Disney Princess Article: Favorite Things From DP Films

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posted by laylastepford

In lines with the amazing articles written by link,link & link, I wanted to make my own article about favorite things from DP films. Narrowing it all down was really hard for me so I decided to combine things into groupings so I could give overall things from the DP films. I hope you guys enjoy!

10. Animal Friends/Sidekicks:
I always thought that the DPs having animal friends was the cutest idea. I like the "unrealistic" elements of fairy tales because they're not supposed to be real, that's why they are "fairy tales". I always liked the idea of animal friends helping cook, clean, sew, etc. I also like the symbolism that the Princesses were so pure and untainted, even animals would feel the need to take care of them and do their part in rescue missions, etc. I also always liked the idea of talking to animals or having specific pets that aren't possible in real life (looking at you, Rajah).

9. Landscapes & Colors:
Whether it's an imaginary place like Atlantica or a real place like Virginia before colonization etc; Whether it's under the ocean, looking out at rolling hills or even running water in some form; I have always found the landscape "shots" from DP films to be very beautiful. The use of colors is usually very artistic and detailed. There is also usually a fantastic score in the background that makes what would already be unforgettable scenes, that much more memorable.

8. Balance & Beauty in Relationships:
Especially in a modern American society when relationships and true love aren't valued the way they used to be, I really love the way some couples in DP films are shown. They show the complimentary balance of femininity and masculinity as well as the beauty of being in love and the change it can have on a person.

7. Splendor & Wonder of Magic:
Again, most of these DP films are based on fairy tales so they have elements of magic. I have always loved the way they portrayed fun magic, especially in the older films. I used to think how neat it would be to use magic to help cook, clean, sew, etc. as in Sleeping Beauty's "Magical House Cleaning" scene.

I have also dreamed of flying on a "Magic Carpet Ride". (Still can't believe that's never been made into a legit ride at Disneyland since the motion and scenery are already given!)

I also love the splendor of magical transformations that take place when a "magical curse is broken". Disney knows how to make magic feel special!

6. Family Friendly Humor:
I love family-friendly humor. I love little "inside" jokes to the audience (i.e. Scuttle's looking in the wrong side of the telescope and when he pulls it away, Ariel goes from being far away to in front of his face and he says "Whoa, what a swim!") I love "punny"/play-on-words jokes (i.e. Sebastian saying "Ariel, you're under a lot of pressure down here" or Mushu saying "You've never seen a black and white before?" referring to the Panda Bear). I love references, especially in Disney about other Disney films (i.e. Louis as Madam Mim from Sword in the Stone). I also especially love set-up jokes that require paying attention to the film (i.e. Most Frozen/Olaf jokes). I really love innocent, public-appropriate humor, that Disney does a great job at doing and incorporating in most of their films. (In case you were wondering, yes I absolutely love the Jungle Cruise at Disney for their jokes!)

5. Musical Score & Songs:
As you might know by now, I absolutely adore Disney's music as it makes their films etc. much more memorable to me. I love hearing the music at Disneyland and I like listening to it on my free time every now and then. Disney has been fortunate with very talented musical teams, my favorite being Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (RIP). I love the scores a little more than the songs but I think Disney is super talented when it comes to making memorable tunes.

4. Romantic Waltz/Dance Sequences:
Not only are these scenes all done so beautifully, but (back to) the score is usually just gorgeous. The animation with the "Waltz" sequences usually tend to be top-notch, especially with turns and lifts. I love these scenes because they are done so well that I feel like I'm sweeping across the floor with the couple. Just absolutely stunning scenes. (Plus, I love ballet and contemporary styles.)

3. Honest Villains:
I live in America where there is a "No Judge" culture trend going on. This trend has managed to do far more harm than good in my life as it gives bad people outs and excuses to never be reprimanded for their actions or pay consequences. In addition, a lack of honesty has resulted about bad people because words that might be considered "judging" are removed from descriptions and warnings. I love that (especially classic) Disney shows the true things in villains that truly exist but aren't often mentioned. Since I grew up knowing people who were very similar to the villains (without magical powers and pursuit of murder) it is refreshing to have one honest source about the reality of greed, jealousy, vanity and sociopathic tendencies. Additionally, I like how all of the original DPs had female villains since it is more likely that women will find an enemy in other women than men. (Aside from Shan Yu, I also think the females make all of the best DP villains.)

