Frozen: Part V

[MeerkatKombat]

I am what could probably be called a middle class white (blonde) girl and Princess Jasmine was always my favourite growing up but I do think little girls like having dolls that look like them to project themselves into and play adult roles.

I agree, Disney don't help themselves and leave the less popular ones to rot away rather than trying new things to get children interested.

[rs_milo_whatever]

Same here, I am Hispanic and personally, Aladdin was my favorite person on Earth until Hercules was released and I loved them both and wanted to be like both of them. I don't think it's always a race issue, but you can bet if there was a Hispanic hero I would be all over it.

[disneyprincess11]

It's a race issue, and also a culturall one I think. Most of Disney Princess customers (at least, the ones who aren't fanatic Disnerd activists) are middle class white little girls, who have grown up in this My Little Pony/Barbie catered entertainment, and for them the "true" princess image is the classical girly european one: a big gown, a huge castle, singing animals, etc.

While I disagree with you about that most of the customers are white (I always see girls with different races with princess stuff), you're unfortunately right. Most of princesses in the media, even non-Disney, are white. The closest non-white princesses I can think of is Rapunzel from OUAT and she's only in one freaking episode and Princess Isabelle from that new Alan Menken show

[rs_milo_whatever]

It's a race issue, and also a culturall one I think. Most of Disney Princess customers (at least, the ones who aren't fanatic Disnerd activists) are middle class white little girls, who have grown up in this My Little Pony/Barbie catered entertainment, and for them the "true" princess image is the classical girly european one: a big gown, a huge castle, singing animals, etc.

While I disagree with you about that most of the customers are white (I always see girls with different races with princess stuff), you're unfortunately right. Most of princesses in the media, even non-Disney, are white. The closest non-white princesses I can think of is Rapunzel from OUAT and she's only in one freaking episode and Princess Isabelle from that new Alan Menken show

Seeing girls of other races with Disney Princess products doesn't mean Caucasian little girls with Caucasian parents don't form the majority. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just a fact. Doesn't mean little girls of color don't like princesses it just means there are more Caucasian people. Of course, I am exclusively talking about the U.S. where, to my understanding, Disney Princess toys sell more. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I had to Google that Alan Menken show, by the way. For a moment I thought you were talking about Princess Sofia from Sofia the First (not sure why I did). Sofia is in fact, at least partially Hispanic and you can hardly tell. I think the whole princess appeal is foreign, at least for Americans. We don't have royalty so it is entirely foreign, regardless of their clothes or palaces and neither of the American Disney princesses are white. I had never thought of the princesses as a prominently white group of women, I have always seen them as people from obviously different cultures. That's why I didn't hear about Frozen or Brave and thought "great, more white princesses", because they still come from different cultures. While I agree that Disney could dig up some awesome Aztec princess or a cool African queen, I never thought about it until the internet told me to think about it. Haven't decided if that's a good thing. I mean we could at least stop with the German and French princesses for sure.

Frozen came from a story that originated in a country where people are almost exclusively white, but the reason of adapting the story wasn't because they were white, it was because there was a cool story about a girl who had super cool ice powers. I don't know, I don't really mind to be honest, but it would be really cool to see more variety and to see people accept it.

I'm glad we do get a process of color next.

[Warm Regards]

I'm a white girl and my favorite guy growing up was always Thomas O'Malley from the Aristocats. So I clearly have no place in this conversation.

Regardless, if I may be blunt, I think the big reason why there's so little diversity is because most writers/ filmmakers are white. The gap is closing, slowly but surely. But in the meantime, those same writers/ filmmakers in the majority are afraid to venture into different races.

Remember the backlash over Tiana's original name, Maddy? And her original job of chambermaid? Even though a) it was not at all much different from Cinderella's job, and b) it made sense in the time period, people were RAGING over the racist implications.

There seems to be this "DO NOT DISTURB" ambiance, that whites who dare write people of other cultures are "exerting their white privilege" and "being culturally appropriative."

But then THAT mentality leads to an under-representation of races, which leaves others upset.

As a wannabe writer myself, I can vouch that I would like to include more diversity in my stories. All-white casts are overrated. But there's always this twinge of fear that I'll be condemned by the world, for doing something that is apparently "too far".

And this post is going on the midnight train ...

[thedisneyspirit]

if there was a Hispanic hero I would be all over it.

Same, that's why I love Kuzco and the Caballeros so much. Being some of the few South American characters Disney has, one feels over-protective of them.

