Disney Princess Club
Join
Fanpop
New Post
Explore Fanpop
Thanks to Princesslullaby's recent poll questions, I ended up looking at my own childhood vs. each Disney Princess's childhood. Some of this is just painful for me, and there is no getting around that.

My categories of adverse childhood situations (some with severe adverse conditions) are based on evaluation from the domestic violence class I took. I'll be frank. I have my own dissociation/childhood trauma.


This is an article where I'm defining where I'd group categories of adverse childhood experiences, specifically for the Disney Princesses. I'll also add in how each princess copes with their where-I-was-born dilemma.

Ariel and Rapunzel are right close together, because they just share the border between authoritarian parenting and authoritative parenting. Those parenting styles are similar, but are not the same.


Severe and Pervasive Childhood Oppression-- the Authoritarian Parenting Style

Cinderella, Snow White, and Ariel receive this slot.

Cinderella

Cinderella becomes a slave in her own home. With her parents both dead, her stepmother treats her like dirt. Cinderella has the most "hope in her heart" next to Snow White. Cinderella copes by daydreaming and dreaming of a life free of her tormentors.

Snow White

Snow White is first shown in rags, and is mopping the stairs of the castle. I don't know how she ended up as a slave, but with both parents dead, and another evil stepmother in place... Snow is basically impoverished, with one good dress, and one that is rags. Stepmother tries multiple times to kill this girl. Snow copes by singing songs, by praying, and by doing her own pastimes: cleaning and baking.

Ariel

Ariel is first shown exploring a shipwreck, and saving her best friend Flounder from a shark. The very next scene we get featuring Ariel is one in which she gets scolded by the court conductor, Sebastian, and reprimanded by her father for forgetting to show up at a concert. It seems like both the court conductor and Ariel's dad each are insulted and embarrassed by Ariel's behavior, and so the two of them "decide between them" that Ariel requires CONSTANT SUPERVISION. This "constant supervision thing" is Sebastian's idea, first, but King Triton wholeheartedly agrees with it, and this set-up soon predominates Ariel's whole existence under the sea. Sebastian is tracking Ariel's every move. It's Sebastian who sells out Ariel by divulging that she saved a human and is keeping a grotto of human detritus. Ariel copes by singing to herself, collecting what debris she can find, and generally trying to remain upbeat in a restrictive atmosphere. However, for her pains, Ariel is yelled at for her forgetfulness and curiosity; her father uses his trident and violently destroys her collection to "get through to her" that all humans are awful, and that he protects her by dominating her life. I find "constant supervision" stultifying to a person. This should be applied only to someone who is around 5 years old or less. Ariel is not 5 years old in the original 1989 film.
Constant supervision is not something a sixteen year old wants, and most psychologists will tell you, that parents who "set-up" this authoritarian parenting style are actually implementing abuse.


Less Severe, but Extremely Problematic Parenting Styles-- halfway between Authoritarian and Authoritative

Rapunzel

Rapunzel is kidnapped soon after birth because her parents used/stole an enchanted flower that belonged to a witch named Gothel to prevent Rapunzel's mother from dying in childbirth. Gothel decides that in retribution for what was "stolen" from her, she will do the stealing, too. So Gothel sneaks in and steals their child away... which is similar to the original Rapoince tale where Rapoince's father steals this type of lettuce from the witch's garden to prevent his wife from dying, and in trade, the witch steals the daughter from the parents. So, Rapunzel's folks are partly to blame for what happened to Rapunzel even in the Disney version. Afterward, Punzie grows up isolated in a tower, provided with every material thing she could want from Gothel, save seeing another face that isn't Gothel's. Punzie sings, paints, plays chess, sews, cooks, makes candles, reads, and tracks the stars. Punzie dresses up her chameleon, Pascal, to get a practical joke or two. These are Punzie's coping mechanisms, along with seeing "the lights" every year on the same day. Punzie is most curious about the lights, and THIS is the part where she feels DISSATISFIED. Otherwise, Punzie doesn't see her life as horrible, and this is rooted in her own ignorance resulting from Gothel's situational manipulation, and this is also partially because Gothel hasn't been a helicopter parent on Punzie, nor reduced Rapunzel to direct servitude. It's Pascal who attempts to leave the tower first, and Punzie scoops him up before he can get too far out the window. Rapunzel feels BORED and wonders "when will my life begin?" But is she tormented? I have seen children who were tormented individuals (as I am a nurse), and I can tell you that no, Rapunzel is not acting like a tormented adolescent. Finally, deviating from the warped fairy-tale, Disney introduces Flynn/Eugene who stumbles on Punzie's tower while running from a heist-gone-bad. And it is Rapunzel who ties Flynn up and DEMANDS that he take her to see the lights if he wants the "crown object" back. Gothel is abusive in creating an environment that preys on Rapunzel's gullibility and ignorance. But compared to someone who is under constant supervision for every choice ( which is what is going on with Ariel)--- this is not so with Rapunzel. Gothel visits Rapunzel once a week, if that. And Rapunzel doesn't get told that her priorities are wrong. Gothel has "one rule" for Rapunzel, while Triton's law on humans was more like 5 rules disguised to deter dissent. I see Rapunzel as a victim of both her parents stupid choice to steal a plant, and as Gothel's equally stupid retaliation move to prevent age deterioration. But when I think about Rapunzel's actual day-to-day existence, Rapunzel's day-to-day life is more like Merida's and Jasmine's: little on the excitement part, and big on the tedium. Gothel never gives Rapunzel constant supervision. Rapunzel hides Flynn before/and while Gothel is there. Rapunzel herself is good at withholding things she doesn't want her pseudo-stepmom to know. Even the Rapunzel in the original tale hid the ladder she was making to escape the tower. The Rapunzel in Disney's tale and in the original has agency, and she makes her own choices. She is not being supervised and bullied 24/7.


