I found myself in a Disney sort of mood the other day (shut up, it happens), so I finally watched Enchanted and The Princess and the Frog. The former was OK. Not great, but good, mostly because of Amy Adams. (I don't know how she managed to play the role of a 500% adorable Disney princess who believes in the power of ~love~ and ~niceness~ without bugging the crap out of me, but she pulled it off somehow, four for her.)
The Princess and the Frog was also great, not good. To its credit, it was really (forgive the unintentional pun) unexpectedly dark for a Disney movie. The way the villain dies is absolutely terrifying, and I never thought I'd see a Disney movie where the adorable, comedic relief sidekick is just outright killed. I mean, sure, he's reincarnated as a star to be with his lady love or something (?!?!?!), but... he was fucking stepped on. And he didn't magically survive it. That's some heavy stuff for a Disney movie.
I think that if I'd seen Princess when I was a kid I'd have loved it as much as I love the classic Disney movies I grew up with (mostly The Lion King and Mulan—I have personal problems with The Beauty and the Beast, but that's another story for another time). When I look back at those movies now my nostalgic feelings are tempered by a big dose of awareness for how messed up they are, largely in regards to (I don't even need to tell you this, do I?) their female characters.
But Princess is nicely non-problematic that way. I mean, sure, Tiana still gets married at the end of it. But I'm willing to overlook that typical Disney move because, as a Disney princess and a heroine, she's flipping (pun intentional that time) awesome. And so:
Five Reasons Tiana Is Better Than Every Other Disney Princess (Except Maybe Mulan*):
 |
| Not emotionally scarring at all. Nope. |
I think that if I'd seen Princess when I was a kid I'd have loved it as much as I love the classic Disney movies I grew up with (mostly The Lion King and Mulan—I have personal problems with The Beauty and the Beast, but that's another story for another time). When I look back at those movies now my nostalgic feelings are tempered by a big dose of awareness for how messed up they are, largely in regards to (I don't even need to tell you this, do I?) their female characters.
But Princess is nicely non-problematic that way. I mean, sure, Tiana still gets married at the end of it. But I'm willing to overlook that typical Disney move because, as a Disney princess and a heroine, she's flipping (pun intentional that time) awesome. And so:
Five Reasons Tiana Is Better Than Every Other Disney Princess (Except Maybe Mulan*):