Disney Princesses Got a Makeover

[Elladorine]

I also remember reading that Rapunzel originally had a green dress but that the creators of Tangled were asked to change it because Tiana also had a green dress. Not sure if that's true either, since I always thought Rapunzel wore purple because it's a royal colour (and she's secretly the lost princess).

Rapunzel did have a green dress in the early concept art; I always guessed it was because of the meaning of her name. I do believe I remember hearing that Disney basically wanted "dress color diversity" for the sake of their princess line, and I honestly believe it was changed to purple strictly for marketing purposes (i.e. purple dresses sell better than green ones).

[Disney Duster]

Actually I heard from Prince Kido who is a member here and works at Disney that they decided against Rapunzel's green dress because she would get lost in the green of the woods. Obviously that doesn't quite make sense since Tiana was in a green dress in a very green swamp.

The purple actually does fit with Rapunzel's name as even though some of the plant is green, it has purple flowers.

I didn't know purple dresses sold more than green ones...?

And by the way, I always wished Rapunzel's sleeves were more like the ones on the green dress in the right image Elladorine provided. There are some hand-drawn animation sketches and just plain sketches with such sleeves that were done very close to the final design.

[Disney's Divinity]

If they wanted something distinct from the other princesses, they could have used her white dress from "Almost There". It's a great lookng dress and certainly qualifies as "pretty".

That's expecting too much effort out of Disney.

It annoys me that Ariel is always in her pink dress and not her blue one, since the blue one is what most people remember (outside her mermaid form). I feel they put both her, Tiana, and Aurora in other dresses not to distract from Cinderella, whose dress wasn't even blue in the film. Even worse since Cinderella's dress is hideous after the "alterations" they made to it to make her look hip (looks like a deflated balloon). It's a shame, too, because Aurora looks best in blue, and now she and Ariel have the same dress color anyway? But maybe they think those two won't be confused because they're not both blonde like Aurora/Cinderella are?

[DisneyFan09]

I actually liked those concept arts. Not only due to her dress color, but because of her sheer look. She looks definitively true Disney there and is allowed to look beautiful. I'm not implying that Rapunzel looks hideous on her final CGI form, but she's not allowed to look truly drop dead gorgeous.

I'm one of the minorities, but I actually liked Aurora in her pink dress. Pink used to be my favorite color as a kid, as well as I liked blonde girls best. So I thought blonde girls in pink dresses were a good match. So I won't deny that I prefer Ariel in pink, though I definitively don't detest her blue outfit.

But blue is definitively a recurrent dress color. Walt's three Princesses have blue in their outfits. And Belle and Jasmine wears blue prominently and Ariel has her blue dress. Even Mulan wears blue, despite not being a technical princess. The same goes for Kida as well. Tiana, Merida and Norwegian sisters has blue. But it's not to dismiss that pink is a recurrent color as well. Both Cinderella and Aurora have their pink dresses, as well as Ariel and Belle. Megara wears all pink in her only outfit and even Mulan have pink in her matchmaker dress.

I'm not ranting about the overuse of certain colors, but I do like some variation. At least Pocahontas was allowed to wear a buckskin dress (though she had a blue neckless, haha). I liked that Jasmine weared both purple and red, which really complimented her. Esmeralda had an all red dress and I liked her regular dress as well, which was a culmination of several colors, but mostly her purple skirt. At least Ariel had a green mermaid fin and some purple bra, hahahaha. Though Mulan was actually promoted in her green and yellow dress which she wears at the beginning, she barely wears it. Belle had a green dress and an all yellow gown. Which Jane would replicate (though she weared green, white and red as well)

Personally, I was never keen on Tiana's dresses. I really think she could've had an certain outfit which really suited her. She actually changes costume most of all of the Princesses.

[Elladorine]

As for the repetitive clothes, the "rules" were laid out back in 2000:

Disney had never before sold or marketed merchandise picturing princesses from different movies together. “The prevailing wisdom at the studio was that somehow having the princesses gang together would destroy their individual mythology and therefore the value of their films,” says Mooney. To guard against this, Disney invented marketing rules: The princesses couldn’t look at each other. Their dresses had to be different colors. Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella both wore blue, so Sleeping Beauty, marketed under her first name, Aurora, changed into bubble-gum pink.

And from last year:

“The Princess franchise has to evolve,” says Josh Silverman, executive vice president for global licensing at Disney Consumer Products, the division that handles all the brand licenses. “The focus will be on empowered heroines.”

