"I also don’t think anyone watches Elf and wrings their hands about whether Buddy is a good role model for little boys." THANK YOU. Also, I watched the Disney Princess films as a little girl and it never occurred to me that the characters should be role models...because they were animated films and my parents taught me they were fiction while providing me with ACTUAL role models.
By the way, Disney has apparently since decided that the prince's name is Florian, though it's never mentioned in the film.
This sounds like such a fun series! I'm excited to see you write about the other princesses. I have a complicated relationship with Snow White; I was raised by a second-wave feminist mom who couldn't stand her, and though she may have been a little harsh, it's true that Snow White's trajectory was very like my maternal grandmother's: cooking and cleaning during her early teens for a family that expected that of her after her mother got sick. I'm sure this influenced my mom's view of her. Also, I think we take for granted that we have many and varied depictions of women in media today: it was definitely more limited in the 1930s! So I get the reaction against Snow White among earlier feminists, to an extent.
I really like your thoughtful take on the Snow White that acknowledges the complexity present here. Honestly, I think a LOT of people's dislike for the character is her voice. The actress did a fake chirrupy high voice for the role, and I get why some find it annoying!
The voice is definitely the most of-its-time element of the movie. Totally rooted in a 1930s ingenue mode that just doesn't exist anymore. That's really what made me think of Snow White as more of a standalone proto-Disney princess, so it was fun to realize just how much she really did set the template in every other way but her vocals.
And, yes, as with Barbie dolls, there's a whole lot of cultural baggage that (rightly or wrongly) goes along with the Disney princess phenomenon, and I totally respect everybody trying to navigate that in their own way. Although, I actually think there were better roles for women in 1930s movies than we assume there might have been! This article is a nice primer https://www.screenchic.com/post/the-gowns-by-effect-15-escapist-films-of-the-1930s
Interestingly, my mom was always very pro-Barbie — I think because Barbie especially in the early days when my mom had them was about women’s independence, having cool jobs, etc. and Barbie didn’t really cook or clean until much later! (Cook, at least, I don’t know about clean.)
really excited about this series because there really are so many interesting things to discuss. the cultural context (like you referenced), what it means that certain princess stories get cemented in popular culture (the many movie retellings of cinderella compared to others), their relationship to other pop culture, the relationship between the various disney princess stories, disney attempt at cultural diversity. sm cool things and cant wait to hear your takes
apologies for the already super long comment but will this series be limited to the ‘official’ princesses or will characters like esmeralda and megara be discussed?
Thank you! Right now my plan is to make my way through the official Disney princess line-up first (so Snow, Cindy, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Anna/Elsa, Moana, and Raya). But assuming people are still interested in reading at that point, I'd love to circle back around to tackle some non-royal Disney heroines and some non-Disney animated royals like Anastasia and Thumbelina too.
We’ve just started watching Disney films with my 2 year old son and he loves them! We started with Snow White, which he called “Naughty Lady” for ages and even adapted the prince’s “one song” to “one naughty lady”. The prince’s “one song” also feels totally epic.
Such a great article! The point about role models was so thought-provoking. Looking back, as a kid, the princesses I liked most were the ones I found the prettiest or the most magical. It's something that, now, comes across as shallow - these days, it's far 'cooler' to like Mulan for her bravery, or Meg for her wit. And that's totally valid! However, I think modern discourse sometimes underestimates how big an appeal the sense of pure magic and, yes, beauty those classic movies had which kids absolutely eat up. I mean, Frozen was loved for its sisterly bond and fantastic music, but I'd argue it was because it was centered around a beautiful magical ice queen!
Absolutely! I think there's a pure aesthetic appeal to animation that gets really undervalued when people talk about these movies. Like, just looking at all the beautiful gown designs was at least 60% of the appeal to me as a kid.
Exactly! The blue vs pink dress debate mattered to me so much for Aurora. And I'm still not over the downgrade from Cinderella’s original silver dress to the blue one she's often depicted with haha
Another excellent piece. I haven’t watched Snow White since I was little and I don’t remember much from it, but you’ve inspired me to give it a watch and see how I feel about it as an adult!