And I think that's the thing for Disney to showcase new cultures, perhaps base the story in a new setting, like with Princess and the Frog. Or maybe research and find some interesting family-friendly legends across the world to make a good film, from chinese origins, african, mayan, etc etc.

And what Warm Regards says is partially true. Lots of people (including the You-Know-Whos of tumblr) always complain about how many white characters there are in media, that white writers are nothing but lazy people. But the minute a non-white character appears, they start bitching that "white writers shouldn't write POC!!!". It's a no-win situation with these people.

Hilarious because these are the same people who declared Frozen to be very racist and the next minute wanted Let It Go to win the oscar only because Robert Lopez is a "person of color".

Frankly the whole issue will be hilarious come November. Big Hero 6 comes over, and instantly all those activists will be screaming about how racist of Disney to appropriate japanese culture or the like. Then again for them eating sushi if you're not japanese is a racist act so...

[disneyprincess11]

Wow. That was quick: Elsa is the next villain in OUAT

[rs_milo_whatever]

Wow. That was quick: Elsa is the next villain in OUAT

I reaaally dislike that show. It's like a Tumblr fan fiction blog; I swear, they're throwing in Star Wars characters soon. Well, we all knew it was coming. I'm surprised it took this long and I'm surprised they didn't make her good to completely go with the Disney canon.

[Disney's Divinity]

I'm sure that the character will be a "misunderstood" villain. I wouldn't be surprised if many characters just thought she was a villain because of her powers and that's why she was locked away in the first place.

Personally, I'm glad one of Disney's best films in a long time will be on the show. (Kind of funny how she's the focus of the final moments of the season--presumably to be the main focus of the first half of next season--when Rapunzel was just a throwaway character... ) More promotion for the film, too, while probably increasing the ratings of one of ABC's few hit shows at the moment?

Also, not surprised about that ranking of the princesses. Tiana and Jasmine naturally sell lower because they aren't white, Tiana and Belle sell the least because they are "serious" characters and not bubbly, glittery, hyperactive personalities. And that's definitely cultural, considering America prefers girls--people, in general--to be outgoing, etc. and typically doesn't care much about reserved, shy, grounded characters. The Cinderella character transcends Disney to be the most memorable fairy tale princess in general, so that is why she outsells all others. Snow White, I'm guessing, sells as much as she does because she draws in buyers who are not normally Disney fans since Snow White was such a historical moment/cultural event. It kind of has the same status of films like Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz.

And, by the way, my least favorite thing to come from Tangled's existence is that people want to say X female character is a ripoff character of Rapunzel now. Nobody can be a ripoff of a Rapunzel, because Rapunzel is a ripoff of ARIEL--the original queen, recognize. Rapunzel is just as much a knockoff of Ariel as people accuse Anna of being a knockoff of Rapunzel.

[disneyboy20022]

Wow. That was quick: Elsa is the next villain in OUAT

I reaaally dislike that show. It's like a Tumblr fan fiction blog; I swear, they're throwing in Star Wars characters soon. Well, we all knew it was coming. I'm surprised it took this long and I'm surprised they didn't make her good to completely go with the Disney canon.

Star Wars actually did make it into tonight's episode
Tonight's Episode was a two hour season finale where Hook and Emma ended up in a time portal back to when Snow White and Prince Charming met. Emma used an Alias name of Princess Leia

[Old Fish Tale]

I reaaally dislike that show. It's like a Tumblr fan fiction blog; I swear, they're throwing in Star Wars characters soon. Well, we all knew it was coming. I'm surprised it took this long and I'm surprised they didn't make her good to completely go with the Disney canon.

Me too! The writing and the special effects are so bad!

[thelittleursula]

I'm surprised that Belle is ranked so low on the Disney list, maybe it's a generation thing because usually the internet is crazy about Belle, and she's usually ranked very high on Disney Princess internet polls.

I can see Snow White and Cinderella getting attention because parents and grandparents would of grown up with them, so they buy their children and granddaughters the dolls, dresses, and other mech.

Belle, Mulan, Jasmine might be getting low attention since they are within the 90's and they are not really new like Anna and Elsa and they are not really all that old either, not old enough for parents to buy mech for their daughters.

But Aladdin, Mulan and Beauty And The Beast are what, 22- 21 years old ? I would wait a while, because the 90's gen would most likely desire for their daughters ( and sons ) to grow up on Aladdin, Mulan, Princess And The Frog, and Beauty than say Snow White.

