Disney Princesses Got a Makeover

[TsWade2]

Is everybody upset about Snow White's side bow? It's simply out of character if you ask me.

[Disney Duster]

I certainly hate them just moving her bow. That's such a mod chick way to cheaply give her a change.


Hey why didn't Belle have her face in some of those drawings?

[SWillie!]

Hey why didn't Belle have her face in some of those drawings?

From what I understand, merchandise artists sometimes leave the face to a senior character artist to put the character on model. In some of those drawings, the characters are pretty badly off-model in the face. I would assume that a senior character artist would then go over all of them.

It could also be a simple matter of "we already have this character drawn in this pose, I don't need to redo the face".

[Sotiris]

I just don't get this whole redesign controversy. Like them, dislike them; it's your prerogative. But let's not pretend that the previous clip-art looked great and it was somehow tainted by the redesigns. The Disney Princess clip-art always looked cheap and off-model. The characters never looked like their movie counterparts.

[pap64]

I actually see the two sides of the argument here. Yeah, this is mainly a re-design for the merchandise and franchise line. The original characters are still on the original movies unchanged and that's where people will know them, and love them, from. But here is the deal. For many of us, these characters mean the world to us. They may be fictional, but they are connected to things we know and love, like love itself, childhood innocence, adventure and such. Disney has made it an art to sell these characters on those merits, and while they continue to strive for years, decades even. So having the princesses go through a drastic change is kind of stepping on the toes of people who loved them as who they were.

For me, the one design that drives me crazy is Belle. I HATE the hair they gave her. It looks like the aftermath of a wild night out with the Beast drinking and dancing till the dawn. It doesn't reflect Belle's classy, educated yet calm and loving personality. And that is the issue with most of the re-designs: most of them are not indicative of the character's personality. There was a big uproar with Mulan especially where she was wearing gold robes and what looked to be heavy makeup. So much so that Disney actually toned her down significantly on the website.

Pocket Princesses did a hilarious take on this:


So yeah, the changes are mainly for the like and not for the actual movies, but the characters should be able to look and represent what the characters stand for in their movies.

[Super Aurora]

I don't get the big uproar on Mulan in gold dress. Since they're promoting Mulan as a princess to begin with here (even though she isn't one), the audience should realize that in China, gold and red are a symbol of high royal status and class. Gold is actually a pretty common color of choice in dresses in ancient China. Same goes for red.

[Disney's Divinity]

For me, the one design that drives me crazy is Belle. I HATE the hair they gave her. It looks like the aftermath of a wild night out with the Beast drinking and dancing till the dawn. It doesn't reflect Belle's classy, educated yet calm and loving personality. And that is the issue with most of the re-designs: most of them are not indicative of the character's personality.

That's what I thought about Ariel as well, who they made look very mature when she is the embodiment of youth in the film. But I suppose Sotiris is right that there's no point worrying about clip art, in the end. It just seems like it's opening a door to a path I hope Disney won't go down.

Was there really an uproar over Mulan? I'm surprised.

[TsWade2]

I just don't get this whole redesign controversy. Like them, dislike them; it's your prerogative. But let's not pretend that the previous clip-art looked great and it was somehow tainted by the redesigns. The Disney Princess clip-art always looked cheap and off-model. The characters never looked like their movie counterparts.

With all due respect, Sotiris, us Disney fans can't help ourselves. We sometimes don't like change. I'll try to get use to it as much as I can.

[pap64]

For the record, I am not in favor nor against the new princess looks. They are just for the merchandise line (and extension theme parks), and I will get used to them. I actually like theme park Cinderella better (save for the hair) than old Cinderella since it looks much more like her movie (colors aside). It's the hair that annoys me at times since they just look so messy, especially on some characters.

[Sotiris]

It just seems like it's opening a door to a path I hope Disney won't go down.

Disney actually crossed that door and no one seemed to care. The fact Cinderella made a cameo on Sofia the First with her new design is worrisome. This could mean that any future appearance of the princesses in animation will be with their new designs. That's where I draw the line. I don't care about the clip-art, I don't care about the face characters at the parks but mess with animation and you'll have me royally pissed.

