.jpg)
A long while back I wrote about the negative effect the Disney princess culture might have on girls, and about how it’s an infuriating fad. Then I started wondering about the Disney princes, and whether something similar might go on there with boys.
Even if almost all Disney heroines are or become princesses, or are incorrectly marketed as such for the sake of the brand, at least most of them are actualized, well-developed characters. The majority of them are empowered women who think on their own and go after what they want. Disney’s leading men, however, mostly seem to adhere to the typical fairy tale prince trope.
In fact, the majority of Disney’s princes, especially those from the studio’s earlier era, don’t even have names. The men in “Snow White” and “Cinderella” share the same moniker: “Prince Charming.” During our epic Disney marathon, my sister-in-law and I noticed that in “Beauty and the Beast” we never actually learn the Beast’s real name. Although Eric from “The Little Mermaid” does have a proper name and a few extra scenes, he mostly just acts like every other Prince Charming: handsome, athletic, and quick to save his princess.
Obviously there are exceptions, even from the golden era. By the end of “Sleeping Beauty” Prince Phillip (who gets a name, hooray!) slots back into the hero-prince stereotype, waving his sword around to save the day and never getting re-injected with his personality for the final scenes. At least he starts off with true character and promise.
A young Phillip wrinkles his nose at his betrothed Aurora, then just an infant. A hormonally-charged teenage Phillip comes across Aurora singing in the woods and smoothly inserts himself into her dance. These little glimmers of real character depth make Phillip by and far the best male lead from Disney’s golden age.
Now let’s look at the characters I often hear named as favorites from Disney’s later films: Aladdin and Shang from “Mulan.” Neither of these are a surprise. As the title character in his film, Aladdin gets the most character depth of all the movie’s characters. He boasts a realistic, complex personality, so of course viewers are going to like him more than many of Disney’s other two-dimensional men.
Shang indicates the continued change in Disney’s presentation of its male leads. He’s not a prince, not the film’s title character, and also has character development beyond the “prince charming” trope. When faced with a subject other than his martial comfort ground, he becomes stammering and awkward. He has flaws, although noble ones, he needs to overcome.
It’s important that these characters have development, and especially flaws they learn to overcome, in the movies. That way young children watching Disney films have realistic models to follow from the media. In my next blog I will look at the effect the stereotypical Disney princes might have on young male viewers, and how Disney might actually be improving the portrayal of its leading men.
Related Articles:
Disney’s Plans to Broaden its Appeal
Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along
Disney Prince, Princess and Character Auditions
*(This image by wjarrettc is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