Also there's this whole Stockholm Syndrome/ B & B sends bad messages to children thing going around with today's soccer mums which may pay a huge factor on why Belle is ranking so low.

[rodis]

Also there's this whole Stockholm Syndrome/ B & B sends bad messages to children thing going around with today's soccer mums which may pay a huge factor on why Belle is ranking so low.

Ariel is far more criticized for her behavior - seriously, just read reviews on IMDB and Amazon and you'll be shocked, people are so sensitive to her behavior - yet she ranks within the top 5.

[thelittleursula]

Ariel is far more criticized for her behavior - seriously, just read reviews on IMDB and Amazon and you'll be shocked, people are so sensitive to her behavior - yet she ranks within the top 5.

Then I wonder why Belle is starting to fail ???

[Atlantica]

Ariel has a TV show that is airing constantly, and had the most recent sequel of all the Princesses, has the most CDs...so that probably helps.

Plus, Ariel is an awesome character too !

[unprincess]

ok here's something Ive been wondering about since the explosive success of Frozen... do you think other studios are going to try to make their own princess fairytale themed films now that theyve seen what a money making machine its been for Disney? Like maybe not a blatant princess film but something more in the vein of those types of films with more female main leads, more classical/fantasy settings & maybe even songs.

or will the studios just feel its something they shouldnt touch cuz its Disney's domain & it would still be too risky, despite the temptation. I can especially see Dreamworks being eager to do something along the lines but then realizing, well theyre the studio that made its mark on making fun of faiytales in the first place, maybe it wouldnt be such a good idea!

[frankf3]

Well Dreamworks is releasing the Bollywood Superstar Monkey musical in 2016 with songs written by A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) and Stephen Schwartz.

Given the success of animated musicals like Tangled, Frozen, and the Rio movies (despite my personal dislike for that franchise), I think we will be seeing many more musicals from Disney and other studios.

[Fflewduur]

ok here's something Ive been wondering about since the explosive success of Frozen... do you think other studios are going to try to make their own princess fairytale themed films now that theyve seen what a money making machine its been for Disney? Like maybe not a blatant princess film but something more in the vein of those types of films with more female main leads, more classical/fantasy settings & maybe even songs.

or will the studios just feel its something they shouldnt touch cuz its Disney's domain & it would still be too risky, despite the temptation. I can especially see Dreamworks being eager to do something along the lines but then realizing, well theyre the studio that made its mark on making fun of faiytales in the first place, maybe it wouldnt be such a good idea!

Princess fairytale films have been a money-making machine since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (even though not all of them live up to that earning standard)--it's not like it hasn't been done before Frozen, or never been done by anyone else (The Swan Princess, for example, or Miyazaki's take on The Little Mermaid tale, Ponyo). The real problem with anyone else trying to take on princess fairytale stories is that the best-known ones have long since been done by Disney, (which is a huge part *why* they're the best known princess tales in the first place). Nobody's going to be able to take on Snow White without doing something radically different from a fairly traditional rendering. Conversely, someone could *absolutely* create a more traditional take on The Snow Queen because Frozen is so far removed from the traditional source material.

Dreamworks made its bones (and a very successful franchise) by making fun of Disney's princess tale legacy. I doubt they'd go with any sort of straightforward interpretation any time soon, and since the Shreks they seem to be shying away from telling any sort of traditional tale entirely (except Puss in Boots).

[thedisneyspirit]

ok here's something Ive been wondering about since the explosive success of Frozen... do you think other studios are going to try to make their own princess fairytale themed films now that theyve seen what a money making machine its been for Disney? Like maybe not a blatant princess film but something more in the vein of those types of films with more female main leads, more classical/fantasy settings & maybe even songs.

or will the studios just feel its something they shouldnt touch cuz its Disney's domain & it would still be too risky, despite the temptation. I can especially see Dreamworks being eager to do something along the lines but then realizing, well theyre the studio that made its mark on making fun of faiytales in the first place, maybe it wouldnt be such a good idea!

I don't think so. I remember back in the 90s Don Bluth and all the other companies tried to follow in Disney's successes by making "similar" Disney themed films, most with princesses too (Quest for Camelot, Anastasia, Swan Princess...) While not bad films per se they never really reached the amount of fame that a Disney film would have.

I think it's something the other animation studios learned and left Disney to work with fairy tales and princesses while they do their own stuff.

[disneyprincess11]

The Future of Frozen – More theme park entertainment, a stage show, TV, and new merchandise from mega Disney hit

http://www.insidethemagic.net/2014/05/t ... isney-hit/