Merida

Merida's mother is strict. Merida doesn't get "a day all of her own" until the end of the week, as it were. Most of the time Elinor is trying to groom Merida to become the next Queen of Dunbroch. Merida doesn't like this, and balks at every opportunity. Merida copes with her mother's restrictive schedule on her life, by using the bleep out of her "one day a week personal time" to do everything from archery to climbing the firefalls. Elinor is strict, but she isn't sneakily abusive like Gothel, nor is she constantly supervising Merida's whereabouts like Triton does to Ariel through Sebastian. I don't like Elinor initially, because she's so prim and stuck-up, but she does less harm to Merida than Gothel and King Triton do to Punzie and Ariel.

Jasmine


She's confined to the palace. She is restricted by location and by the fact that she has to marry a prince. Jasmine's options in suitors irritate her, and she chafes at being "a prize to be won." But Jas has a better life than Rapunzel and Merida, because the sultan, her father, is never purposely sneaky nor purposely restrictive. He also does not send someone to watch Jasmine 24/7, and leaves her largely to herself. Jasmine copes... by having Rajah nip and bite playfully at her suitors. That's the bonus for having a tiger for a pet.


Mulan

Chinese culture was restrictive and obligated women to become wives. Mulan isn't confined to the house like Rapunzel is, doesn't seem to have a rigid schedule like Merida, and doesn't have a designated row of suitors pushed up in her face like Jasmine. However, Mulan doesn't have the freedom to be herself and to make her own choices, which is societal and which her parents are reinforcing. The good thing is that Mulan isn't being watched 24/7 either, which is why she could get away with cheating and painting verses on her arm as a method to try to pass the matchmaker's exam. Mulan mopes and sings when coping with her situation. I don't see her doing a lot else in the movie with coping, at least not until she decides to try to prove herself.


The Best Childhoods Among The Disney Princesses-- halfway between Authoritative and Permissive

Aurora

The movie seems to show that Aurora hardly received a stern word from Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. Aurora views these women as "my three nosy aunts," but doesn't seem to feel that they are undeniably restrictive, and who watch her every movement. In fact, the three fairies send Aurora out all by herself on her sixteenth birthday to collect berries. That doesn't sound like King Triton's constant supervision of Ariel, nor Rapunzel's "one limitation rule," nor Merida's strict schedule of activities, nor Jasmine's palace ennui, nor Mulan's societal expectation. Aurora has more freedom....now that I consider it...than a lot of the princesses have had. And I did not realize this before. How far did Aurora roam in the forest during all of her childhood? She seems pretty darn familiar with her surroundings. Aurora copes with her pervasive loneliness by using sly humor, singing to herself, and dreaming at night of her "mysterious stranger."