2. Power of True Love:
The concept of "True Love" used to be something that was admired and many people strived for. Then society told people that being in love made them lose their "independence" etc. and the "magic" of love has been forgotten. I love how the DP films remind us that True Love is the greatest gift on Earth. Unfortunately today, I see true love being completely underrated or compared to lust or "puppy love". I love how Disney came up with the concept of "True Love's Kiss" breaking "Magic Curses" and I think it was the single best addition to fairy tales in a long time. I also love how Disney showed, especially in older days, how a great man could rescue a great woman so she didn't have to live a life of abuse or any false pretenses. I also love how they showed that love brings out the best in both partners and allows them to overcome more obstacles together than they could have alone. Furthermore, I love the distinction between one's past/present family (parents & siblings) and their present/future family (marital spouse & kids) and the transition in life that follows that. In a lot of ways, it is like the ultimate "coming of age" tale for young women.

1. Virtuous Characters:
Not entirely lost and not entirely forgotten. Contrary to popular belief (especially in America), virtuous people do still exist in life. They're just not forcing their way into the spotlight. Regardless of how seemingly "unrealistic" or "perfect" these characters are, they represent the "uncommon" good that still exists. The darkness is always trying to snuff out the light which is why people like to pretend that virtuous people don't exist or shouldn't be looked up to. That is also why The Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine & Maleficent wanted to destroy Snow White, Cinderella & Aurora so badly. They were the opposites of the villains, everything the villains were not and wish they could be. There used to be a recurring representation/theme of Good vs. Evil and the DPs vs. their villains was a part of that. DPs were the good women who fought against the evil that tried so hard to corrupt them. I am so thankful that characters like this have been made so that we have reminders of what "perfect" should look like. If ever I reach a day where I have stopped striving to reach this level of perfection, I know I have become vain and prideful or simply just given up. I love the inspiration that can only come from pure and innocent role models that are not corrupt. Furthermore, it wasn't just the princesses who were representative of "all things good" in females but the "Prince Charmings" were representative of all things good in males, too. People can say that these stories are harmful to children but I would have to disagree 100% from personal experience. I loved these movies growing up, I still do, and I have met my very own "Prince Charming". On the contrary of the ridiculous claim, these films were far more beneficial to my childhood then they ever could've been harmful. Lastly, these "virtuous" values are not outdated at all. Quite oppositely, they are timeless values that are even more treasured today by other virtuous people, especially with the increasing rarity. I don't believe there's been a more crucial time to bring back more "virtuous" characters than now to remind people why these virtues are timeless.

Sparklefairy375, wanderingchild7 and 4 others like this

anukriti2409 Thanks for the credit! though we have few things in common. Clubbing was nice..lets you include many more things.

laylastepford ^ What do you mean by clubbing? Include what things where?

anukriti2409 clubbing means grouping - animal friends of each princess. Lets you include many more things in the article than how I did it - seeing individual things (Ballroom from Beast's Castle).

laylastepford anukriti2409: I see, thank you for explaining, I have never seen that word used that way before. As I said in the article, I really had to group things in together because it was too hard for me to pick specific singular things. What makes you say we have "few things in common"? I thought you liked the power of true love, the music, the magic (i.e. magic carpet ride) and landscapes as well as I do? Do you not like anything else on this list?

wavesurf Well, I wholeheartedly agree on Disney "not being bad" for your children. Oh, there is tons of WORSE stuff out there. Sure, I consider Frozen to be one of the poorest of the Disney movies, but that's because its plot-line is quite shallow, and there is almost no development of the characters at all. But Disney as a whole has done much good, not harm. I don't listen to the females who have hijacked feminism. Anyhow, I agree on most of, if not the entirety, of this article. I do agree on your third point about how "premature judging" is seen as "a good trait" along with "the ultra-competitive cutthroat mentality." I saw those traits as bad in Grimhilde, Lady Tremaine, Maleficent, and Ursula, which made me detest these same sorts of qualities when they appeared in Tiana, Merida, and Elsa. Their judging and their cutthroat, "I'm doing this for me!" made me slightly detest these princesses as a result. I was looking for, as you put it--- "a virtuous example"--- which these princesses definitely weren't exactly.... This is why I still admire Cinderella, and why she never gets old for me, though some people think she's "boring." I still seem to think "kindness" is an underrated quality nowadays, since everybody seems to think that "kindness is a sign that you're weak, and I will just take advantage of this opportunity because you aren't being 'assertive,' yada, yada." The people who think that way, and do that kind of thing are in "the wrong" ---and though society tells them that they "are in the right/ that the ends justify the means"--- the trail of angry and bitter people that they leave in their wake suggests otherwise.... Oh, well. Even among "fairy tales," there seem to be fewer and fewer stories about interpersonal intelligence, and more and more stories about success at all costs. I seem to gravitate to the Classics and Renaissance period for this reason, because it wasn't "always about success." And that's probably why I don't find the Moderns as appealing.

