More Trouble with the Disney Princess Enterprise

The group of ten (now eleven) Disney Princesses are some of the most influential characters in the lives of American girls. Many young girls dream of being a princess so it is no surprise that they learn from these "role models". Disney has been criticized for many things including the race of a princess, as I wrote about in my blogpost Disney Princesses and Diversity, and is now being scrutinized for the gender stereotypes that they are enforcing. This is not a new criticism because the messages of some of the films have always had some backlash. In almost every film, beauty and finding true love are the emphasis but Disney expects the audience to reach beneath the surface and grasp the genuine morals that surround these themes. But, there is no way to escape the reality that beauty is praised in our society.

This summer Pixar, in conjunction with Disney, released Brave that told the story of a yet another princess. Instead, this film was about a Scottish princess named Merida who wanted to go against the princess "norms". Overall, the movie was a success. A few weeks ago, Disney announced that they wanted to include Merida as an official Disney Princesses. I read an article that detailed the makeover she had in order to make her an "official" addition to the Disney group. In the redesign, Disney "tamed her unruly hair, expanded her breasts, shrank her waist, enlarged her eyes, plastered on makeup, pulled her (now glittering) dress off her shoulders, and morphed her defiant posture into a come-hither pose". I also find it interesting that in the Disney redesign, she is not carrying a bow and arrow that could be interpreted as her personal symbol of power.

All of the princess, in some shape or form, have been made over for the Disney Princess website. In this case, critics worry that the redesign is going against the message of the movie and does not accurately represent the attitude that the main character would posses. In an initial review of the film in the Chicago Tribune, a movie critic wrote that, "[Brave] is at heart a story of a daughter and a mother learning to cut through society's expectations".This important message of "cutting through society's expectations" is applauded in one sense but held back by Disney when they plan to remake Merida to fit the norms of a young woman in society. Young girls are turning to the princesses as role models and can be influenced by the way that they look. I think that Disney should not try to alter the appearance of this princess. In fact, they have put out a statement saying that this image will only be used for the princess's "coronation" into the group of current princesses. It is hard to believe this is true considering that their website contains the redesigned images as official ones of the other ten princesses.
Why do you believe that Disney is redesigning this princess to look a certain way? Why can't the morals of a story speak for themselves?