Disney Princesses

[Drtooth]

It's always existed to a certain extent. Reflected in, say, that Transformers character that offended Casey Kasem. I don't mind the occasional edgy humor about it. If I, as an Italian, have to constantly tolerate people's childish obsession with the mob, then other cultures can deal with this stuff too.

Well, Cracked was the hit or miss crummy Mad Magazine knockoff back in the day. I can't remember the exact quote about Aladdin. It was on the back of a similar wanted poster for Either Tiny Toons ("midnight rumbles with the Muppet Babies") or Darkwing Duck ("Copyright infringement of Daffy Duck and The Shadow"- actually, that one was kinda clever). But yeah. It was some lame joke about Aladdin being a terrorist.

 

[CensoredAlso]

What?Which pet part?

Take the phrase "carpet bombing" and remove "pet." What's left?

 

[BeakerJanice]

Take the phrase "carpet bombing" and remove "pet." What's left?

It's car bombing

 

[Drtooth]

Getting back on topic. If there's one thing that I really think the Princess brand robs little girls of, it's proper Legos.

You see, there are Disney Princess Legos out there, but disappointingly, the minifigures are more like little dolls, and not the iconic yellow headed, blocky bodied, Lego looking characters that are ubiquitous with the brand normally. Which is a darn shame. Sure, there are instances of things like The Simpsons, TMNT, Star Wars characters and the like that have custom sculpted heads, but overall still have a Lego feel to them. And these aren't for little girls small enough to choke on a hairpiece.

 

[beatnikchick300]

I agree, yet with the caveat that more tolerant people will overshadow the intolerant. Some of us still remember the Southern Baptist Disney Boycot of the 90's. I can see the detraction already: "Disney using princesses to push gay agenda." It's a matter of Disney doing something bold and wanting to cover their butts from overly powerful groups. I'd say it's something bound to happen in time, it just might take a while.

I just find Clarence, Korra, and Paranorman managed to be bolder, but more subtly. Then again, Korra was dumped out online instead of getting a TV premiere. Then again, it could be a co-incidence.



Truth. But they have to do it right. I can't tell you how much tokens or flat characters bug me. That's not representation, that's saying "Happy?" in a passive aggressive manner. Look at Jasmine. Did anyone even care that she was Middle Eastern when the movie came out? No. It came out natural. The crap they went through with Tiana was legendary, and girls just wanted the Chippettes anyway. It's great that we have an African American princess, but even the groups on board with that decision put them under scrutiny. Yeah. The "Maddie sounds almost like Mammy if you say it with a cold to someone with Tinnitus" crowd. It's give and take. You don't want these companies relying on white characters, stop picking everything apart as a negative cultural stereotype. Characters need flaws. Oversensitivity kills diversity just as much as ignorance. And sometime you have to be met halfway.

But above all, do they have to be Princesses? Princess is just a brand now. I've been saying this ad nauseum in this thread, but Disney's best when it goes off book and does something all its own. Or as on its own as it can.

Tiana had flaws. She was a workaholic who wouldn't allow herself to have fun, considering it a waste of time that would just hinder her dream of getting a restaurant (that's...actually a flaw I can relate to, to some extent). But yeah, I agree that characters without flaws are boring. I'm behind writing characters with flaws (not so much that they're a jerk or an idiot that the audience doesn't care about, of course, but there's a middle ground). You can do that without making them a stereotype (I was glad that Tiana had flaws without being the "sassy black girl/woman" stereotype I see EVERYWHERE; I know I've gone on rants about that before). And I really didn't get the controversy about naming her "Maddie" (my 5-year-old cousin's name is Madison, and we call her "Maddie" without a second thought). But anyway, I think writing good characters with flaws is a pretty universal problem, and let's be honest, the vast majority of people with a lot of say in Hollywood are white and male; that just is what it is. And focus groups end up doing more harm than good anyway.

And of course they don't "have" to be princesses. But the truth is, people expect this kind of thing from Disney.

 

[Drtooth]

Tiana was written beautifully, and the movie was good. I'm just saying there are some cases where characters aren't as lucky. Thankfully there hasn't really been that much of a problem with Disney movies. But some cartoon shows I just grimace that they make a big deal of having ethnic characters that walk on eggshells. The SNL skit about Asian Barbie pretty much summed it up. It also should be known that Pixar films aren't exactly diverse either, yet you never really hear much about that. Frankly, I think Frozone stole the show in The Incredibles. He deserves a spinoff movie.

Also, have they ever thought about having someone of ethnicity head up a project about their culture? That would be a great way to get organic diversity. I'm truly disappointed by the lack of interest in Book of Life. Sure, it wasn't the greatest animated film, but it was great that we had a Latino/Hispanic film that didn't need to try too hard. I'd love to see more animated films headed up by artists/cartoonists with a cultural background.

 

[mr3urious]

I have faith in that Sofia the First spinoff with Disney's first Hispanic princess. That demographic of preschoolers deserve better than Dora or Handy Manny, and I'm sure the producers know what they're doing with the characters and culture (which would probably cover a broad spectrum of Latin American cultures, including Spain).

 

[Drtooth]

I wonder how Sophia actually fits into the Princess scheme. She's a preschool show, so she's clearly given a lot more love than the standard Disney TV show. Not that it's a bad thing, as it's a quality preschool series. It's not a movie, though, and since the Princess is a young girl, they can't exactly market her the same way, even though it is to relatively the same focus group.

But I'll tell you this. They made up their own princess now. They have the capability to do that instead of having to repurpose established fairy tales that, let's face it, were far from their original stories anyway. And by no means a bad thing. Who would have wanted to see cute and quirky Ariel turn into sea foam?

 

[BeakerJanice]

Technically..She's not a princess.Bit what do you think about alice?

 

[Harleena]

and let's not forget our lovely friends Sailor Uranus and Sailor Mercury

I MEANT NEPTUNE HOW DID I MISS THAT