Much like almost every other kid growing up in an Americanized culture during the 90’s, my first cartoons were Disney animated movies. The first bits of technology I dominated were the rewind and play buttons on the VCR, the first song I learned in English was a mangled version of A Whole New World and the first time I remember pretending to be anyone but myself was on my 4th birthday when my parents dressed me up as The Little Mermaid and I went around all day, waddling like a penguin in my open-ended green tail, responding only to Ariel.
There’s much to love in Disney films: the beautiful animation, the exciting adventures and wondrous magic, the uplifting and catchy songs, the thoughtful lessons the stories brought – even if we couldn’t understand them entirely back then –, the happy endings with the triumph of love and truth over evil, and, perhaps the most important, the characters. Like many other girls and boys in the world, some of these characters became my heroes, particularly the group of characters that in 2000 became known as the Disney Princess.
Now more than ever, the cultural importance and the social influence of these Disney Princesses is at its strongest – and Disney is aware of it, which is perhaps why these characters have evolved so much from the conception of the first Princess, Snow White, in 1937 to what we’ve witnessed in recent ones like Mulan (1998), Merida (2012) and Anna and her sister Elsa (2013).
For me, there’s a clear line dividing these princesses into three groups, marking them as the products of their generations and the cultural values of that time, and they all have to do with romantic love, how it defined these characters and the role it plays in their stories.
Princesses have always been a very important part of Disney’s storytelling. Most Disney movies are based on already-existing fairy tales, short stories and historical myths, and royalty and nobility always takes the spotlight in these stories. The first category of Disney Princesses fits perfectly into the princess archetype: gorgeous, graceful, feminine, coy, and sweet. The first type of Disney Princess is kindness, innocence and beauty personified – and not much else. The earliest Disney Princesses – Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty – were loved and hated exclusively because of their beauty, and aside from that, the only thing we know is that they loved animals and liked to sing.
Moreover, all of them were subservient; Snow White and Cinderella never complained about the manual labor forced on them. They accepted their work graciously, never questioning it or doubting for a second that life would eventually get better through the arrival of their prince. That’s all these princesses wanted out of life. They demurely waited for their lives to be saved by the arrival of love, even before they experienced magic. The only one to get involved in changing her own circumstances was Cinderella, but still she wished solely for love and a prince to take her out of her life of servitude, and she did it solely through her beauty.
Nearing the 90’s, the approach to the characterization of the princesses changed. The princesses now had ambitions and desires aside from finding true love, they had stronger personalities and stood up for what they believed in. They were still beautiful and desired for that beauty, but they wanted to be more than just beautiful: they wanted to be adventurous, knowledgeable and, most of all, free of the lives they had always known.
Ariel wanted to walk with humans; Belle wanted to find adventure like those in her books; Jasmine wanted out of the palace and the possibility of an arranged marriage; and Pocahontas wanted to follow her own path. Romance wasn’t exactly the primary concern for these princesses, but most of them did think about it at one point or another, and ultimately, they were only able to fulfill their wishes through loving a man: Ariel’s wish to remain human depended entirely on Eric falling in love with her and kissing her; Jasmine discovered a whole new world only through Aladdin; Belle found her book-like adventure when she learned to love a beast; and Pocahontas’ path was literally John Smith, and although they don’t end up together, she fulfilled her destiny through her love for him.
The third group comprises those princesses for whom love either came as a by-product of their pursuit of ambitions and desires or those for whom love never took part in their stories at all. This is the most contemporary style of Disney Princess, and they are often (seemingly) normal women who take their futures into their own hands – kind, hardworking and selfless, but with strong convictions and real flaws.
This movement started with Mulan in 1998, the only non-royal Disney Princess, and continued in other princesses like Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida (who Disney borrowed from Pixar) and the pair of sisters from Frozen, Anna and Elsa. Clumsy but brave Mulan, workaholic but kind Tiana, innocent but spirited Rapunzel, impetuous but strong-willed Merida, self-conscious but wise Elsa and naïve but determined Anna, they are all Disney’s most effective attempts at rounded, relatable, and strong but flawed princesses and heroines. Every single one of them embraced their virtues and imperfections and went on journeys to take hold of whatever they wanted: to protect a loved one, see the world or save their own lives. Romantic love was a by-product of the alliance on a journey – not the focus or the destination, but a respite from it. For others it never happened, like Merida and Elsa, simply because they didn’t need it to grow up and evolve in their stories.
Love is an essential part of life; to imply that one of these princesses is more feminist than the other because of the presence or lack of romantic love is a blatant ignorance of what feminism means. The evolution of these princesses, their worth as heroines and even as possible feminist ideals, is measured by who they are, what defined them, what they fought for and what they contributed to their own stories, not who they loved. Jasmine was just as feisty as Merida, Belle just as stubborn as Tiana, Pocahontas as brave as Mulan. But in many cases, love was used as an excuse for the princesses’ inactivity and lack of involvement in not only the pursuit of their own dreams, but also in the saving of their own lives. That’s where the problem was, but Disney continues moving away from that issue, developing not just pure and beautiful princesses, but multi-faceted, strong and flawed heroines.
Each of the princesses teaches something truly important to children: the first generation of princesses teaches about love and kindness; the second about ambition, self-discovery and the pursuit of what we want; but the third generation teaches what is perhaps the most valuable lesson of all: you have flaws, weaknesses and insecurities and you will make mistakes, but so does everyone, and that doesn’t mean you’re not strong, that you can’t bravely take life head-on and pursue whatever you want, that flawed can still be beautiful, and that’s just the type of princess the world needs right now.
Lorraine Acevedo Franqui writes for Girl In Capes from Puerto Rico and holds degrees in English Literature and Psychology. Her main interests are young adult lit, anything related to The Legend of Zelda and Kingdom Hearts, assorted shounen mangas and cats.
