses her tower as a refuge, she asks him to help her escape.
Like Cinderella, Rapunzel’s story tackles abusive parenting. It shows that you can escape your abusers with the right support system. It also shows how manipulative abusive parents can be.
In the end, Rapunzel is able to learn the truth about her being the lost princess. With the help of Eugene, they defeat Gothel. Rapunzel reunites with her real parents. The movie also makes a point to say that Eugene and Rapunzel start dating. They do not get married until years later.
Now, I want to talk about a movie that everyone seems to ignore.
Brave is a 2012 American computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios.
Merida is the impetuous but courageous daughter of Scottish King Fergus and Queen Elinor. She is a skilled archer who wants to carve out her own path in life. Her defiance of an age-old tradition angers the Highland lords and leads to chaos in the kingdom. Merida seeks help from an eccentric witch, who grants her an ill-fated wish.
Merida must discover the true meaning of courage and undo a beastly curse before it’s too late. In the end, Merida saves the day and sees eye-to-eye with her mom.
I do not know why this movie is so unpopular in the general Disney fandom. It actually deals with the relationship between a mother and daughter. The moral in this story is also really unique. The moral explained that there are moments when diplomacy is important and moments where violence is important. There has to be a balance between the two. It is a very good lesson for life in general.
Since we looked at an underrated princess, we can look at the princess who was obsessed with going to the ocean.
Moana is a 2016 American 3D computer-animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
This movie is about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demigod Maui. He guides her in her quest to become a master way-finder.
Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds. Along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she always sought: her own identity.
Moana is a strong female character. She traveled distant lands to save her people. Her story also tells the message that anger can change you with the character of Tafiti. Moana is able to help Tafiti realize who she really is. During this journey, Moana also discovers who she really is and grows as a person.
Those are all the official Disney princesses that I am going to cover. I believe that I made my argument clear at this point.
A Big Mistake
I also want to say something else. A common stereotype for early Disney films is that the princesses fell in love with the first guy they met. Many people say that they were too focused on getting true love. This is a common criticism.
Is this correct?
Many of the princesses did marry a big strong man, but it was not their main goal in life. On top of that, some of these princesses actually did get to know their lovers before marrying. So, this criticism is not entirely true.
Sure, their relationships went from friendship to marriage really quickly. I am not denying that. However, these princesses were not desperate to marry. The only one who really was into true love was Aurora and Snow White. However, we already explained that their stories still manage to tell good morals.
Final Points
In conclusion, Disney has not been the most morally good company. Despite this, Disney provides consumers with quality entertainment. Their Disney Princess line does aim to teach children important values and ideas. It is important to recognize that different characters can teach different things. Those are my thoughts. I hope you enjoyed.
