Disney Princess Question

[prettyboystyle1]

So Mulan was dating a general, so she was technically not a princess..but she's one of the Official Disney Princesses...

However:

Megaera dated Hercules, the son of the king of gods, and she's not a Disney princess?
Jane dated Tarzan, king of the jungle, and she's not a Disney princess?
Esmeralda dated a general, so why can't she be a princess like Mulan?

[thelittleursula]

Esmeralda was apart of a movie that didn't do so hot in the box office, same with Meg. Jane these days is pretty much forgotten, so she wouldn't sell dolls either.



Mulan's movie did better than HOND and Hercules, and she's unforgettable unlike Jane.


Esmeralda and Meg also have that " sexy " thing about them, which wouldn't do well with something that's aimed for 3- 10 year old girls.

Mulan, even though she got through to the line with Pocahontas, is even struggling. In fact, she might be dropped off with Pocahontas in a few years time. Mulan, Pocahontas, and Tiana sell the least mech.


Kida and Elionwy are also Princesses even more so than Mulan, Pocahontas, Meg and Esmeralda but they starred in box office bombs, so no dolls. Atlantis is starting to gain a cult-following though, same with HOND and Hercules. So there is hope.

[Patrick]

Mulan and Pocahontas are only meant to "diversify" the princess line. I suppose it's understandable that they were added at one point but their representation on merchandise in laughable. (Even their film releases were terrible, both packaged with a sequel with few bonus features.) Jasmine typically is the "poc," and everryyyyy once and a while you'll see Tiana. Never together, though.

It's so interesting to me that Walt's three are always featured so heavily when I feel like they have a much smaller cultural impact on today's Disney kid.

I agree with everything thelittleursula said as well.

[Warm Regards]

I find it simultaneously sad and humorous that Disney wants diversity, and yet they only have one Asian princess (Mulan), one black princess (Tiana), etc., which are rarely marketed in comparison to Cinderella, Rapunzel, and other princesses. Are the former really so unpopular in sales to warrant underpromotion?

However, I can imagine the backlash if Meg and Jane were added, because even if Esmerelda and Kida were included, the representation issue would become more prevalent. The last four years brought four European princesses, while it took about 17 years to get Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tiana. I don't necessarily agree with this mentality of white princesses being "the same culture", but I do agree that more princesses of color would be awesome. Plus we have TWO Norwegian princesses with Anna and Elsa, so why not have a second Chinese princess, a second black princess, etc.

Esmeralda and Meg also have that " sexy " thing about them, which wouldn't do well with something that's aimed for 3- 10 year old girls.

Jasmine was pretty sexified too. That flirting with Jafar near the end of the film? Ariel didn't use as much body language on Eric.

[thedisneyspirit]

Agree with pretty much what everybody else has said.

That's one of the reasons why I don't like the Princess line: it's sort of an elitist club that doesn't allow certain girls entering because of BS reasons. So interesting characters like Meg or Lilo or Esmeralda are dropped off for whatever reason.


That's kinda why I'd wish this line was deleted and replaced with "Disney Girls" or something similar, featuring most of the female characters from Disney. If it's a big roster, they can always rotate around for sales (in Spring you find Rapunzel, Jasmine and Sally. In Summer you find Nala, Meg and Tiana...etc etc).

But people say that my idea is stupid because "so-and-so aren't princesses". So what? Darling Mulan's in the official line despite not being a princess, and nobody cries about that, so why is my line "stupid" or invalid?

[dollover]

That's kinda why I'd wish this line was deleted and replaced with "Disney Girls" or something similar, featuring most of the female characters from Disney. If it's a big roster, they can always rotate around for sales (in Spring you find Rapunzel, Jasmine and Sally. In Summer you find Nala, Meg and Tiana...etc etc).

But people say that my idea is stupid because "so-and-so aren't princesses". So what? Darling Mulan's in the official line despite not being a princess, and nobody cries about that, so why is my line "stupid" or invalid?

What are you talking about?! I see people cry and b@#% about Mulan being in the line all the time, and wanting her kicked out because she's not technically a princess. It pisses me off. Like just because you don't like her doesn't mean other people don't, and her being in the line does absolutely nothing to affect you so why would you care if she's in the line or not. I don't mean you personally by the way, just people who want certain characters kicked out for one dumb reason or another.

I don't think your idea is stupid, I would love to see more females characters in a Disney girls or heroines line or whatever. To me, that would be a win win situation. Granted, some characters aren't as popular as others, and I would understand if they get less merchandise, but at least it wouldn't be zero merchandise if they are in such a line.

[Linden]

I'd love a girls or heroines line too. Most of my favourite Disney girls aren't technically princesses, and merchandise for them would be pretty swell. Plus I'm sick to death of princess craze.