~ http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015- ... ss-hasbro/

I didn't know purple dresses sold more than green ones...?.

It's an extension of the whole "pink is for girls" concept/stereotype (not to mention that her purple dress also features the color pink). Also:


http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233843
(Interesting that this chart does not include pink.)

* * *

With a sense of mystic and royal qualities, purple is a color often well liked by very creative or eccentric types and is the favorite color of adolescent girls.
https://www.fatrabbitcreative.com/blog/ ... r_business

* * *

[Disney Duster]

Even worse since Cinderella's dress is hideous after the "alterations" they made to it to make her look hip (looks like a deflated balloon). It's a shame, too, because Aurora looks best in blue, and now she and Ariel have the same dress color anyway? But maybe they think those two won't be confused because they're not both blonde like Aurora/Cinderella are?

Right. And even though Tiana has a green dress, Ariel could have the sea green version of her dress (which is really just the pink dress made sea green) which I prefer on her. I actually like the makeover Cinderella got, but truly wish that the makeovers were reserved only for some merchandise. It snuck in to Sleeping Beauty's Diamond Edition cover which was bad because of that (and bad because of the "Maleficent" film look and "rivals against each other" look. She didn't hate Aurora, she hated her parents and the fairies! And fought Phillip, not Aurora). The makeover shouldn't have gone into the parks. But I still was happy to meet Cinderella in her makeover form. She nailed Cinderella's voice...

Elladorine, the princesses dresses having to be different colors is dumb. They're going to run out of colors (and actually almost have) and they never wear exactly the same shades as each other so they don't need to differentiate them, they already are differentiated.

I, too am surprised that chart doesn't include pink. Maybe red includes pink as in any shade of red?

My favorite color is purple and I'm an artist so that fits the creative side of me...and also my eccentric side, I guess.

[Elladorine]

Elladorine, the princesses dresses having to be different colors is dumb. They're going to run out of colors (and actually almost have) and they never wear exactly the same shades as each other so they don't need to differentiate them, they already are differentiated.

I, too am surprised that chart doesn't include pink. Maybe red includes pink as in any shade of red?

My favorite color is purple and I'm an artist so that fits the creative side of me...and also my eccentric side, I guess.

I agree that the requirement of each princess having their own color isn't the best idea. I'm all about diversity, but the previous ladies shouldn't narrow the options of the next. And yes, they're running out of colors, lol.

I'm guessing the survey didn't opt for shades and tints, but who knows. My favorite color is also purple, and has been since childhood!

For the heck of it, I'm attaching my own makeovers.

So Many Lil' CutiEs

so-many-forum.png (708.25 KiB) Viewed 9139 times

[Sotiris]

Rapunzel did have a green dress in the early concept art.

They tried all sorts of colors. There was a burgundy dress and a blue dress and even a multi-colored dress.

[Elladorine]

Rapunzel did have a green dress in the early concept art.

They tried all sorts of colors. There was a burgundy dress and a blue dress and even a multi-colored dress.

Wow, I'd seen the blue dress before, but not the burgundy and multi-colored!

[JeanGreyForever]

For the heck of it, I'm attaching my own makeovers.

Those are cute, thanks for sharing! I love how the majority of them actually look movie-accurate with a few exceptions.

Rapunzel did have a green dress in the early concept art.

They tried all sorts of colors. There was a burgundy dress and a blue dress and even a multi-colored dress. ]

I've never seen that last piece of concept art before (the multi-colored one). Rapunzel looks gorgeous in it! I would have liked a Rapunzel who looks more like that facial-wise.

[Sotiris]

I've never seen that last piece of concept art before (the multi-colored one).

That's because it hadn't been released until now. Claire Keane posted it a few days ago on social media.

[JeanGreyForever]

I've never seen that last piece of concept art before (the multi-colored one).

That's because it hadn't been released until now. Claire Keane posted it a few days ago on social media.

Thanks for that info I don't normally follow twitter so I didn't realize until now, just how many goodies Claire Keane posts.

[Disney Duster]

I like Rapunzel's face best in the green and purple comparison.

