Everyone loves to hate on the animated ladies of Disney.
"Disney Princesses suck," people say. "They are terrible role models for young girls. All they do is wait to be rescued. They never do anything for themselves."
Okay, maybe be if you look at a Wikipedia recap of the movies it looks that way. But really? Is there no good to come from Disney Princesses? I think not.
Certainly the newer Princesses have been shown to be much more modern representations of women. Tiana. from "The Princess and the Frog" is smart, sassy, determined, and hardworking. Merida from "Brave" is one of the tomboyish Disney Princesses, and though she doesn't use her bow as much as the posters and trailers made it seem, she still is a fighter who is willing to do everything to undo her mistakes, even if it means taking on her own dad and a giant evil bear. You know who else fought for her family? Mulan. Enough said.
Rapunzel, from "Tangled," is not only the first Disney Princess to have magical powers (her hair is both a weapon and a healing device) but she is shown to be multi-talented, curious, selfless, and brave. She even saves her man, Flynn, more times than he saves her. What about Anna and Elsa from "Frozen?" Elsa not only has cool ice powers but she's a queen, showing girls that a position of power and responsibility isn't reserved for evil stepmothers or older married women. Then Anna. She's funny, brave, and self-sacrificing.
Seems like a no-brainer that these ladies have some admirable traits right? But what about the older Disney Princesses? The ones that everyone picks at for being damsels and too passive? I've put together a list of some traits these gals have that you might have missed. I'm afraid I won't be covering "Sleeping Beauty"'s Aurora because all she did was look pretty and sleep. Not much character there. However, as for some of the other Disney Princesses that get a bad rap, I'm going to analyze what I think is admirable.
Snow White
Sure Snow White is very simplistic. She smiles, sings, cooks, cleans, dies, and then gets saved and carried off into the sunset. All the newer renditions of her try so hard to break this formula by having her fight for herself whether it's Ginnifer Goodwin in "Once Upon a Time," Lily Collins in "Mirror Mirror," or Kristen Stewart in "Snow White and Thor" oops, I mean, "the Huntsman". All are shown to be teeth gritting sword wielders who take their kingdom back by force. Great. Good for them. You know what they all are compared to the original? Not just live action, no. They are older. Yeah, ever think about how old Snow White is in the cartoon? She's around fourteen years old.
Even the Huntsman calls her the "little princess." Now being young doesn't impair you from being brave and empowering so what's stopping Snow White? Well, she's has an evil, murderous sorceress for a stepmother. We don't know how young Snow White was when her father married the Evil Queen but clearly, it was long enough to manipulate and abuse little Snow White into being an obedient, brainwashed servant. Yet, through all of that, she still has dreams for a better future and doesn't let her situation turn her into a cold and bitter person. When she does escapes into the woods, of course she's going to get terrified and break down into tears. You don't know the last time she's even been let outside the castle walls.
When finds the seven dwarves, she sees that they need a motherly figure and decides to stay with them to help them live more healthy and orderly lives. She gets to be the mother the Evil Queen. I'd say that's pretty admirable. Oh and if you still she's too passive and think being a mother figure is not hard-working enough, I think there are some moms out there, single and married, who will heartily disagree with you. Snow White: Leave her alone. She's not perfect but she's not the docile damsel you all think she is.
Cinderella
Once again, like Snow White, people forget that (at least in the animated movie) she was a child when her father died, giving the Stepmother plenty of time to manipulate and brainwash her into being an obedient servant. Yet again, she doesn't let this make her bitter and angry. She works hard for her step-family while still being kind and hopeful. That's not all. You see when her stepsisters or Lady Tremaine yell at her and fuss that she's built up a lot of patience over the years. Still, when she's not around them and talking to herself or the animals, you see that she's still human, capable of getting frustrated and angry.
She even has a sarcastic sense of humor, teasing her stepsister's music lesson and calling Lucifer the cat, "Your Majesty". Like Snow White, when she breaks down into tears, you can understand. In that one scene where her stepsisters violently tear up her mother's dress (once again, I'm talking about the cartoon and not the dumb 2015 live action movie) she finally can't take it anymore. Then we feel so happy for her when she gets her reward by going to the ball.
What about after the ball, when she gets locked in her room and has to be saved by mice. Here is where the cartoon becomes a more three-dimensional human being than the Lily James version. In the 2015 live action version, Cinderella just tries to stay positive, just smiling and twirling around the room like there's no problems at all.
