Once upon a time a movie princess was a damsel in distress, swathed in pink and jewels, waiting for Prince Charming to come to the rescue.
Lately, however, the movies have given us a different kind of princess, one who is more into grrrl-power than girly-girl. This weekend Disney helps redefine their traditional princess in their 56th animated feature film, Moana,
The thirteenth official Disney princess is inspired by Polynesian mythology. Sixteen-year-old Moana (voiced by newcomer Auli’i Cravalho) is a natural born navigator with a mystical connection to the ocean and all its creatures who goes on a sea quest to find a mysterious island. She’s high-spirited and adventurous, but as Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), reminds her, “You’re the daughter of a chief and you’re wearing a dress: you’re a princess.”
Moana isn’t the first movie to shatter the stereotype of the pretty pink princess.
“All these Disney heroines, the princesses, they’re a product of their time,” Maleficent screenwriter Linda Wolverton told the Associated Press. “The princesses created in the 1940s and ’50s, were the best of what a woman should be then: You’re the good girl. You took abuse and through it all, you sang and were nice. But we’re not like that anymore. We kick ass now.”
According to Roger Ebert, Ariel, the teenage mermaid princess of The Little Mermaid, “is a fully realized female character who thinks and acts independently, even rebelliously, instead of hanging around passively while the fates decide her destiny.”
In other words, she still marries her prince charming, but for the first time a Disney princess gave a lesson in independence and had a hand (or fin) in deciding her fate.
The success of that movie led to a new batch of princesses who were empowered and could look after themselves and others.
Jasmine, the daughter of the wealthy Sultan of Agrabah and the princess at the heart of Aladdin, didn’t fight off invaders but did do something that made her unique in the Disney princess world.
Tired of life in the royal palace, instead of waiting for rescue, the independently minded aristocrat made her own way, even deciding to marry a commoner rather than a prince.
Mark Andrews, the co-director of Brave, the story of a Celtic princess who rebels against her mother and escapes from castle life, calls the movie’s lead character “an anti-princess.” The Princess and the Frog’s Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose), the first ever African-American princess lead in a Disney film, is also an ambitious character in a way that would have been unthinkable in Snow White’s day.
More recently the phenomenally successful Frozen was the story of two royal sisters, the Princesses of Arendelle, Anna, a spirited adventurer, played by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel’s Elsa, a cryokinetic queen with the awesome power to manifest ice and snow. Like Carrie, but colder. Both are powerful, determined women, but the real twist here is in the definition of the true meaning of love. There’s a male hero, but the real love on display here is between the two sisters.
When you thinks about movie princesses a few names come immediately to mind: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora and Belle. This fab four have come to define what being a movie princess is all about. Or at least they used to.
Brave, the new Pixar princess movie, feeling as though the story was familiar, that was on purpose.
“We wanted it have that feeling where you wonder, ‘Was that a real fairy tale?’” says producer Katherine Sarafian. “Because it feels like a classic, dark ancient tale but told in a new way.”
Director Mark Andrews adds that it took years to fine-tune the story. “We didn’t really have the story done, done-done-done-itty-done-done in all its permutations, until December of last year.” He says. “In the last three months I honed it. That happens by watching it over and over and over again.”
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“The film will tell you what it needs and it doesn’t need much,” says Sarafian. “It doesn’t need every bit of dialogue ever recorded. You need to get the point across.”
The inspiration for the story of Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), a flame-haired tomboy-turned-princess, who clashes with her mother and learns that you have to be careful what you wish for —especially when that wish is granted by an absent-minded witch — came from a number of sources.
“There are stories about people changing onto animals,” said Andrews. “There are stories about asking for a wish and it going wrong and teaching you a lesson. There are all those aspects of it in different pieces so we built this thing from scratch; pulling ideas that we know have worked in other places.”
The final stop before theatres is the head office of Pixar, home to hits like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3.