[thelittleursula]

Plus we have TWO Norwegian princesses with Anna and Elsa, so why not have a second Chinese princess, a second black princess, etc.

Another Chinese Princess and African American Princess would be awesome ! Or even a Korean or Japanese Princess. Surely there is some awesome Asian Fairy Tales out there.

Jasmine was pretty sexified too. That flirting with Jafar near the end of the film? Ariel didn't use as much body language on Eric.

Truuue.

[Marce82]

FIrst off, for the record, I would like to state that I generally like disney princess films (some more than others).

The Disney Princess LINE was created not out of artistic intent, but purely for merchandising reasons. Why are some princesses (or non princesses like Mulan) featured more than others? Simple. Which one will sell more merchandise. And the reality is, the United States is in the western Hemisphere, which is culturally rooted in European culture. Walt-era princesses were based on European tales, which is why they were all white (and originally never intended to be put one next to the other for merchandising).

When we got to the 90s and absurd political correctness demanded that Disney become less white-washed, there were no more white princesses created between 1991 and 2010. ALL the princesses in between were not white. (note: I'm not saying that the disney princess should have remained all white... but for almost 20 years its was one minority after another).

Why didnt Esmeralda, Jane, Kida, or Meg become part of the line? They dont sell tiaras. They dont sell fancy dresses. Those characters were not glamorous, and/or the films they were in were not glamorous.

(I still think its ridiculous they added Merida to the line...and I wonder if she will remain. Alice and tinkerbell were once part of the line too... I even think Mulan was a bit of a stretch, she is dressed as a man through most of the film (and I dont see little girls buying chinese armors).

[DancingCrab]

Surely there is some awesome Asian Fairy Tales out there.

I still hope that one day Disney does a full length animated feature of Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale. They can turn it into a romance with the kitchen maid falling in love with the Emperor and becoming a princess like Cindy, Belle and Tiana.

[unprincess]

theres a big difference b/w the sexuality you see with Jasmine & what you see with Meg & Esmeralda. Jasmine was forced to do what she did with Jafar b/c she had to try to help Aladdin. Notice she's grossed out (rightfully so) when she's kissing Jafar. Meg & Esme on the other hand are comfortable with their sexuality & flaunt it. Thats a biiig no-no for this kind of line & its target audience(& thier parents)! And one of the reasons they were probably left out.

[disneyprincess11]

Ok, so:

-I read somewhere that Meg was seriously considered to be added in the lineup, but Disney thought since she worked with the villain, she would be a "bad example"
-Esemerelda needs to be a princess. She's one of my fave heroines. But, i think she's not added because: THBOND didn't do hot and she may not be added especially because that movie could be deemed too inapporiate to be added as a "Princess flick"
-As a 5 year old, I thought Jane was going to be added and I was waiting for princess stuff for her. But, I guess she's not added because she wouldn't be a princess, but a queen.

And yeah, what unprincess said: Meg and Esemerelda could have been too sexy to be added, but they're not that inappropriate TBH.

As for Kida (who would have been a great addition, I think she should have been inducted anyway) and Elinowy, they are not it only because their movies bombed. Plus, like HOND, The Black Cauldron would be way too dark for a Princess movie.

EDIT: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand when The Emperor's New Groove was "Kingdom of the Sun", there was going to be a Hispanic/Latina princess (A llama herder who marries the princess), but was cut in the final version. So, we were close in getting a Hispanic/Latino princess

[dollover]

theres a big difference b/w the sexuality you see with Jasmine & what you see with Meg & Esmeralda. Jasmine was forced to do what she did with Jafar b/c she had to try to help Aladdin. Notice she's grossed out (rightfully so) when she's kissing Jafar. Meg & Esme on the other hand are comfortable with their sexuality & flaunt it. Thats a biiig no-no for this kind of line & its target audience(& thier parents)! And one of the reasons they were probably left out.

I think Jasmine seemed pretty comfortable with her sexuality and was certainly flaunting it when she was faking out Prince Ali. I think it's more the blockbuster and popularity thing that determines who's in the line or not.

[thelittleursula]

-I read somewhere that Meg was seriously considered to be added in the lineup, but Disney thought since she worked with the villain, she would be a "bad example"

Kids are not that dumb though. It's not like they're going to grow up joining the Mafia or something because of Meg, gheez.

-Esemerelda needs to be a princess. She's one of my fave heroines. But, i think she's not added because: THBOND didn't do hot

Yes ;-;

Wanna find a time machine, head back to when HOND is cinema's and brainwash everybody to go seeing the movie so Esmeralda can be in the Princess line ??