Mirror mirror on the wall...who's the fairest of them all?
Well, certainly not the newest creation the Disney marketing plan has cooked up. Recently Disney has released new updated images of the Disney princesses and it's not pretty.
Compared to the original designs, Disney is getting a lot of flack over these new revisions and I'm not surprised at all. This comes on the tails of the Princess Merida scandal.
Disney has been accused of over-sexualizing her character. As you can see with a bit of animation nip/tuck they have given her a more femininely figure and taken away her trademark bow and arrow. They even put her in the very same dress that she hated to wear in the movie. This goes against everything that Merida stands for and is! I'm not here to rant about her....I'm here to give my opinion about the other princesses who have been changed.
The Good
Snow White: As far as this design goes. I think it's quite good. They really didn't tinker with this at all except ADD A CRAP TON OF GLITTER. Geez, I'm a girl and yes I enjoy glitter like any other Disney girly girl but COME ON. I don't think fairies carry this much pixie dust on them to coat this dress. It's a great example of what is fundamentally wrong with most of these designs and it's that there is too much glitter on them. Contrary to popular thought, I don't think that the fashion of Snow White's time involved glitter of any sort. I know they are trying to appeal to more girls, but more is not always better.
Rapunzel: So many sparkles, so little time. I don't think there are any sparkles and glitter accessories left in the world. It saddens me. Overall this isn't a bad design. I couldn't find a separate photo of Rapunzel but if you look at the above posted photos all they really did was take away her freckles and make her hair really....yellow. It lost its gloss and shine, but they could have done worse (see Pocahontas). Just as long as Disney doesn't start putting her in the outfit below I won't complain. She has never worn this outfit and I hope she never will. It's the worst thing I've ever seen.
Tiana: Meh. Just more glitter and sparkles. You can't really mess with her design much.
The Bad This is where it all goes downhill.....
Cinderella:
Someday her prince will come....and tell her that her dress makes her look fat. I don't mean to be cruel, but I hate this design. Ok big problems first. Her dress is supposed to be silver--so silver it looks blue--and not its a cerulean thing. Also her hair is strawberry blonde and now this is an ugly yellow just like Rapunzel and Aurora. The bustle on her dress looks deflated and now doesn't fit in with her time period's style of dress. They also changed her hair to make it look more modern and it's a hot mess. Her alien bangs look strange and that one dangling tendril of hair is driving me crazy. I want to either cut it off or tuck it back into her hair. Its just dangling there....
Looking at this pictures frustrates me to no end.
Aurora: Another cringe worthy piece of Disney design. Why must Disney just generalize all blonde hair? I'm a blond myself and it angers me to see this ugly shade of yellow. No one's hair is that color unless it's from a bottle. I'm calling this pukeyellow.
She once again has alien bangs like Cinderella and her hair is oddly curled. Don't think they had those kinds of curling irons back in the day. I'm not even going to comment on the sparkles anymore. There is only so much I can say. I think you get the point. One thing I wish they had kept in were her shoulder pads. They were quite regal and now it looks like her dress is falling off her shoulders. Sidenote: her dress should be blue. She never wears pink that long in the film. Shame on you, Disney.
Alright this is what you have been waiting for. Here is where I think Disney made HUGE mistakes. I mean HU-UGE.
Belle: WHY?!?!? WHY?!?!? Belle, you can't read with all of those annoying pieces of hair in your face. Do we need to get you a stylist cause I think the back of ur head look ridikulus. But actually, what is going on with that? Her image is more the problem for me here. Gone are the sensibilities of that funny girl, that Belle. This girl doesn't even look as if she has stepped foot in a library. Her expression is the worst. This looks like she is beckoning you in for a treat (the come hither). She is supposed to be a role model for girls because she thinks for herself and is knowledgeable. I always saw Belle as the ‘comfort over style’ kind of person, this just strips away her whole personality and just makes her a bland, princess chick.
Jasmine: All of the ethnic princesses seem to be white-washed. Am I the only one who can see this? Her skin and even her eyes have been lightened and I think that is just disrespectful and doesn't pay homage to her actual heritage and background. What is it with all these dangling pieces of hair!?! The royal stylist apparently failed to do her job this morning.
Mulan: Don't even get me started on Mulan. She appears to be completely white-washed and overdone. You can see that they have put her in the makeup that she wears in the beginning of the film which, she despised doing, I might add. There is a whole scene and song where she wipes off the makeup because that is not who she is. And why is her hair long again? I don't even know what she is wearing. Can you save the emperor and all of China while wearing this? I don't think so. I elect that she instead wear her soldier costume or her outfit at the end of the movie that was green. Surprisingly enough this was not the worst redesign. UPDATE: they have changed the color pallet to Mulan's face and her dress after the public expressed an extreme dislike to her image. I still don't think they have done enough.
Pocahontas: This one is by far the worst. They have lightened her skin, hair and
eyes and not only that but they give her boots and changed her mother’s
necklace. HOW DARE THEY. They also sprinkled some gems here and there and feathers
and…UGHHHHH Can anyone believe that a Native American would be walking around wearing this!?! She looks like a backup dancer from a
Ke$ha video caked in make up. I think the image speaks for itself, I can
tell why people got so offended by this; it contradicts her character
and her culture. 
I know that this has been a long and probably boring rant, but I had to get this off of my chest. I think that the Princesses haven't been given their due. These new designs don't showcase their true values and personality and instead have barbiefied our most beloved role models for girls. The message is simple: If you wear sparkly clothes then you can be a princess and find your prince because beauty is everything. It doesn't matter what you look like or how you dress. It's what is inside that counts and your actions towards others. (yeah I know super corny).