“The people I have to show the film to have been through it,” says Andrews. “They have Academy Awards, so if they say, ‘I smell a rat,’ I have to get back in there. They are the best guys to have on your side. I want their response.”
“Our bosses are creative,” says Sarafian. “They have all directed, rather than having suits or business people make the decisions by focus group or budget. They’re making decisions based on what they find entertaining based on their experiences and training.”
The result is a classic feeling film, with no pop culture references. “We didn’t want to be glib,” said Sarafian, “we want generations to watch it.”
When one thinks about movie princesses a few names come top of mind: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora and Belle. This fab four have come to define what being a movie princess is all about. Or at least they used to.
Once upon a time a movie princess was a damsel in distress, swathed in pink and jewels, waiting for Prince Charming to come to the rescue.
Lately, however, the movies have given us a different kind of princess, one who is more into grrrl-power than girly-girl.
Related:
Scotland — home of the Brave, land of the castles
Mark Andrews, the co-director of this weekend’s cinema release Brave, the story of a Celtic princess who rebels against her mother, calls the movie’s lead character “an anti-princess.”
“She’s an active and action-oriented person,” he says. “She wants to get out in the outdoors of the Highlands, escaping from castle life and exploring the woods.”
Brave isn’t the first movie to shatter the stereotype of the pretty pink princess.
According to Roger Ebert, Ariel, the teenage mermaid princess of The Little Mermaid, “is a fully realized female character who thinks and acts independently, even rebelliously, instead of hanging around passively while the fates decide her destiny.”
In other words, she still marries her prince charming, but for the first time a Disney princess gave a lesson in independence and had a hand (or fin) in deciding her fate.
The success of that movie led to a new batch of princesses who were empowered and could look after themselves and others.
Pocahontas was an adventurous princess who put her own life at risk to stop a war between her people, the Powhatans, and the British settlers, and the fiery Mulan broke gender boundaries by enlisting in the army and saving China from total devastation at the hands of the Huns.
Jasmine, the daughter of the wealthy Sultan of Agrabah and the princess at the heart of Aladdin, didn’t fight off invaders but she did do something that made her unique in the Disney princess world.
Tired of life in the royal palace, instead of waiting for rescue, the independently minded noblewoman made her own way, even deciding to marry a commoner rather than a prince.
But not all anti-princesses are animated.
The recent mega-flop John Carter featured Martian
Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) who, despite falling for the prince charming title character, was also a warrior and a scientist who wasn’t afraid to stand up for things she believed in.
I’m not sure how long something has to exist in order to be called a classic, so I’ll qualify this review in a different way. With “Brave” it’s possible Pixar has created an instant classic, a film that will be as fresh thirty years from now as it is today.
It’s a brand new fairy tale about Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald), a flame-haired Celtic tomboy-turned-princess. She’s feisty, with little regard for the customs of her station in life, including an age-old ritual that will decide who she will marry. When her mother (Emma Thompson) insists she follow custom and choose a husband from the eldest sons of the MacGuffin, Macintosh and Dingwall clans Merida learns that you have to be careful what you wish for—especially when that wish is granted by an absent-minded witch (Julie Walters).
“Brave” so effectively creates its own world and mythology it would be easy to think it is an old tale updated by the story shamans at Pixar, but it’s a new story that feels timeless. There’s no pop culture references à la “Shrek” and only a couple of pop-song montages to date it. Other than that it feels like a classic, with one major difference—strong female characters.
Merida may be a princess in the tradition of Disney princesses but she’s also strong willed with a story arc that keeps her in the middle of the action. There’s nothing passive about her, or about her mother’s character either.
It’s a refreshing change, and one that should appeal to girls. But the movie isn’t just for the distaff side of the family. Everyone will enjoy the humor, the gentle action and characters.
When I first saw the trailers for “Brave” I thought it looked very conventional, as if Pixar was leaving behind the imaginative storytelling that had become their trademark to tell a simpler tale. How wrong I was.
By Richard Crouse – Metro In Focus
