Disney Princess - criticism, marketing, favorite

[DaFool]

Criticism - All the Pink, promotion and overhyping of the "princess" and "girls should wear Pink and be stupid and love to wear dresses" ect. crap

However, I do love Disney...and...yes, in the actual movies being a "princess" type isn't always a bad thing or the princess goes from rags to richs, gets a cute guy, ect. (or better yet save their home/rebel against certain things)
Like Mulan and Jasmin.
I just don't like how various companies and Disney handle games directed towards girls, the dolls, the princess crap, ect. If they would hype the warrior aspect of certain characters as much as they hype the princess aspects, then it wouldn't bother me so much. As a female gamer who also collects dolls, it just makes me so mad sometimes that all they ever seem to focus on is the princess..girly girl aspects...and girls apparently do fall for that crap and love it...(hopefully though most of them will wise up to it and grow out of their love of Pink...)
And it's not just Disney dolls and games....even some of my other favorite things can be (and usually are) on some level sexist and keeping with the "Pink is a girl's color...girls LOVE Pink/girls should love Pink....", "boys and fashion are all that matters", ect. mentality...
ARRRGH. (yes, a bit of a feminist here...why you use "feminist" like it's a bad thing? LOL I'm not a "militant" though...just really really annoyed by certain trends that WILL NOT DIE ALREADY. hah)

Favorite characters - Mulan and Jasmin types....Lilo and other "non-princess" character types....

It's rare to see a middle ground -- either the main character is a "princess" with entitlements galore without having to work her butt off to deserve them, or she's a larger-than-life too unrealistic superhero.

I don't like what Disney stands for nowadays... whenever I think of Disney I think of Britney Spears

That's why the overall style I love the most in animated girls is Range Murata's style, (as shown in not-too-recent anime that involve submarines or airships) Don't mistake me I still love the usual frilly lace and ribbons and long hair, but I also like the short-haired boyish heroines of Range Murata. There's just something appealing about a female greasemonkey who has no qualms about getting dirt and grime -- being knowledgeable about machines, she knows that 'shit often happens' and ports that attitude towards life in general. She's not an uber-heroine like a Marvel woman, while at the same time she does not lead a sheltered existence like a Disney princess. This down-to-earth character is akin to a war buddy who you can trust your life to during 'battle'.

I'm definitely not feminist, but there's something about a large proportion of strong anime heroines (Princess Mononoke etc), that really portray women in a much more appealing light compared to the swing-towards-Pink or swing-towards-Black heroines in western entertainment. There's a reason why I avoid shows like Sex and the City and Mama Mia like the plague since I generally have a distaste for drama queens. And ironically, the more balanced portrayal comes from Japan, a male-dominated society.

So while Pink is to be avoided, Blue (a boy's color apparently) is welcomed. A lot of my favorite seinen shows have this blue motif -- whether it's the sky (sola), or the sea. Heroines against a blue backdrop convey an aura of serenity, peace, slice-of-life, not the pink / red combo of high drama and sappy romance.

Oh, and I haven't reread the posts from long ago, so I might be repeating myself.

[Vatina]

I always thought it was well-known that Disney's stories were never very accurate, even among children (at least here it was like that), so it never bothered me. You can get a little disappointed sometimes though when you hear the true story afterwards Awww no happy ends...

[papillon]

The actual Pocahontas converted to some form Christianity when she was married to John Rolfe

... and before that, the actual Pocahontas was a very young girl who liked to cartwheel naked through the English settlements. And it's sometimes said that the very name 'Pocahontas' actually has a sexually suggestive meaning...

Which wasn't exactly likely to make it into the Disney movie.

[sake-bento]

Also, John Smith didn't actually write about being rescued by Pocahontas until after she passed away. If you've ever read his accounts, he really likes to praise himself. Some people think that it never happened, and he just added it for more effect.

[mac_oni]

Also some comedy for the haters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SSZBAPleVc

[Showsni]

Possibly Ariel's my favourite...

And surely everyone knows Aladdin's set in China in reality? I suppose you don't know about his magic ring, and believe the three wish limit nonsense, too... Badroulbadour does seem a lot harder to pronounce than Jasmine, though.

Awww no happy ends...

