(image courtesy of on hiouibioui deviantart.com)
In some ways the Disney Princess is an anomaly, she is a depiction of perfection but often times sets the story in motion by disobeying her guardians. Though the princess may be somewhat rebellious the end result is always the same, her rebellion leads her to the path on which she discovers her true love and finds her way back to conventional feminine behaviours.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
The very title of the film and title character portrays very stringent definitions of beauty. Snow White is beautiful, because after all she is the fairest one of all; her skin is as white as snow an attribute that marks her body as a defiance of the Queen. Since Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is the first instalment in what has become the Disney Princess franchise it stands to reason that it is the foundation of the franchise, a foundation that is loaded with a racially exclusive image of beauty that is equated to whiteness. Snow White is the perfect image of the domestic female, not only is she beautiful and royal, but she cooks and cleans and manages a house for seven men. According to the film, love conquers all things, even death, as Snow White lies in ‘sleeping death’ she is awakened by true loves kiss.
The pale, blonde hair blue eyed beauty Cinderella is the second Disney Princess, once again Cinderella, like Snow White is a domestic white female figure. Though wronged by her stepmother after her father’s death Cinderella remains as gentle and kind as ever, as if nothing can corrupt her goodness. Cinderella’s only rebellion is breaking the unwritten rule her stepmother has made, Cinderella is never to overshadow her stepsisters. This image of perfect femininity is laced with the ideal that a woman’s purpose is to please others first and only think of herself after she has taken care of everyone else, only then is she worthy of rewards. Her self-sacrifice is seen by the powers that be and she is rewarded by her fairy godmother and eventually rescued from the hell of being a slave in her own home by Prince Charming.
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
The golden haired, red lipped princess that is unwittingly living the life of a peasant girl that disobeys the fairies when she speaks to and falls in love with the stranger that turns out to be her betrothed. Aurora is saved by true love’s kiss, unlike her predecessors however, she lives happily before the events of the story unfold, and her only desire is to find love. Perhaps this is the most active prince charming depiction yet, in a fervent display of chivalry it is prince charming that must fight off all sorts of evil to awaken the princess and to complete the happily ever after motif.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Ariel is the first non-human princess; she is a highly sexualized mythical creature that is half-human and half-fish, who yearns to be fully human. The Little Mermaid is perhaps the worst of the Disney Princess films in its objectification of women, as it goes the farthest in what it asks her to sacrifice for true love. Ariel is the most rebellious Princess yet in the Disney Franchise, out rightly disobeying her father and abandoning her home for love. Though she fits the paradigm of beauty, grace and songstress, she is asked to sacrifice her voice in exchange for legs and a chance to win her prince. The Little Mermaid reveals an episode of female agency and silences it shortly after. Instead Ariel is told to rely on the use of body language to get Prince Eric to fall in love with her, this act claims in some ways that the worth of a woman lies in her feminine wiles and her body.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Belle is probably the most intelligent of the Disney Princesses; her head is always stuck in a book. The problem with Belle is not her search for knowledge but the idea that though her prince is actually the beast, her love has somehow been able to change him and uncover the goodness that has been hidden behind the monstrosity of his beastly body and temper. The notions of femininity that are proliferated in Beauty and the Beast are wholly bound up in the ability of a good woman to change a man. Just as her predecessor Cinderella, Belle is all about self-sacrifice as she is willing to become a prisoner in the beasts home to save her father’s life even though it is against his wishes. For all of her sacrifices Belle is rewarded with a library and the opportunity to melt the heart of a strong, untamed man.
Aladdin (1992)
The first Disney Movie that is centred on the virtues of the male character who is vying for the love and attention of the Princess. Jasmine is the defiant and highly sexualized Arabic princess that refuses to marry for anything other than love. In running away from the palace, Jasmine instigates the series of events that follow in the journey to find true love. Though Jasmine is supposed to be the first depiction of a princess that is racially other, critics of the film maintain that though her skin may not be as fair as her predecessors her features are still heavily bound up in definitions of beauty that are categorically Caucasian-centric. Aladdin wins Jasmine’s heart by showing her as the film’s most famous song dictates, ‘A Whole New World.’ Jasmine seeks freedom for love; recalling the classical paradigm of the lovers from two different worlds Jasmine and Aladdin overcome evil with love and a little help from the genie.
Pocahontas (1995)
Though she is not technically a princess in the classical definition, Pocahontas is considered a member of the Disney Princess franchise. Critics have disapproved of the films inaccurate adaptation of the Pocahontas and John Smith story that has imagined a romance that never existed in history; however this film makes one of the most politically active stances in the Disney Princess franchise history. Not only are Pocahontas and John Smith the first interracial couple in the Disney Princess franchise, but they raise questions about the wrongs of colonialism and provide commentary on the definitions of savagery and difference. The ending of Pocahontas is also the most open ended of all the Disney fairytales; it is uncertain whether or not Pocahontas and John Smith live happily ever after because they both remain with their respective racial groupings at the end of the film. Perhaps Pocahontas’ rebellion goes too far, not only does she disobey her father’s and tribe’s wishes, but she crosses a racial line that has never been addressed in the Disney Princess franchise before. Their separation at the end of the film seems to tell audiences that there is a limit to love’s power after all, according to this film one may determine that love can conquer everything except racial difference.
Mulan (1998)
Disney’s 1998 instalment of the rebellious non-princess, princess is the Chinese daughter turned soldier son, Mulan. Mulan defies her family more egregiously than any preceding princess, breaking laws of femininity that have never been challenged before in Disney princess history. Mulan reveals the performativity of gender by disguising herself as a man to replace her father in the army. Though rebellious Mulan’s goal is to sacrifice herself for her father and prove her worth. Her journey however off the map it may have been leads her to her true love. By the end of the film Mulan returns to attempting to fit into the acceptable notions of femininity. Her journey outside the boundaries of gender is only temporary and therefore somewhat acceptable to society.
More than ten years after Mulan’s release, Disney released its most recent addition to the Disney Princess franchise. Tiana has been hailed as the first African-American Princess but clocking in at thirty-three minutes of total actual screen time as a black woman and approximately sixty-two minutes of being a green frog I am inclined to refer to her as Disney’s first green princess. Tiana’s goal, unlike all other princesses before her is not to find love but to achieve her career goals, an idea that is regarded as her major problem in the text. Tiana’s failure lies in her inability to see the importance of love and enjoy life. Perhaps this film addresses the career driven women of today, who are allegedly too wrapped up in themselves to see the importance of love. Once Tiana falls in love with Prince Naveen she, like all other princesses before her is willing to sacrifice anything for love, even her dreams. Prince Naveen in another breath is probably the most selfish of all the Disney princes, completely consumed with himself, unconcerned with chivalry or love, instead concerned with self-indulgence and womanizing. It is Prince Naveen that sets the course for the film as he is in some ways punished for his un-gentlemanly behaviour. While Disney may turn on itself in some ways it still employs the golden rule – true love conquers all.
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