Elladorine, your characters are very cute, but I guess by "makeovers" you were joking, because you just made them chibi, not really changing their hair and outfits? But I must say, Belle's dress is not quite accurate, her bodice and gloves is supposed to be darker than the rest of her dress, and the same color. And Cinderella's dress you made blue, after all you know from us on this forum, especially me?!! Belle's dress is gorgeous though. I think it is is objectively the best Disney Princess dress, despite Cinderella's being best to me.

But if your favorite color is purple, seems artists really do love purple, then!

[Elladorine]

Those are cute, thanks for sharing! I love how the majority of them actually look movie-accurate with a few exceptions.

Thank you! I've been having a lot of fun with these.

Elladorine, your characters are very cute, but I guess by "makeovers" you were joking, because you just made them chibi, not really changing their hair and outfits? But I must say, Belle's dress is not quite accurate, her bodice and gloves is supposed to be darker than the rest of her dress, and the same color. And Cinderella's dress you made blue, after all you know from us on this forum, especially me?!! Belle's dress is gorgeous though. I think it is is objectively the best Disney Princess dress, despite Cinderella's being best to me.

Thanks! And yeah, I was joking. I've been drawing chibi characters like this for a while, calling them "Lil' CutiEs." I mostly try to stay true to the characters while making them simple and streamlined. I mainly started these as a way to show some love to the lesser-known characters from all sorts of different sources, as well as characters I particularly like.

It's been a while since I've drawn the aforementioned Belle and Cinderella, so I'm not sure what I was thinking when it came to the colors. I do tend to pump up the saturation when I start coloring, so that probably explains Cinderella. And I imagine I started coloring Belle in the middle of the night or something. Regardless, it's hard to please everyone, but I do my best to make them universally appealing. I'd like to get around to drawing them with their other outfits too, so I can group them together in different ways. I've actually made a matching card game with this set of drawings, and the pair of Auroras each have a different colored dress (pink and blue, of course).

Anyway, to get back on track ... I'd love to see merchandise with different outfits! All of Belle's and Tiana's dresses, for example. But from a marketing standpoint, sticking with the same dresses unfortunately makes sense, especially given the age of the target audience; the colors themselves symbolize the characters, keeping them easy to recognize at even the slightest glance.

I do find it interesting how the marketing has shifted away from the films in favor of focusing on the characters. Because while I do love the characters, it's jarring to see them plucked out of the context of their film, often with a change of personality. I'm glad they're choosing to focus on making them more empowering, but I've always felt these ladies were already empowering long before this whole princess thing took off.

[Disney's Divinity]

Megara wears all pink in her only outfit

I know this is nitpicky of me, but Megara's dress is purple.

Yes, Belle's another one like Tiana that doesn't get to show the breadth of her great wardrobe. The green dress, the pink dress, her winter coat during "Something There," even her red dress from The Enchanted Christmas cover are all really lovely.

[unprincess]

every time I see concept art from Tangled it makes me sad. Sad b/c it makes the movie look so generic by comparison. And CGI seems to suffer more in comparison to its concept art than 2d does.

Elladorine I love your chibis! I especially love the non-Disney ones, a lot of great characters there(& I recognize all of them, yeay me!)

[JeanGreyForever]

every time I see concept art from Tangled it makes me sad. Sad b/c it makes the movie look so generic by comparison. And CGI seems to suffer more in comparison to its concept art than 2d does.

Same here. The concept designs are so rich in detail and texture, unlike the final product which was unmemorable and plastic. This is why I have never been able to warm up to Tangled. The name alone is a repellant enough.

[Disney Duster]

I see Elladorine. I like everything you said!

[DisneyFan09]

know this is nitpicky of me, but Megara's dress is purple.

Why do you have to be so condescending?

OK, fine, her dress isn't pure pink, but a lighter variation of purple.

Yes, Belle's another one like Tiana that doesn't get to show the breadth of her great wardrobe. The green dress, the pink dress, her winter coat during "Something There," even her red dress from The Enchanted Christmas cover are all really lovely.

Yeah. For all the remarks of the sequels, at least they could give the characters some new wardrobes. Belle's red dress in the movie is truly striking.

[Disney's Divinity]

Same here. The concept designs are so rich in detail and texture, unlike the final product which was unmemorable and plastic. This is why I have never been able to warm up to Tangled. The name alone is a repellant enough.

I know there's something about Rapunzel's dress in-film that has never worked me. I'm not sure what happened, since the purple/pink looks very nice in the above artwork/concept work. Somehow whenever I think of the finished product, it makes me think of scales?