Well, the Little Mermaid may not get a prince in the end, but at least she now gets the chance to win a soul! Which is really a lot more important than any earthly things. Most mermaids are according to Anderson soulless, and just stop existing when they die...

Did you know Cinderella's slippers were probably made of squirrel fur in the original, and not glass? That's a lot more sensible.

[Ren]

Did you know Cinderella's slippers were probably made of squirrel fur in the original, and not glass? That's a lot more sensible.

Not for the squirrel
But, yes...that's what I knew as well, Perrault probably mixed two words: verre(crystal) and vair(squirrel).

[Saori]

Oh, I've loved Ariel ever since I was a kid. I can't really pinpoint why but her overall personality made a really big impact on me. She was just... cool. Hahaha. She didn't let her sisters get to her, and even when they were all busy dressing up and getting pretty, she would have rather swam away to a new adventure. It's just that she's so curious and headstrong, it's obvious that she was going to get herself into trouble, but still she persevered.

[sciencewarrior]

A sweet homage/deconstruction that didn't get the love it deserves is Enchanted. So yes, it doesn't take an IQ of 140 to know how the movie ends, and not every cliche they added pulls its weight, but it keeps showing more depth as it goes on, and Amy Addams as Giselle is simply marvelous.

[Ashen-tan]

Hmm... Of my top favorites, I'd have to say Aurora, Ariel, and maybe Belle. I don't really like Jasmine too much; not entirely sure why... Aurora, 'cause she's pretty (lulz) and she's the original princess-in-a-tall-castle-who's-rescued-by-a-handsome-prince (try saying that three times fast); Ariel, because of her red hair (which I'm envious of), her happy-go-lucky personality, and her curiosity (I can relate to her xD), and maybe Belle because of her kindness, which I admire. Oh! And I forgot Mulan. I absolutely love Mulan -- she's the one you look up to because she disagreed with social norms and did what she had to for her family.

The marketing kind of makes me depressed nowadays, mostly because I wasn't allowed to be into that stuff when I was younger.

As for Giselle being a Disney Princess, I wouldn't mind that so much if Enchanted was a complete animated picture. It started out that way, but... When I first saw the preview, I was so hoping that Disney was going back to their roots and doing a fully animated motion picture again, rather than doing live-action or deferring to Pixar. But... *dreams shattered* Because all the other Princesses are from animated films, I think it should stay that way.

As for criticisms... I'd have to agree about it maybe being almost too girly. But, there are definitely those who wished they could've been princesses -- this is a pretty close way to get to it, I guess. Just as long as the realization is made that life isn't just "fashion and boys," as it was aptly put.

I have to admit, though, that my favorite color is pink, and not because it's a girl's color. Just because I like it; it's bright and pretty. White, blue, and green are my others (*brought on from the mention of blue becoming a prominent color*).

[Ayachan107]

Same as Ashen. I love pink. At first I like pink because of my friends. When I'm little I'm easily affected by my friends. But then, as I grew up, I starts to like it more. Even my friends starts to love blue. (well by now I love all colors)

I love Disney, too. My favourite movie are Wall-E and Ratatouile. I like Mickey, too.

But....By now Princess is not more then a weak girls (except Mulan)....Even in anime, I love strong girls, instead of 'damsel in distress' characters. I hates the typical weak girls. err...maybe because I'm a uke type and I want a seme-type character for me like Hinagiku or Haruhi *got hitted*

Favourites? I demand a loli catgirl princess!

[Showsni]

Favourites? I demand a loli catgirl princess!

There already is a loli catgirl Disney princess.

[sciencewarrior]

Favourites? I demand a loli catgirl princess!

There already is a loli catgirl Disney princess.

(Image of catgirl getting her "man". Rawr!)

You won this thread, you know.

And now for a completely random link, Princess: Frank Miller Edition.

[disneyqueen1]

Anyone know of any good Christmas Disney Songs?

[JinzouTamashii]

This thread is amazing, thanks for necroposting because otherwise I wouldn't have seen Dafool's comment or that loli catgirl princess thing. XD

Nice undercover trolling too... I'm going to quote it for posterity...

Anyone know of any good Christmas Disney Songs?

Oh, and Disney can go fuck itself. It used to stand for something. Not anymore, though.