In the cartoon, Cinderella realizes that this is a bad situation. She bangs on the door, demands to be let out. When that doesn't work, she orders the mice to help her. When they nearly fail, she yells at them to get the dog to go after the cat. She's panicking and yelling like a real person. Then when she gets free does she kindly walk down the stairs and ask them to wait. No. She runs, shouting, "Wait! Stop!" the entire time. I wouldn't really call that damsel behavior. Cinderella is admirable not only because of her patience and kindness but also because she is a hard worker, witty, and determined to get what she has earned.
Ariel
The common complaint about Ariel is that she changes everything about herself for a man. She leaves her entire life behind and even undergoes a physical transformation. Okay, fair enough but I feel like people forget that Ariel was fascinated by the human world before she met Prince Eric. In the beginning of the movie she's curious and adventurous, wanting to go out and explore the human world. She has entire grotto dedicated her longing for more. It's when she actually sees actual humans, particularly a handsome humans that really gets her fire going. However, isn't that kind of understandable? We all have things we are passionate about and usually there's a catalyst that turns that passion into a determination. For Ariel, it was seeing and rescuing Eric. Sure a man shouldn't be the reason you change your life, but for Ariel, it wasn't just a man. It was her desire for freedom and adventure. I don't think telling girls to go exploring, be adventurous, and follow your dreams is a bad thing. Do you?
Also, when Ariel is human, she can't talk. It's here when all you have is her facial expressions, body language, and actions that we see just how funny, curious, and endearing Ariel really is. Long before Anna was being all adorkable in every scene in "Frozen," we had Ariel brushing her hair with a fork and trying to blow bubbles out of a pipe. Hilarious. Is Ariel flawed? Yes. She can be whiny and immature (like the teenager she is) and doesn't really learn much of a lesson since she pretty much gets everything she wants in the ends but as for her funny personality and sense of adventure? I think those are pretty solid traits.
Belle
There's nothing wrong with Belle! She's smart, brave, kind, and doesn't put up with Gaston's crap. That's what a lot of people say, yet, there are people out there who criticize her for being a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. Here's what I have to say to that: She's not. Plain and simple. Why? Because when the Beast is a jerk to her, she doesn't want anything to do with him. When he yells at her to get out of the West wing, she does. She leaves the castle. I'm pretty sure she wasn't planning to come back. Even after he saves her, she still doesn't warm up to him until he starts acting nicer.
Even when they start to become friends she doesn't stay with him because of Stockholm Syndrome, but because he's tolerable to be around and she made a promise. Even when they have a romantic night of dinner, music, and dancing, when the Beast lets her go, she leaves. She goes home to take care of her father. She only goes back to the castle when the Beast and all the other castle denizens are in danger. It's there when the Beast is dying that she realizes that she loves him, and then saves his life and puts an end to the curse on him and the entire castle. So yeah, Belle isn't a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, she's a smart, brave heroine that a lot of kids can look up to.
Going off on a tangent, I'm really nervous about the live action remake of this movie. Even though I hate the live action versions of Snow White and Cinderella, at least I understand why they did it, claiming to update the story by adding subplots and backstories, and "improve" the characters by fleshing out more flat characters (like the Prince in Cinderella) or by toughening up the female leads (like in Snow White's case. But "Beauty and the Beast"? It's the tale as old as time with great characters. We don't need a sword-wielding Belle or a CGI Beast. Miss Watson? You have some big shoes to fill.
While showing that girls can be tough in Disney movies like "Mulan", "Brave", and "Star Wars" is great and empowering for women, so can showing a character like Belle who is a bookworm and a free spirit. That's really the whole point of this article, to show that while some of the earlier Princesses aren't warriors or have magical powers, that doesn't make them completely passive or weak. I think that Snow White's kindness, Cinderella's patience, Ariel's determination, and Belle's intellect are all traits we can (and should) encourage in young boys and girls.
I could go on about the Princesses I didn't mention and the women who are unfortunately not considered Disney Princesses, like Esmerelda from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", and Jane from "Tarzan" but I will A) have a super long article and B) Be explaining explaining admirable features most people probably already agree with. If you still hate Disney Princesses and think they are bad role models then fine, you think what you want. I just find that kindness and patience can sometimes be just as powerful as bravery and fighting.