Belle

With the exception of her mother dying in Paris ( or somewhere) during Belle's youth when she was probably 3 or 4, Belle doesn't seem to have had any horrible experiences. Maurice, her father, moved them to "the poor provincial town" where Belle feels disgust and irritation at her neighbors because she is seen as "the oddball" for not chasing around and flirting with guys, and wanting to read instead. Belle doesn't hit adversity until Maurice gets himself lost and jailed by the local Beast. And then Belle offers her freedom for her father's life. Right up until this half of Belle's existence ( beast capture) she hasn't had anybody abuse her, nor restrict her, and the societal expectations in her village she willingly defies without much blow-back ( whereas in Mulan's case it brought shame). I don't see Belle being watched 24/7 by Maurice, and Belle only gets the 24/7 treatment when she ends up surrendering her freedom to the abusive beast. Belle copes by reading everything in the local bookstore, and singing about her favorite book. Belle is just lonely, like Aurora, and they both are outsiders occupying time until they eventually find the life they are seeking. Belle's childhood was not horrible in any way. It was somewhat sad, actually, because of the death of a parent, but that death did not translate into abuse from Maurice, as did happen in Cinderella's case, in Snow's case, and in Ariel's case.

Pocahontas

Pocahontas goes "wherever the wind takes her." Powhatan seems like he has not decided to restrict Pocahontas at all. Powhatan has given Poca complete freedom to speak her mind. Powhatan respects Poca enough. He is extremely gentle when asking her to assume her mantle as the next leader of her people. Poca takes a while to figure out who she is, but her father doesn't stop her from finding her own path. Powhatan is not monitoring Pocahontas 24/7, reducing his daughter to a slave, or demanding that she marry Kocoum right away. He doesn't want war, but he does want to see that there is safety for his daughter, his tribe, and peace for his land. He's an example of a good dad.


Tiana

Tiana wins this weird childhood countdown. Tiana has the best childhood Disney has crafted in a long time. Maybe, it's the best childhood since Bambi (before Bambi's mother died). I don't ever see Tiana's parents scolding her, restricting her movements, or denying her the things she loves to do (cooking). Tiana's dad is exceptional. He is so engaging, so humorous, so instantly likeable that it physically hurts me when Disney yanks him out of the picture. :( The only damper on Tiana's life is the death of her dad and his dream. The Segregation of Blacks in the South of 1920s New Orleans, Louisiana is a further backdrop to Tiana's personal pain. Tiana's father dies when she is sixteen ( I'm guessing? Because Tiana looks like she is 19 in the movie or something, same age as Cinderella). The plot kicks in afterward, and Tiana becomes a grieving and very angry adult. But Tia's dad and mom never mistreated her, and she has insanely good memories of her family life.



This is my deduction from seeing each princess’s situation in their movies, and watching each one cope with the situation into which they were born. Though I have experienced emotional trauma myself, I don't think each princess really had it that easy. I don’t think every princess had the worst childhood, either. Likewise, I don’t think every princess had the best childhood. Some childhoods were right smack dab in the middle and isolating, but these—in my view-- sidestepped being marked by episodes of outright punishment, volatility, and slavery.

Leave thoughts below. Thanks. And until next time...
posted by anukriti2409
Here's my ranking of Disney Prince, barring Prince Hans as he's the DP villain. Hope you'll find it entertaining.

11. Florian:
Apart from singing and showing courtesy and respect to a young maid of lower status, there's literally no interaction and no scenes to understand his personality. It was kind of creepy for me that he'd kiss a supposedly dead maiden. So yeah, he's the last in my list.



10. Naveen:
Spoiled rich brat who didn't even learn after plundering all the ancestoral wealth and thought of fixing it the easy way to find a rich girl to marry. Too flirtatious, too lazy, too laid-back...
continue reading...
I, myself only knew 7 out of 14. Who knows, you might know more than me or know less than me. Either way enjoy reading and absorb the knowledge!


Trivia

1) Production designer Richard Vander Wende devised a simple color scheme for the film, inspired by its desert setting. Blue (water) stands for good, red (heat) for evil, and yellow (sand) is neutral. For example, the villainous Jafar is clad in blacks and reds, while the virtuous Jasmine wears blue. Another example is in the Cave of Wonders, where the lamp's chamber is blue, and the ruby that tempts Abu is bright red.

2) Jasmine was originally...
continue reading...
posted by 220340
Rapunzel, anna, and ariel
Rapunzel, anna, and ariel
Did you ever know that Elsa and Anna had a cousin? Well you do now! Elsa and Anna have a cousin and there cousin is Rapunzel. Never knew that? Now you know. Rapunzel is cousins with the sisters Elsa and Anna. Rapunzel seems like she forgot she had cousins. I am not sure about Elsa and Anna if they forgot they had a cousin. How are they cousins? Elsa and Anna's mom is the sister of Rapunzel's mom. Now they are Cousins. Another weird thing. Both shows are created by the same person. I never knew they were cousins till I saw a YouTube show that said they were cousins. Another weird thing. Ariel...
continue reading...
posted by laylastepford
Honorary Mention: Cinderella's Father
Honorary Mention: Cinderella's Father
Okay so I basically grew up without parents in a large sense. That being said, I always yearned for a loving, stable and consistent mother and father to teach morals, values, effective and constructive communication, consequences for actions, real love, respect, trust, honor, etc. Since Walt Disney founded the company under those family and character-based values, I have always been very attached to the Disney brand. That being said, I was thinking about the Disney Princesses' parents and if I could have traded my childhood situation with one of them, which would it be? Since I also love lists...
continue reading...
From anukriti2409 and sweetie-94's articles about most beautiful things from DP movies, I was inspired to make one. But my version is a little different: this one is most beautiful things from each DP movies, from the first until the latest ones. Well, hope you'll be enjoyed my article and sorry for mistakes I may be made.

