Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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Mach Full Force
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

Post by Mach Full Force »

thelittleursula wrote:
thedisneyspirit wrote: Which is another reason why I'm not fond of that Rise of the Guardians crossover. They tend to mischaracterize every character and Merida always comes out as this rude bitchy tomboy who uses swear words all the time and she's even more unpleasant in these crossovers than in the original film.
That fad/ meme was silly, thankfully it's dying out. But they're trying to make a Seasons fad happen now -__-

Elsa- Winter, Anna- Spring, Merida- Autumn, Rapunzel- Summer
While I'm not into the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons thing, I actually kinda like the Season Princesses thing. It makes a lot more sense. And it would work well as a magical girl AU.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

Post by thedisneyspirit »

Mach Full Force wrote:
thelittleursula wrote: That fad/ meme was silly, thankfully it's dying out. But they're trying to make a Seasons fad happen now -__-

Elsa- Winter, Anna- Spring, Merida- Autumn, Rapunzel- Summer
While I'm not into the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons thing, I actually kinda like the Season Princesses thing. It makes a lot more sense. And it would work well as a magical girl AU.
Well, not into it, but it's cute and it makes a lot more sense than the shit Big Four.

At least no crappy Dreamworks character is there ruining the moment.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

Post by Atlantica »

Is Merida included in the parades etc in Disneyland in the US?
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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thedisneyspirit wrote:
At least no crappy Dreamworks character is there ruining the moment.
I think Merida would be the crappy character in those scenarios, personally.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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atlanticaunderthesea wrote:Is Merida included in the parades etc in Disneyland in the US?
I don't know about regular ones, but on the Disney Christmas Day Special that aired today, Merida was indeed a part of it! She was riding a horse with some fellow Scots and I believe a giant kilted sock as well.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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Guys you can't take Merida's actions at the start of the film to heart - the point is she had some growing up to do, which she (somehow) achieves by the end of the film.

I rather like Merida's character, but her movie was unconcinving. She spent a day fishing with her bear mom, gets into a bear fight and BAM lifelong relationship problems resolved... uhm yeah I don't understand. I honestly feel like Mark Andrews/the Pixar Brain Trust had no clue as to how to portray a mother/daughter relationship and so skipped it altogether. Unfortunately, this negatively reflects on her personality as it's not clear why _anything/everything_.

Don't get angry about it though, she only seems to appeal to the select few she was marketed for - anti Disney Princess feminists.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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Avaitor wrote:
atlanticaunderthesea wrote:Is Merida included in the parades etc in Disneyland in the US?
I don't know about regular ones, but on the Disney Christmas Day Special that aired today, Merida was indeed a part of it! She was riding a horse with some fellow Scots and I believe a giant kilted sock as well.
Ahh ok good, glad she's featured in at least that! As I've voiced before; she isn't my favourite Princess by far and away, I don't care for her much in particular, but as she has become an official Princess, she deserves as much exposure as the others, and not to be ignored.

And she is very successfully ignored in Paris.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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In my opinion, Merida and her film for that matter would've been better if Pixar had not fired Brenda Chapman from the movie.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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Do you think so? It must hurt so much for her if something is your baby then taken away. Especially if it is such a personal story, ended being told by a man.

Is there anything to indicate how he film would have differed if she was in charge all the way through?
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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atlanticaunderthesea wrote:Do you think so? It must hurt so much for her if something is your baby then taken away. Especially if it is such a personal story, ended being told by a man.

Is there anything to indicate how he film would have differed if she was in charge all the way through?
I'm not dissapointed that she got fired for being a woman, it's because she's a very talented storyteller who did a lot of very great things in the past (one of the story people on BatB, TLK, THOND, and was the co-director of The Prince of Egypt, which is one of my favorite non-Disney films); and to have her fired and replaced by a team that would've made it a movie about Merida and her father and that the three clans would've taken over the movie.

If Brenda stayed, the movie would have more to do with Merida and her mother and less on the Mordu subplot. Personally, the movie is alright but it feels like The Thief and the Cobbler, in that, it reminds me of because of how it feels like two movies are running at once and how messed up it feels.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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I think that's why many can't take to the movie, as it feels as if it is composed of two halves.

You can't help but wonder though; what would it have ended up being like, if she stayed the whole way through. And if Merida would have had a better character arc, ultimately making her more likeable.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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atlanticaunderthesea wrote:I think that's why many can't take to the movie, as it feels as if it is composed of two halves.