To sum it up its not a positive one. Lastly, I think these redesigns changing the appearance of the princesses is altering Walt Disney’s ideas. He designed Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella the way they used to be and now the Imagineers and animators have changed them. Why would someone alter something so perfect?
Please be respectful. These are just one girl's opinions and I don't mean to start an argument. That being said, let me know what you think and how Disney could improve their princess designs for the better!
Well, certainly not the newest creation the Disney marketing plan has cooked up. Recently Disney has released new updated images of the Disney princesses and it's not pretty.
 |
| Original Designs |
Compared to the original designs, Disney is getting a lot of flack over these new revisions and I'm not surprised at all. This comes on the tails of the Princess Merida scandal. Disney has been accused of over-sexualizing her character. As you can see with a bit of animation nip/tuck they have given her a more femininely figure and taken away her trademark bow and arrow. They even put her in the very same dress that she hated to wear in the movie. This goes against everything that Merida stands for and is! I'm not here to rant about her....I'm here to give my opinion about the other princesses who have been changed.
The Good
Rapunzel: So many sparkles, so little time. I don't think there are any sparkles and glitter accessories left in the world. It saddens me. Overall this isn't a bad design. I couldn't find a separate photo of Rapunzel but if you look at the above posted photos all they really did was take away her freckles and make her hair really....yellow. It lost its gloss and shine, but they could have done worse (see Pocahontas). Just as long as Disney doesn't start putting her in the outfit below I won't complain. She has never worn this outfit and I hope she never will. It's the worst thing I've ever seen.
Tiana: Meh. Just more glitter and sparkles. You can't really mess with her design much.
Cinderella:
Someday her prince will come....and tell her that her dress makes her look fat. I don't mean to be cruel, but I hate this design. Ok big problems first. Her dress is supposed to be silver--so silver it looks blue--and not its a cerulean thing. Also her hair is strawberry blonde and now this is an ugly yellow just like Rapunzel and Aurora. The bustle on her dress looks deflated and now doesn't fit in with her time period's style of dress. They also changed her hair to make it look more modern and it's a hot mess. Her alien bangs look strange and that one dangling tendril of hair is driving me crazy. I want to either cut it off or tuck it back into her hair. Its just dangling there....Looking at this pictures frustrates me to no end.
Aurora: Another cringe worthy piece of Disney design. Why must Disney just generalize all blonde hair? I'm a blond myself and it angers me to see this ugly shade of yellow. No one's hair is that color unless it's from a bottle. I'm calling this pukeyellow.She once again has alien bangs like Cinderella and her hair is oddly curled. Don't think they had those kinds of curling irons back in the day. I'm not even going to comment on the sparkles anymore. There is only so much I can say. I think you get the point. One thing I wish they had kept in were her shoulder pads. They were quite regal and now it looks like her dress is falling off her shoulders. Sidenote: her dress should be blue. She never wears pink that long in the film. Shame on you, Disney.
Ariel: She is my most favorite princess. I do like the green on her because I know we were all thinking it "red heads should never wear pink". However this is something that I should have touched on earlier. Disney has slightly altered the face shape of some of the princesses. They now have a very generic look of wide-eyed innocence which I'm not saying is wrong...but they all have the same look now. They are missing those distinctive features and characteristics that made us fall in love with the princesses they were. The cute details of the shell on her bodice and her earrings are what save this design for me. Sadly I still think that this redesign has taken the warmth out of her eyes and made her hair look like fiery plah-doh.
The Ugly 
Alright this is what you have been waiting for. Here is where I think Disney made HUGE mistakes. I mean HU-UGE.
Belle: WHY?!?!? WHY?!?!? Belle, you can't read with all of those annoying pieces of hair in your face. Do we need to get you a stylist cause I think the back of ur head look ridikulus. But actually, what is going on with that? Her image is more the problem for me here. Gone are the sensibilities of that funny girl, that Belle. This girl doesn't even look as if she has stepped foot in a library. Her expression is the worst. This looks like she is beckoning you in for a treat (the come hither). She is supposed to be a role model for girls because she thinks for herself and is knowledgeable. I always saw Belle as the ‘comfort over style’ kind of person, this just strips away her whole personality and just makes her a bland, princess chick.
Jasmine: All of the ethnic princesses seem to be white-washed. Am I the only one who can see this? Her skin and even her eyes have been lightened and I think that is just disrespectful and doesn't pay homage to her actual heritage and background. What is it with all these dangling pieces of hair!?! The royal stylist apparently failed to do her job this morning.
 |
| Updated: Mulan....still not good. |
Pocahontas: This one is by far the worst. They have lightened her skin, hair and
eyes and not only that but they give her boots and changed her mother’s
necklace. HOW DARE THEY. They also sprinkled some gems here and there and feathers
and…UGHHHHH Can anyone believe that a Native American would be walking around wearing this!?! She looks like a backup dancer from a
Ke$ha video caked in make up. I think the image speaks for itself, I can
tell why people got so offended by this; it contradicts her character
and her culture. 
I know that this has been a long and probably boring rant, but I had to get this off of my chest. I think that the Princesses haven't been given their due. These new designs don't showcase their true values and personality and instead have barbiefied our most beloved role models for girls. The message is simple: If you wear sparkly clothes then you can be a princess and find your prince because beauty is everything. It doesn't matter what you look like or how you dress. It's what is inside that counts and your actions towards others. (yeah I know super corny).
To sum it up its not a positive one. Lastly, I think these redesigns changing the appearance of the princesses is altering Walt Disney’s ideas. He designed Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella the way they used to be and now the Imagineers and animators have changed them. Why would someone alter something so perfect?
Please be respectful. These are just one girl's opinions and I don't mean to start an argument. That being said, let me know what you think and how Disney could improve their princess designs for the better!
