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It seems that nowadays Disney is actively trying to one up themselves in the princess department. No longer do we have princesses who wait around for the charming prince to save them, we have gals who fighting their own battles, dreaming their own dreams, and showing that the love of a man isn’t the most important thing for a young woman. So the question is how long will that hold up? Eventually we will get tired of Disney giving us this new form of Princess in different packages. Here are some of my top picks for the next Disney Princesses:
1.) A Warrior Princess: This Princess doesn’t sit around all day being pretty and going to balls. Instead she actually leads her kingdom into battles and fights valiantly with her family against anyone who crosses her kingdom. On the romance side, I’d actually like the male of this tale to not be some handsome strong Adonis. It’d be cool if he were an…well…an “Archie” đ and instead of seeing the prince fighting to save his princess, we’d see this princess fight for her man.
2.) A Villain Princess: A princess who is really truly wholeheartedly is a wicked woman. However, along the way she learns the power of good over evil. This is one princess I actually wouldn’t want a “love story” to be involved in. Yeah, love can change darkness into light, but I think a better message is that you can for the better of your own accord and not because of someone else. Plus villains always have the best songs so the soundtrack to this is going to be banging!
3.)Princesses of various ethnic backgrounds. Enough said.
So what do you guys think Disney should try next when expanding on their Princess franchise?
(This post was inspired by some princess movie my sister is watching at the moment where it seems the princess in this film doesn’t actually do anything but wear crowns and sparkly dresses. And sing. Badly. I could totally take her in a fight.)
[adrotate group="5"]"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsisâs Glasses , Arielâs Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Panâs Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGICYou mean like Mulan? (Who saved all of China as a warrior in an actual war, only incidentally falls in love and doesn’t even kiss the guy in the initial film, and was celebrated for her brains, dressed as a man partly because she didn’t fit into her culture’s female mold, and incidentally was not white?)
Or Pocahontas, whose love story in the film was with the guy she doesn’t even end up with (by her own choice in the film to stay and lead her people), is also not white, and manages to STOP a war through her bravery.
Or Tiana, whose dreams of opening a restaurant totally trump everything else in her life, even when she DOES marry a prince? Oh, and she’s not white either. Hm.
Jasmine, who fights to at least have a choice in her marriage if she has to marry (and isn’t white…) (and was the 6th “official” Disney Princess, her movie arriving in 1992, but granted, the first of non-European appearance.)
Merida, who is white, but doesn’t fall in love at ALL and has better fighting skills than any man in Scotland?
Or maybe Elsa, who has no love interest at all even offered in the film, and who maybe doesn’t go full-on evil but comes dang close to destroying her kingdom, killing intruders, and oh yeah, killing her own sister.
Or even Belle, who is white and does find her adventure while falling in love…but who is also the hero of her own story. She certainly isn’t just waiting around for a Prince Charming.
Even if we limit ourselves just to the classic three princesses (1937, 1950, and 1959–Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora), Aurora’s the only one who really falls into the pure trap of the stereotype. And to be fair…Phillip is pretty much a puppet both good and evil fairies are using to win the day (he doesn’t even talk ONCE after he’s captured in the middle of the film…meaning he’s as silent as Aurora is–honestly, the film’s about the fairies, not them, and they’re all fascinating, powerful female characters).
Sorry. You hit a nerve. That stereotype bugs the heck out of me.
Incidentally, are you sure your sister is watching a Disney film? There are a lot of non-Disney princesses running around out there (including about a dozen princess films starring Barbie, some better than others).
Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing
You mean like Mulan? (Who saved all of China as a warrior in an actual war, only incidentally falls in love and doesnât even kiss the guy in the initial film, and was celebrated for her brains, dressed as a man partly because she didnât fit into her cultureâs female mold, and incidentally was not white?)
Similar to Mulan but not exactly. I mean that this princess in particular is an actual warrior princess who isn’t a sitting a throne and look pretty. She gets up and actually fights for her people. No hiding, no pretending to be a man. Mulan was a young woman who fought for her people too, but what I meant was id like to see an actual princess who was far from the whole tiara wearing sparkling wishy-washy. How many princesses actually fight in actual wars for their kingdom? Thatd be awesome to see. Like how in Maleficent, she, the queen of the moors, lead the battle against the humans in the start.
Or Pocahontas, whose love story in the film was with the guy she doesnât even end up with (by her own choice in the film to stay and lead her people), is also not white, and manages to STOP a war through her bravery.
I’ve actually never seen this film so I will give u that.
Or Tiana, whose dreams of opening a restaurant totally trump everything else in her life, even when she DOES marry a prince? Oh, and sheâs not white either. Hm. Jasmine, who fights to at least have a choice in her marriage if she has to marry (and isnât whiteâŚ) (and was the 6th âofficialâ Disney Princess, her movie arriving in 1992, but granted, the first of non-European appearance.)
Like both of them. We need more women with ambition other than just finding a man.
Or maybe Elsa, who has no love interest at all even offered in the film, and who maybe doesnât go full-on evil but comes dang close to destroying her kingdom, killing intruders, and oh yeah, killing her own sister.
Elsa isn’t a villain and most of the stuff she did (freezing her kingdom, hurting her sister both times, going a bit over board on those guards) were not intentional. I mean an actual villainous princess who does evil intentionally and then later changes of her own accord. Like elphaba from the musical version of wicked, Elsa never actually became a villain.