[Vlad]

It just seems like it's opening a door to a path I hope Disney won't go down.

Disney actually crossed that door and no one seemed to care. The fact Cinderella made a cameo on Sofia the First with her new design is worrisome. This could mean that any future appearance of the princesses in animation will be with their new designs. That's where I draw the line. I don't care about the clip-art, I don't care about the face characters at the parks but mess with animation and you'll have me royally pissed.

As long as they don't change their designs in their original films, I'm okay with that. If they make cameo appearances in shows like Sofia the First in their new designs, it doesn't worry me one bit. Those are not the films that made them famous.

[Disney Duster]

I'm okay with the redesigns as long as they are only delegated to some Disney Princess merchandise and aren't used to represent the characters or their movies all the time.

For example the redesign would be okay on a Disney Princess book where Cinderella has a "new" story, but not on a book that re-tells her original film.

And I don't think its okay for the parks, where the characters are supposed to really "live".

[Super Aurora]

I'm okay with the redesigns as long as they are only delegated to some Disney Princess merchandise and aren't used to represent the characters or their movies all the time.

For example the redesign would be okay on a Disney Princess book where Cinderella has a "new" story, but not on a book that re-tells her original film.

And I don't think its okay for the parks, where the characters are supposed to really "live".

Well the thing about the parks is that they already change their looks a bit to begin with. Maybe not as it is like the redesigns but it's there.

[Disney Duster]

It's true that they have a slightly different style in the parks, because, I don't know, because they figure they could never make them look exactly like the film? But they should try, not do a whole modernization of them.

[thelittleursula]

The issue with Mulan is that it's not her, it's not Mulan. Mulan was more masculine, she didn't feel comfortable within the feminine style.

Mulan wearing a long golden dress with Chinese white make-up is the opposite of her and who she is. Disney is not letting Mulan be Mulan...

She's not even a Princess to begin with so adding her into the collection of feminine girls and styles doesn't make sense.

If they wanted to add in a feminine Asian Princess then make one damn it, like they did with Tiana. Either that or let be Mulan be herself even if they can't use a glitter fancy ball gown. I'm sure girls that are more tomboyish would love a more masculine Princess.

[Dragonlion]

Was there really an uproar over Mulan? I'm surprised.

Yeah. A lot of pople were complaining about the new character looks, Mulan in particular. So much so that Disney has now changed Mulan's design: http://princess.disney.com/mulan

[Super Aurora]

The issue with Mulan is that it's not her, it's not Mulan. Mulan was more masculine, she didn't feel comfortable within the feminine style.

Mulan wearing a long golden dress with Chinese white make-up is the opposite of her and who she is. Disney is not letting Mulan be Mulan...

She's not even a Princess to begin with so adding her into the collection of feminine girls and styles doesn't make sense.

If they wanted to add in a feminine Asian Princess then make one damn it, like they did with Tiana. Either that or let be Mulan be herself even if they can't use a glitter fancy ball gown. I'm sure girls that are more tomboyish would love a more masculine Princess.

well yeah of course that. but ever since she now is in the franchise, I find it moot to complain about her redesign a lot as she make the least sense to it to begin with. I was more or less saying for what they did have going for her is fine and is actually more historically accurate in terms of redesign fitting the character's time period and such. Some seems little too more modernize though.

[thelittleursula]

Yeah. A lot of pople were complaining about the new character looks, Mulan in particular. So much so that Disney has now changed Mulan's design: http://princess.disney.com/mulan

Well.... it's a improvement....

[SWillie!]

Wow, I'm surprised they acted so quickly on Mulan. Definitely shows they at least hear us, even if they don't always make that known.

[thelittleursula]

Wow, I'm surprised they acted so quickly on Mulan. Definitely shows they at least hear us, even if they don't always make that known.

ALADDIN 3D !

Do you think that they're hear it ?