"I also don’t think anyone watches Elf and wrings their hands about whether Buddy is a good role model for little boys." THANK YOU. Also, I watched the Disney Princess films as a little girl and it never occurred to me that the characters should be role models...because they were animated films and my parents taught me they were fiction while providing me with ACTUAL role models.
By the way, Disney has apparently since decided that the prince's name is Florian, though it's never mentioned in the film.
This sounds like such a fun series! I'm excited to see you write about the other princesses. I have a complicated relationship with Snow White; I was raised by a second-wave feminist mom who couldn't stand her, and though she may have been a little harsh, it's true that Snow White's trajectory was very like my maternal grandmother's: cooking and cleaning during her early teens for a family that expected that of her after her mother got sick. I'm sure this influenced my mom's view of her. Also, I think we take for granted that we have many and varied depictions of women in media today: it was definitely more limited in the 1930s! So I get the reaction against Snow White among earlier feminists, to an extent.
I really like your thoughtful take on the Snow White that acknowledges the complexity present here. Honestly, I think a LOT of people's dislike for the character is her voice. The actress did a fake chirrupy high voice for the role, and I get why some find it annoying!
The voice is definitely the most of-its-time element of the movie. Totally rooted in a 1930s ingenue mode that just doesn't exist anymore. That's really what made me think of Snow White as more of a standalone proto-Disney princess, so it was fun to realize just how much she really did set the template in every other way but her vocals.
And, yes, as with Barbie dolls, there's a whole lot of cultural baggage that (rightly or wrongly) goes along with the Disney princess phenomenon, and I totally respect everybody trying to navigate that in their own way. Although, I actually think there were better roles for women in 1930s movies than we assume there might have been! This article is a nice primer https://www.screenchic.com/post/the-gowns-by-effect-15-escapist-films-of-the-1930s
Interestingly, my mom was always very pro-Barbie — I think because Barbie especially in the early days when my mom had them was about women’s independence, having cool jobs, etc. and Barbie didn’t really cook or clean until much later! (Cook, at least, I don’t know about clean.)
really excited about this series because there really are so many interesting things to discuss. the cultural context (like you referenced), what it means that certain princess stories get cemented in popular culture (the many movie retellings of cinderella compared to others), their relationship to other pop culture, the relationship between the various disney princess stories, disney attempt at cultural diversity. sm cool things and cant wait to hear your takes
apologies for the already super long comment but will this series be limited to the ‘official’ princesses or will characters like esmeralda and megara be discussed?
Thank you! Right now my plan is to make my way through the official Disney princess line-up first (so Snow, Cindy, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Anna/Elsa, Moana, and Raya). But assuming people are still interested in reading at that point, I'd love to circle back around to tackle some non-royal Disney heroines and some non-Disney animated royals like Anastasia and Thumbelina too.
Oh, all the Cinderellas would be fun! The Slipper and the Rose, Roger’s and Hammerstein’s, Ever After…
Very excited for this series!
We’ve just started watching Disney films with my 2 year old son and he loves them! We started with Snow White, which he called “Naughty Lady” for ages and even adapted the prince’s “one song” to “one naughty lady”. The prince’s “one song” also feels totally epic.
Such a great article! The point about role models was so thought-provoking. Looking back, as a kid, the princesses I liked most were the ones I found the prettiest or the most magical. It's something that, now, comes across as shallow - these days, it's far 'cooler' to like Mulan for her bravery, or Meg for her wit. And that's totally valid! However, I think modern discourse sometimes underestimates how big an appeal the sense of pure magic and, yes, beauty those classic movies had which kids absolutely eat up. I mean, Frozen was loved for its sisterly bond and fantastic music, but I'd argue it was because it was centered around a beautiful magical ice queen!
Absolutely! I think there's a pure aesthetic appeal to animation that gets really undervalued when people talk about these movies. Like, just looking at all the beautiful gown designs was at least 60% of the appeal to me as a kid.
Exactly! The blue vs pink dress debate mattered to me so much for Aurora. And I'm still not over the downgrade from Cinderella’s original silver dress to the blue one she's often depicted with haha
Another excellent piece. I haven’t watched Snow White since I was little and I don’t remember much from it, but you’ve inspired me to give it a watch and see how I feel about it as an adult!
one thing I love about Snow White is just how snarky and funny she is. totally unexpected when i I watched as an adult
Yes!! She's so hilariously passive aggressive