Who's going to see Disney's the Princess and the Frog

[RedPiggy]

Yeah, well, you think this new N'Awlins Princess has it bad.

Out of all the talk I've seen on this thread, Jasmine isn't mentioned ONCE. I say Jasmine IS getting the short end of the PC stick. Poor girl is non-white, Muslim, and has the audacity to equal her husband in talent and athleticism, thus proving that not every Muslim chick is a burqa slave (no offense to Muslims -- I'm trying to support the character and her presence as a counter-argument to the idea that Muslim women are sheep under a veil). When I see Disney Princess merchandise ... it's almost ALWAYS Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, and Ariel. And Belle only gets to be a princess when she finally marries the prince (whose status seems awfully odd, since no one in France seems to care their royal family just disappeared ... he acts more like a noble than a prince). The Classic Princesses DID have it hard ... to the point that (and I do like these characters) Belle and Ariel come off as whiners in comparison. "Boo-hoo I can't find a boyfriend" is not as bad as "Well, Ma just tried to execute me."

 

[CensoredAlso]

I'm a huge Mulan fan and almost all the merchandise I ever saw was Mulan dressed in her "girl" outfit as opposed to her soldier uniform. Sort of defeats the purpose of the movie don't you think? ! Plus telling little girls what they're suppose to prefer.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's wrong for little girls to dress up and play at raising a family. Many girls genuniely enjoy that and why shouldn't they? As long as there's balance.

 

[RedPiggy]

I realize sometimes Mulan is mentioned ... but is she a princess? Her parents aren't royalty. She doesn't marry a prince. She really has no claim to the title, unfortunately. I loved Mulan. They probably don't include her soldier uniform because
1. They don't want to deal with thorny cross-dressing issues.
2. They don't want girls to think they have to dress like boys to succeed.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I realize sometimes Mulan is mentioned ... but is she a princess? Her parents aren't royalty. She doesn't marry a prince. She really has no claim to the title, unfortunately.

Which brings up the next issue, do we elevate the idea of royalty a little too much? Hehe

1. They don't want to deal with thorny cross-dressing issues.
2. They don't want girls to think they have to dress like boys to succeed.

Then they shouldn't have done the story at all if that was bothering them, heh.

And are we supposed to tell girls they have to wear frilly dresses in order to succeed? I think we should let girls wear what they want and not tell them it's "boy" or "girl" clothes.

 

[RedPiggy]

Which brings up the next issue, do we elevate the idea of royalty a little too much? Hehe

Well, I'm all for having cool female characters without them being "princesses". It's just, technically, Mulan doesn't qualify. And since Disney only seems to care about girls if they're princesses or fairies, poor Mulan gets left out in the cold.

Then they shouldn't have done the story at all if that was bothering them, heh.

And are we supposed to tell girls they have to wear frilly dresses in order to succeed? I think we should let girls wear what they want and not tell them it's "boy" or "girl" clothes.

Oh, I agree. I DESPISE dresses. I would rather wear a pantsuit, even to a funeral.

 

[The Count]

And can anyone satisfactorily explain me why Alice was made a Princess of the Heart?

 

[CensoredAlso]

And since Disney only seems to care about girls if they're princesses or fairies, poor Mulan gets left out in the cold.

Yeah I mean here we fought a revolution to get away from royalty and we're still so obsessed with it, lol. Even though many English people are fed up with their royalty!

 

[frogboy4]

We have an African American President a woman Speaker of the House and a former First Lady and senator turned Secretary of State. I feel the time for an African American Disney princess is long overdue. I don't see why Disney films have to contain princesses at all anymore. Not all fairy tales or fables have them. I like this particular film idea so far, but I think this princess is a good note to end on for a while.

Women no longer need to try so hard to be pretty or strong. Self confidence and being comfortable in one's own skin is achievable for both sexes. I suppose Belle is actually the best example (except for the name and the princess ending) of an intelligent, self-reliant, self-assured person that happens to be very much a young woman too. I'd like to see that expanded in non-princess-roles.

 

[Son of Enik]

I am also excited for this movie and agree with Janice that it will be nice to see Disney return to basics. Technology is great, but every once in a while I like to see something that sort of "takes me back, if you will.

 

[Drtooth]

And can anyone satisfactorily explain me why Alice was made a Princess of the Heart?

Alice as in Alice in Wonderland, or is thi new princess named Alice? Last time I heard her name was going to be Maddie, but someone didn't feel that was appropriate.


But I see a lot of characters who aren't considered princesses in the line up for merchandising reasons. I remember seeing Meg from Hercules at one point... and as was mentioned Mulan (she had a Pez dispenser in the Princesses Pez line)... there are a couple others. My question is, wouldn't Belle be a queen? I mean, when a prince marries a princess, and there's no King, doesn't that make him the king at one point? Still fuzzy about that one.

Although I'm getting better excited for Disney/Pixar's Up, while Toy Story 3's "official" plotline shows that Pixar ran out of ideas for the Toy Story characters.

As it should. The official plot line is a way to close the door on the characters having movies, and wrapping up their stories. If Disney and Pixar really split, there'd be no doubt they'd make like several crummy sequels using their own animation studios. I think the main reason they're even making TS3 is cuz Disney threatened to make one. I kinda liked the idea of Buzz getting recalled to China, but it would be the same "one toy rescues another" formula that the 2 films already did.

That said, I wish that they'd release that Buzz Lightyear cartoon series on DVD sets when it comes out. That show was much more brilliant than it needed to be.