laylastepford wavesurf: It is so refreshing when someone agrees with your opinions, thank you for sharing! Disney was pretty much one of the only "virtuous" outlets that I noticed growing up. I agree that I don't like seeing traditional villain traits in the DPs as I think it distorts the symbolism etc. I greatly admire Cinderella and I think it is a luxury to think of her as "boring". I also agree with you that kindness is underrated, along with many other "virtuous" traits. I don't believe that people should pursue their endeavors at the expense of manipulating, exploiting or otherwise taking advantage others. I do believe that it is very "wrong" and indecent. I don't find the moderns as appealing as the other DPs either though I absolutely love and adore Anna because she seems more out of her time. She seems like she wants to be more like the classics but has too much of a renaissance or modern personality. She reminds me massively of myself, I can identify with her a lot. I like her the most out of all of the modern DPs with Rapunzel probably being 2nd.

anukriti2409 well if you see we only have 4 out of 10 things in common, as you mentioned yourself, so it is on the less/few side. There's nothing i specifically disagree with, i find the things and concepts you mentioned beautiful too but perhaps not all of them as beautiful as much as they are to you. I didn't really implore into philosophical and conceptual beauty in DP films when i was writing my article. But I couldn't just exclude True Love out of the list that talked about beauty in DP films, so my article got skewed in the very end. Maybe i can write a separate article on conceptual beauty of DP films.

wavesurf @laylastepford: Honestly, I like Rapunzel the most out of the Moderns ( even if it's not a love, I fancy her sunny disposition). I only like Merida after she changes at the end of the film for obvious reasons. ( Merida actually used to be dead last on my list when Brave first came out. It took me watching the movie three times before I could "like" her). I like Anna although she seems a tad bit hyper to me, and too often "a throw herself at everything" kind of person. I mean, I really enjoy Anna's enthusiasm, and greatly admire her kind spirit ( which is, as you said, a throwback to the Classics, which I appreciate). Anna isn't higher on my list, though, because I just really had "extremely major issues" with the way Frozen as a whole was *achem* handled. It's funny that I never really had "any bad issues/or opinions" with the Classics or the Renaissance. I think I also value "coherent plotline structure" in a movie far more than I ever anticipated before this point.... Who knew? I actually figured this out about myself the hard way, cough, cough. Oh, well.

laylastepford anukriti2409: I saw at least 4/10 that we had in common from your own list and I just thought there might be more on my list that you would like and if you liked 1 thing on my list that wasn't on yours then you would like half of my list which would not be the less/few side. I understand you were rating importance as "things in common" but I was rating quantity not quality value. I suppose that was the misunderstanding. wavesurf: I have Brave on my rental queue so I am going to re-watch that soon before I comment much more on any related subject, out of respect and consideration. I have only seen the film once and Merida left such a bad taste in my mouth and I didn't really like anything about the film, especially since it didn't have the great Disney music that I love. That being said, I have heard many opinions about her or the film etc. that I don't remember so I figure I should watch it again so I will know what I am talking about. Anna is definitely very hyper but that's how I was growing up. I had so much energy that I often didn't know what to do with myself. I was so spunky and I never really learned about nuances and such so I can relate to Anna as well with some of her social awkwardness. I completely admit I am biased towards Anna and find her to be very endearing because she reminds me of myself. I also know not many people appreciated my hyper energy either so I understand why some people are bothered by Anna's high energy levels. I think it's a required taste. Also I think our tastes change as we experience different things in life. Maybe you should do an article ranking the DP films based on plotlines since it means a lot to you and I'm sure you would have a lot to say! I would look forward to reading that!

wavesurf ^Plot-lines? Yeah. I was doing an article series on each of the Disney Princess movies, which was called "Disney Rewind: The Disney Princess Edition." The first article I did was on Frozen, and it kind of accessed all of the elements of the movie ( characterization, plotline, score, songs, speaking voice, villain(s), etc.) as a whole. I was going to do one for Brave, which was up next...and you just reminded me of that. Oh, I have not written anything in recent memory in articles...but I would have to re-watch Brave again, in order to do my assessment. Thanks for the reminder! I might do a stand-alone article on Disney plot-lines, but I think I'd better understand the way to "compile that" that after I had accessed each movie for myself through my Disney Rewind Series. Oh, how complicated...hahaha. :P

laylastepford wavesurf: That makes a lot of sense, that you would want to finish your Disney Rewind Series before doing a "Plot-line Ranking" type article. I didn't know you were doing that series though so I will have to look for that article you mentioned! I am biased and I love reading articles and opinions here so of course I am going to say to go for it all! :) I have recently been re-watching all of the DP films myself and thought about doing a film analysis (similar to what you were describing) on a few films that stood out to me (based on change in initial opinion). I get complicated with a lot of my articles and they usually involve a series of lists and rankings before the list/ranking that actually gets posted. I know it's weird but I love that stuff.

PrincessAyeka12 And I love reading your stuff so keep up the good work!

laylastepford ^ Thank you so much! I appreciate the compliment. I love reading your work too!