Disneys Animation Evolution Essays

Disneys Animation Evolution Essays Disneys Animation Evolution Essay Disneys Animation Evolution Essay Ever since Disney started animating full length feature films there has been a common trend in their choice of lead characters. These characters have been young women or girls, and are often royalty. These characters have served as role models for many generations of young women, and have been continuously evolving over the years. This paper will examine the evolution of Disney’s heroines by examining past and present heroines, as well as speculate on what type of heroines Disney’s future projects may feature. This exploration will involve examining two heroines that are often termed to be â€Å"classic† and a two that are often termed to be â€Å"modern†. We will explore these characters styles of animation, physical appearance and temperaments, personal goals and situations and how these characteristics have affected or could effect viewers. The two â€Å"classical† heroines discussed in this paper are Snow White and Aurora, otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose. The animators who developed the physical appearance of these two characters used professional dancers as models for their characters. Snow White and Aurora both display similarities in their life situations and personality traits. They are featured as the main character in their respective stories and they are both princesses who are victimized. They are caucasian, young and beautiful, and naive. They both wait for their â€Å"true love†, to come and save them from their crisis. Their â€Å"true love†, in both stories, are mysterious and heroic princes who, among other admirable qualities, are avid horse riders. The feature film â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† that was released in 1937. As the very first Disney princess and being the lead heroine in the first full length feature by Walt Disney, Snow White became the base mold for all of Disney’s future heroines. Being the first princess meant she was also basically a rough sketch that would be improved upon with each new heroine. Modeled after the dancer Marge Champion (birth name: Marjorie Belcher), Snow White’s face is a bit rounded, she has a small nose, full lips, rosy cheeks and porcelain pale skin (John Grant, 1993). However she differs from heroines that come after her by having somewhat smaller eyes, which did not allow for more expressive emotions. Snow White’s appearance was modeled after a dancer with the intention to make her appear dainty and graceful. When she walks and runs it seems as if she is dancing, and when she actually does dance (as she does at scene 54:00-56:30) in the cottage she performs choreographed dance steps. Executing them perfectly just as Champion danced them with an ethereal dreamlike quality. Her voice was recorded by Adriana Caselotti, a young opera singer to emphasize Snow White’s youth, innocence and naivete. Snow Whites story is a simple one. Snow White is declared as the â€Å"fairest of them all† by a magic mirror owned by her stepmother, the queen. A huntsmen, at the command of Snow White’s jealous stepmother sets out to kill Snow White. The huntsmen shows Snow White mercy and allows her to run away. Snow White befriends cute and friendly woodland creatures and seven dwarfs in her attempts to hide from the queen. The queen continues to pursue Snow White and succeeds in putting Snow White in a coma-like sleep by feeding her a poisoned apple. Snow White’s true love, the prince searches through the forest to save her and awakens her with â€Å"true love’s kiss†. Snow White’s character in this movie is passive. After running away from danger she spends the remainder of the movie waiting to be rescued. She does not take any positive action to change her fate. The decisions made that drive the procession of events are made by other characters, leaving Snow White only able to react. Aurora is the least developed character in all of Disneys movies, only actually appearing for roughly 18 minutes throughout the entire film, yet she is considered to be the lead character. Aurora’s appearance was modeled after actress and dancer Helen Stanley (John Grant, 1993)22. She was drawn to be much thinner than Snow White and featured bigger more expressive eyes. When an evil fairy Malificent curses baby Aurora, Aurora’s parents send her into the woods to be raised by good fairies in order to protect her from the curse. Malificent searches for Aurora as she grows up as Briar Rose, unaware of her royal status and her looming fate. The evil fairy finally finds her and the curse is carried out: Aurora pricks her finger on a loom and falls into a deep sleep. Malificent captures Prince Philip to prevent him form saving the princess but he escapes. Prince Philip finds Aurora, kisses her and awakens her from her sleep. Aurora is like Snow White in that all decisions about her life are made by the people around her. She is given away at birth to be raised by the good fairies, and once she meets her true love, she is informed that she is actually betrothed to the prince. Of course her true love and the prince are one and the same, but she is still not given any choice in the matter. Although in the end everything works out, but it seems more like pure luck than anything. The two â€Å"modern† heroines discussed in this paper are Mulan and Tiana. Both Mulan and Tiana display similarities in their life situations and personality traits. They are featured as the main characters in their respective stories and are both members of minorities and have different cultural backgrounds. They are not born princesses and instead of being victimized are faced with challenges, that they must overcome themselves. Mulan is the tomboy out of Disney’s heroines, and although considered to be one of Disney’s princesses she is in fact not a princess, nor does she become one. Mulan is exotic looking with large saucer almond shaped eyes and pouty lips. Her tomboyish look is not only perceived because of her actual cross dressing but more on her character. Her body, though thin is not waif like, she is somewhat stockier overall than past heroines. There is no clear record of who she was modeled after, her speaking voice is done by Ming-Na, an actress from Hong Kong, and her singing voice was recorded by Lea Salonga. Both her speaking voice and singing voice are