1. The Ending (Snow White and Seven Dwarfs)

The scene of Snow White's movie ending (credit to image from sweetie-94's article).
The scene of Snow White's movie ending (credit to image from sweetie-94's article).


The movie isn't really my favorite, so it's kinda hard for me to decide the beautiful things from that. It was while Snow White and her Prince...
continue reading...
posted by laylastepford
My entire life, Belle has always been my absolute favorite princess. When I was just a toddler I dressed up like her for Halloween and when I got married, I even tried to find a dress that resembled her yellow gown (in white, of course).

In so many ways, Belle reminds me of myself. As someone who relates so closely to and identifies with Belle, I wanted to share my well-detailed analysis of her character. I believe we all know our favorite characters the best so I would encourage others to write an article about their favorite princess. I hope that this will help others understand Belle a little...
continue reading...
The Disney Princesses wear some of the cutest little outfits, both inside and outside of ceremonies and balls, so I wanted to do a fun and light-hearted ranking of all of their outfits! (I will be doing a second countdown with the ceremonial outfits and ball gowns ranked.) I ranked them based on which I'd like to wear most:

Peasant/Work Outfits:

7. Snow White's Brown "Servant's" Outfit:
For something that is made to look incredibly unflattering, it's actually not that bad. Aside from being torn and having different-colored patches, it's really just a plain dress.

6. Tiana's Blue Work Uniform:...
continue reading...
As some of you may know, I recently did my version of a "Prettiest Princess" article which rated the overall attraction of each princess. That article was done with a heavy bias towards what males like best about females so I wanted to make one with the bias towards what females like (in friends). What females look for in friends will of course vary by personality so I decided to use the Disney Princesses as the model for my female scale. I made a ranking list for each of them (of course, it is subject to my opinion of their rankings) and then combined all 13 lists to see how they'd rate each...
continue reading...
Okay so I know I got off on the wrong foot here with some users so I wanted to give a peace offering (to those who want it) by telling about myself so others will get the chance to understand me and see where I am coming from. This is my attempt to:
1) Formally apologize: To those who I lost my temper with, I sincerely apologize for the way I conducted myself. I truly did not come here to start arguments but to get the opinions of others. I humbly ask that you forgive my passionate responses and know that I promise to work on not losing my temper. No matter how threatened or attacked that I...
continue reading...
added by MaidofOrleans
Source: disneyscreencaps.com for the original images
posted by reflection11
It is quite obvious that Merida is not particularly beloved on this spot. Placing last place in just about every countdown done recently, and probably in many to come, Merida needs more love. I used to hate Merida, so I totally understand why people dislike her, but I can't help but wonder why she is hated on, yet people fall in love with Ariel and Jasmine. Oh, I am not going to hate on Ariel or Jasmine in this article, they are both in my top 5. Merida is currently fourth on my list, inches ahead of Jasmine, and inches behind Cinderella.
Why I used to hate her:
I used to hate Merida for her...
continue reading...
added by sweetie-94
Source: sweetie-94
The gang was walking back to the cottage when a bush popped up in front of them. Mulan gasped at what she saw growing on it. She hurried to the plant. "You guys have to see this!" she exclaimed. The others rallied around. The reactions were mixed. Shang felt his nerves dance a bit, Pocahontas theorized, and John and Merida exchanged scowls. "Cherries?" Merida said. "Mulan, I get you have very valuable things and traditions where YOU come from, but it's just a fruit." John replied. "Just a fruit? John, these are delicate." Mulan stated.

"Mulan, it's not like glass where you throw it and it breaks."...
continue reading...
added by kristenfan10109
Source: http://d-princesses.livejournal.com
added by kristenfan10109
Source: http://d-princesses.livejournal.com
added by kristenfan10109
Source: http://disney-and-co.blogspot.com/search?q=Eric
added by KataraLover