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Disney has existed for a century, and a lot has changed since Disney’s first full-length film, Snow White (1937). Since then, Disney has made dozens of movies, and there’s been a gradual change in how they portray women.
Typically, in Disney movies, the male protagonists are the more dominant, heroic characters. They are be stronger, braver, and more independent than the female characters. Contrarily, Disney portrays the female protagonists as weak, fragile and passive—the stereotypical damsel in distress.
In Snow White, after she ate the poison apple, she could only be saved from the kiss of a “handsome prince”. In The Lion King (1994), when Simba’s father died, all the lionesses were dependent on Simba to take over the kingdom. The female lions were shown as emotionally and physically weak, and dependent on the males.
Additionally, these princesses promote unrealistic and Euro-centric beauty standards to the point girls think they aren’t pretty unless they look like a Disney princess.
Snow White was given her name due to her fair skin tone, and the movie makes it seem like a girl is only attractive if she has fair skin. The queen asks the magic mirror, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” When the mirror said Snow White, the queen was upset that Snow White was “prettier” than her, as if people can only be pretty if they have fair skin.
This trend of pale skin kept going until Aladdin (1992) was released with the first non-white princess. Princess Jasmine has a tan skin tone and is portrayed as beautiful. When Aladdin talks to Genie about Jasmine, he says she is “smart and fun” and “beautiful." Three years later, Pocahontas (1995) makes history as the first Native American princess.
Close to the turn of the millennium, a shift occurred with The Little Mermaid (1989). According to Disney Wiki, she is the first princess to show emotion and facial expressions. Previously, the princesses looked and acted like porcelain dolls with little emotion, facial expressions or movements other than the basic happy, sad, angry or scared. Disney Wiki describes Snow White, as “gentle”, “polite”, and “sweet” while Ariel is described as “free-spirited, confident, [and] curious.”
With these new complexities, Disney also introduced stronger protagonists and personalities. Beauty and the Beast (1991)'s Belle was the first Disney princess to be recognized for her intelligence and nonconformity unique personality as the then Disney movie producer, Jeffrey Katzenberg, wanted to add a “feminist twist” to it and did not want “another insipid princess.” A year later Aladdin came out with Jasmine being the first princess who didn’t wear a dress, upending traditional models of femininity. She is described as “feisty”, “rebellious” and “sassy”. Mulan (1999) brought a legendary Chinese warrior to life, showing a woman dressed as a man to save an entire nation, also providing a positive role model gender non-conforming children.
Brave (2012)'s Merida is the most distinctive an Disney princess. She is the first Scottish princess, the first tomboy princess, the first princess to be recognized for her skill, personality, and ambition rather than beauty, and the first princess without a love interest. Unlike all the other princesses, she wears no makeup and has unkempt hair. Just as remarkable, Frozen (2013) was the first Disney movie where a woman saves another woman and the male protagonist upended the stereotypical model of masculinity.
Despite this uplifting social change, an overwhelming majority of the princesses have unrealistically skinny bodies. Girls who have grown up watching Disney movies may feel the pressure of this unspoken beauty standard. And with the merchandise and model-like girls they hire to be a princess at Disneyland or Disney World, they are bombarded with images of a uni-dimensional vision of what beauty looks like. It wasn’t until Moana (2016) came out where they had the first non-slender or tall princess, making her the first princess with realistic body proportions.
As always, there is room for improvement. In many movies and TV shows, women tend to be one-dimensional tropes rather than complex human beings and are predominantly white. It is evident that a change is being made and it is exciting what kind of princess Disney comes out with next.