You can't help but wonder though; what would it have ended up being like, if she stayed the whole way through. And if Merida would have had a better character arc, ultimately making her more likeable.
I agree.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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Merida is featured in a new Disney Dreams portrait:

http://www.justjared.com/2014/01/09/jes ... -portrait/
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

Post by Linden »

Not sure how I feel about the latest Disney Dream Portrait. I am happy they got a natural redhead, though.

Brave gives me very conflicted feelings. I can relate personally to Merida's plight and in some ways her personality, but at the same time, she's kind of a brat throughout the movie. I want to love her so much, but I can't. I can just respect the fact that they tried to do something with her, even if it didn't completely pan out.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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Linden wrote:Not sure how I feel about the latest Disney Dream Portrait. I am happy they got a natural redhead, though.

Brave gives me very conflicted feelings. I can relate personally to Merida's plight and in some ways her personality, but at the same time, she's kind of a brat throughout the movie. I want to love her so much, but I can't. I can just respect the fact that they tried to do something with her, even if it didn't completely pan out.

. :float:
Last edited by thedisneyspirit on Mon Jun 24, 2019 1:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

Post by Linden »

^I have a little bit of that with Jasmine too. Probably because Jasmine was one of the first strong-willed heroines, but at the same time, she's sexualised. I guess for the most part, I like her, but I'm not completely satisfied with how the movie treated her, if that makes sense.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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Linden wrote:^I have a little bit of that with Jasmine too. Probably because Jasmine was one of the first strong-willed heroines, but at the same time, she's sexualised. I guess for the most part, I like her, but I'm not completely satisfied with how the movie treated her, if that makes sense.
I'm kinda soft on it considering it's not really her movie, tbh.
Last edited by thedisneyspirit on Mon Jun 24, 2019 1:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

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I still hate that Merida is in this. She's boring at best/annoying at worst, isn't really Disney, and I wish she would be beheaded.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

Post by blackcauldron85 »

Linden wrote:at the same time, she's kind of a brat throughout the movie.
thedisneyspirit wrote:I'm mixed with Jasmine. Sometimes I like her, other times I think it was a very dumb idea of her to run away (and it's kinda strange how the movie doesn't address the big impact on the kingdom her disappearance would have), and other times she's just...there.
Both girls felt trapped. Merida wanted to practice archery. Jasmine wanted to know what it was like outside of the palace. Both girls were being forced into marriage. They weren't free to follow their hearts, and they were being forced to marry out of duty, not following their hearts.

Their parents had duties to teach these girls to be royal leaders. The Sultan wasn't getting any younger, and he wanted Jasmine to always be taken care of. Elinor wanted Merida to understand that life isn't all about having fun, that people have duties to perform.

Compromise really was needed in the parent-daughter relationships. Personally, my mother has always wanted me to be healthy and taken care of, but she's never cared much at all about my happiness. So I can relate to Jasmine and Merida. My mother even told me to get married for financial reasons (and that's why I got married as early as I did).

Jasmine and Merida just wanted to be happy. I don't think it was dumb at all for Jasmine to run away. She had to try to make herself happy. She even left behind her best friend, Rajah. That's how badly she wanted happiness. Like Jasmine, I've "ran away" multiple times, looking for happiness (moving out of my parents' house when I was 19, moving again after my divorce to go to grad school). Jasmine had to have had hope that maybe something outside of the palace walls would bring her happiness. (And, of course, she found it!) Merida knew what brought her happiness, but her mother even threw her bow into the fire; Elinor was so opposed to archery not being proper enough for a princess.

Back to compromise- maybe Elinor could have allowed Merida to practice archery after her "princess lessons." Maybe the palace guards could have taken Jasmine on field trips. Obviously it took the events of the movie for the parents to see that *now* their children were happy.

It's surely a balancing act for parents, instilling a sense of responsibility and duty into your children, while letting them follow their passions.

All in all, the points of the movies were about growth, growth of the princesses, their parents, and their relationships together. So to call Merida or Jasmine brats isn't really fair- they were products of their upbringing. Their repressive upbringing with their seemingly-uncaring parents.
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Re: Merida to Join the Disney Princess Line

Post by unprincess »

how would some of you have felt about Merida if she were not presented in the film as a princess but just a regular girl (maybe a peasant girl or just an average village girl) who just wants to stay single instead of marry a village boy at her mothers request. And then b/c of that Disney would not have included her in the Princess line. She'd just have her own line, or be part of a separate line with non-Princess Disney female characters?

I still hate that Merida is in this. She's boring at best/annoying at worst, isn't really Disney, and I wish she would be beheaded.
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