strong and sure, they do not waver or portray innocence and naivety. When China goes to war with the Huns, one man from every family is called to arms including Mulans father, who is already injured from the last war. Mulan switches places with her father, going undercover as a man to save her families honor. She trains to become as strong as the rest of the real men in the army and fights alongside them. She is accompanied by Mushu the dragon, a fallen family protector and a lucky cricket. Unlike most of the classical heroines the animals are not woodland characters, nor do they flock to Mulan when she is singing. They are part of her journey and aid her by providing strength and encouragement. Mulan manages to save China and the emporer from the Huns, earning both her families honor and honor of her own. Of course the story would not be complete without a little bit of love. Mulan falls in love with her companies captain, and in the end he appears to have fallen for her as well. He is not a prince though and seems to merely compliment her life instead of wanting to rule her life. Tiana is the princess from the movie â€Å"The Princess and the Frog† that was released in 2009. This is the most recent Disney movie with a female heroine. Tiana is the first african american heroine, and unfortunately she spends the majority of the story in frog form. Now the main difference of course between Tiana and past heroines is that she is african american, she has the typical saucer eyes and oval face. Her nose is a little wider than most of the heroines and her lips are much fuller. Her body is thin for the most part, but she seems to have wider hips and slightly larger legs and calves, while still appearing slim overall. Tiana’s voice is done by Anika Noni Rose, and while it is not specified anywhere, it appears as if she was modeled after her too. Her voice is strong and proud, with a little bit of spice to it, meaning that her attitude comes through when she speaks. Disney’s princess and the frog is a bit of a twist on the original tale, of course it is due to a little mishap, with Tiana not actually being a princess. Tiana is girl with a goal, dreaming of owning her own restaurant. She is unlike all the past heroines in the case that she has an actual paying job, two in fact, barely sleeping and collecting tips so that one day she can afford her dream location. She passes up frivolity and doesn’t put any stock into love, fashion or anything else that would give her something in common with any of the past female leads. Once she is turned into a frog she learns that maybe shutting the possibility of love out of her life was hastey, and she falls for the prince although they are both frogs. The rest of the movie revolves around their quest to become human again, ending in their marriage, while still in frog form. This marriage makes her a princess and thus their first wedded kiss turns them both back. The prince helps her to open her dream restaurant and appears to convert to a life of the normal instead of a life of royalty. For the last section of the paper we will theorize on the possible direction that future disney princesses and heroines might take. One would hope that Disney would continue on with the image of strong, empowered, positive female characters that they have been portraying in the past fifteen years. Because these characters are seen as such a strong influence on most young girls, it is important to keep these characteristics as well as to maybe modernize them even more. Today young women in americanized cultures are empowered to have rights, be independent, fend for themselves and to make their own paths in life. Tiana, from â€Å"The princess and the frog†, as discussed in the prior section of the paper, mostly fits this description. However it still ends with her finding her prince and living happily ever after. Now not to say that the heroines to come shouldn’t live happily ever after but who says they need a prince or man anymore. Lets be realistic here, women today pave their own way and while finding love is usually not completely crossed off anyones list it is not usually their main goal. Goals of heroines and princesses to come could involve a princess going to university, starting her own business like Tiana, or having some sort of job. Who says the princess needs to fall in love, get married and make babies. Disney is often controversial dealing with things that may not immediately be accepted, like when they introduced exotic characters of different races. Maybe Disney will push the envelope and make a lesbian heroine or princess, that would be different although possibly too different. As discussed earlier all of Disney’s main leading women, are slender, small waisted and of nice if not perfect proportions. Women come in all shapes and sizes and Disney would be smart to incorporate these aspects into characters to come. The characters would be more realistic and maybe even more relatable for young girls. A larger heroine with thicker legs and larger proportions overall would help counter the images most young girls are subjected to by the media today, and the images that are portrayed in past Disney films. Disney’s heroines have been evolving continuously from the very beginning. Starting with shy, naive waif like girls and proceeding to include different cultures and personality types. Tiana is the start of the future for Disney, and if you compare her to Snow White you can see how far these heroines have come, while still managing to be part of a fairytale. We remain hopeful that Disney will continue to progress and evolve their heroines further, pushing boundaries and setting better examples for young girls. Bibliography John Grant, 1993. Encyclopedia of Walt Disney animated characters. Hyperion: New York Leonard Mosley, 1985. Disney’s World: a biography. Stein and Day: New York Christopher Finch, 1973. Walt Disney: From mickey mouse to the magic Kingdoms. Harry N. Abrams, Inc: New York Walt Disney, David hand. (1937) Snow White and the Seven dwarfs. United States: Buena Vista Distribution Walt Disney, Clyde Geronimi. (1959) Sleeping Beauty. United States: Buena Vista Distribution Pam Coate, Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. (1998) Mulan. United States: Walt Disney Pictures Peter Del Vecho, Ron Clements and John Musker. (2009) The princes and the frog. United States: Walt Disney Pictures