Sorry. You hit a nerve. That stereotype bugs the heck out of me
 The point I was trying to make was, Disney will eventually have to give us something different. In the same way the Elsa, Merida, and Tiana were very different from their predecessors. Or how Ariel was different from the first three princesses before. I never said all the Disney princesses were just laying around waiting to be saved, I just said eventually they’ll have to give us something different again. A villain princess is something we’ve never had, a warrior princess is something we never had, and while we do have a few non-white princesses,their are plenty of very good legends, fairytales, and myths from various cultured Disney could chose from for their next princess. .
Incidentally, are you sure your sister is watching a Disney film?
its not a Disney film. It could be Barbie but I’m not sure. Whatever it is, its horrible.
"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsisâs Glasses , Arielâs Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Panâs Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGICI agree, there’s TONS of interesting stories out there they could mine for princesses that represent a much wider base than they’ve already got, but my point was that each princess really is an individual with her own story and background–they’re not one story retold over and over. And it’s that assumption that rubs me the wrong way and makes me go, wait, am I the only one who watched these movies? sometimes. And while there are a LOT of cultures not represented (by which I mean more than ethnicity, but that too) yet in the Disney lineup, there are still quite a lot represented within the 13 current Disney Princess line. (And far more if you go to the Disney universe in general.)
Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing
You’re right, @Keb, each princess has her own story. But somehow it gets boiled down to pretty girl gets her pretty guy most of the times. I could have done very well without the last minutes of Mulan for example. And I liked that Brave didn’t go there at all, and Frozen at least made it not the main point at the end. But aside that there still is plenty of room for variety in what makes a happy ending, there is always room for more diversity regarding characters, and even more so lead characters. It would be great to have “princesses” (and “princes”) of all shapes and sizes and colors and more.
I like your ideas, @TheWatcher .
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Also, one of the things I would also like to see (but I HEAVILY doubt will EVER happen) is a princess who isn’t traditionally beautiful. It seems all the princess are stringkingly beautiful from birth. A film about a princess who doesn’t fit that role could send the message of the whole “beauty is on the inside and don’t judge a book by it’s cover” thing.
If only Princess Fiona were Disney đ
"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsisâs Glasses , Arielâs Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Panâs Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGICIf only Princess Fiona were Disney
Yup, was thinking of Fiona. I honestly though find she looks beautiful as ogre.
Find it annoying, that in the animated world Disney has a tendency to infantilize particular the young women they have as lead, with big eyes being pretty much out of any facial proportions. The guys never have such huge eyes. I love beautiful eyes but it’s so overdone.
Was thinking bit more about the evil princess. Why would she do wicked or evil things, without giving her too much of a sob story, and what could change her mind? Pondering ideas.
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Why would she do wicked or evil things, without giving her too much of a sob story, and what could change her mind? Pondering ideas.
I would love if we had a dark princess at first….someone who starts out as a villain. Like cursed with wickedness or something, and the only way the curse would be broken is by of course the traditional true love. Sorta like how Elsa was originally intended to be a villain whose heart was supposed to be melted by a kind stranger…..but since Disney didn’t use that for her….perhaps they can create a completely original princess and use it.
Beauty and the Beast was sorta like this….only Beast wasn’t really evil, he was just angry a lot…
Perhaps she’s evil because she was shunned from the people for being different, and turned to darkness….and if it has to be someone romantically involved for her to turn good…can we not have the whole Prince Charming. I liked what Frozen did, a simple peasant man who was strong on his own without any riches, but was able to win the heart of a princess.
Movie Message: True Love Can Bring Light Into Darkness…. đ
"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor
I would love if we had a dark princess at firstâŚ.someone who starts out as a villain. Like cursed with wickedness or something, and the only way the curse would be broken is by of course the traditional true love.
That is your wish for it, but I am with @TheWatcher here, no traditional true love story, no romance. People don’t need a crush, some guy or girl to fall for, not even family bonds, to realize, what they’re doing is wrong, to want to change, and I would really like to see that.
Neither do I think of a “reason” for her evilness as being shunned by people for being different, or because of some tragic childhood, that is what qualifies as sob story for me. I am so done with that thanks to OUaT. It would be quite a challenge to create a wicked character that doesn’t trigger the usual empathy reasons and still is perceived with some sympathy, but that is the point for me, to make something different work.
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I agree with Myril. If I were to do it, the princess wouldn’t be misunderstood, or evil because pf something someone did to her. She would be the way she is because its her doing. She likes being wicked. She likes causing pain and turmoil for others. I would even go so far to say that she doesn’t even powers or magic so that her evil is more human and understandable.
I’d start out with a traditional Disney villain type. This princess probably usurped the throne, or just made herself a princess where their previously was no princess like what Maleficent did. She’d cause bad things for everyone under her dominion and along the way she actually begins to feel remorseful for what she has done. Perhaps the movie would be her journey to making amends for the wrong she has done. The people wouldn’t be so willing to accept her. But she tries and tries to male up for her evil, owning up to it, facing it, and taking the consequences. There is a lot that can be done with this.
The only problem is that the princess can’t be TOO evil. We have to see something redeemable in her in order to ‘like her, so she can’t kill her parents for the throne, or ya know, murder someone outright. Although, if she does, perhaps the persons ghost could come back and sort of be aide character someone who urges her tp stop her evil and in the end she asks for forgiveness, they forgive her for killing them and their spirit os able to move on. I’d. I’m babbling đ but yeah, id really like to see that.
Also, one more thing. With this particular princess, id stress that she has to be a princess and NOT a Queen. I believe it was the nostalgia critic who pointed that usually most queens are evil and old while princesses are good, younger, and beautiful. So it’d be a nice inversion.
"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsisâs Glasses , Arielâs Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Panâs Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGIC
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