Why Many Think Disney Started Repeating Female Characters (and What That Might Cause)

Several generations grew up watching Disney cartoons: we cried when Bambi’s mother and Mufasa died; we dream of having a dalmatian or a cocker spaniel similar to the Lady in “Lady and the Tramp”; we hear wonderful music; and, of course, we love Disney princesses. Each of them captivates us in their own way, but recently, viewers are increasingly dissatisfied with the fact that the heroines’ faces have merged into one and lost their individuality. Some artists even released a small flash mob, in which they made the princesses’ faces more realistic and varied.

we, from awesome.clubwe try to find out if there are, in fact, reasons for viewers’ discontent.

When “Frozen” appeared on screen three years after the release of “Rapunzel”, there was no talk of repetitive heroines. The comments just started.

After all, Elsa, Anna and their mother must look alike, because they are mother and daughters. We can assume that the fan theory is correct and Rapunzel is also related to her, so the similarity is justified here. But Judy from “Zootopia” looks like a slightly altered copy of any of them. Almost as if an evil sorceress had turned one of the people of royal blood into a rabbit: the facial features, figure, expressions and movements are very similar.

One more similarity is especially evident in the animated movie Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph vs. Internet”. When Vanellope enters the dressing room, she sees all the princesses at once: their faces have really changed a lot and are not what they used to be. They became much more alike. This is especially evident in the traits of Merida, Jasmine, Mulan, and Pocahontas. The skin of the last two was also much lighter. Here we can also mention the main character of the cartoon “Raya and the Last Dragon”, which will be released in 2020. If before the appearance of the princesses belonged to different racial groups, now she is unified — a “baby face”. That is, a rounded face, large, naive eyes with thick eyelashes, a small nose, glossy lips — in general, typical characteristics of children.

In the beginning, princesses were drawn as real women. Therefore, the animated heroines moved as if they were alive and had very realistic face proportions. Examples of such animations are Snow White (1937) and Cinderella (1950).

Later, the studio began to experiment subtly with the shapes of the princesses’ faces and bodies, as well as the way they move, until the early 2000s. Even if we only leave a black silhouette on a gray background, we can distinguish easily Belle from Ariel and Pocahontas from Jasmine, and especially Nani from the cartoon “Lilo and Stitch”. While fairytale standards require princesses to have charming beauties and the general style of the studio can be traced into each image, that doesn’t stop girls from being special and smart. They have different silhouettes, types and character traits.

In the 2000s, a gradual transition to computer animation began, which requires further simplification of faces so that characters are not strangers to viewers, especially in close-ups. But the studio went further and decided to ditch everything else, which made the main characters special. Now they have not only the same face, but the same shapes, facial expressions and the same style of movement.

There could be several reasons for this new policy from the world’s biggest animation studio.

First of all, the “Disney Princesses” is an extremely successful franchise. If the difference between the heroines is only in hairstyles and clothes, then this will save manufacturers a lot of money with design, with proper layouts for printing and so on. If all dolls and prints are made to a standard, Disney’s profits will be enormous.

Second, much more money is now spent on children than ever before, so it’s reasonable for the studio to focus on them. If they make princesses’ facial features look like children’s, it’s even easier for girls who don’t even go to school yet to associate with them. As a result, it will be easier for little viewers to get attached to the heroine and then beg their parents for a doll, a quilt, a themed party dedicated to their beloved princess, or even a trip to Disneyland.

This is what Elsa looks like without makeup on her face. If we didn’t know that she is an adult, we could mistake her for a little girl.

And that would be what Kristoff would look like if he followed the pattern used in female characters.

Although all fairytale princesses were beautiful, each one was special and easily recognizable by facial features. But now, the heroines really do look more and more like sisters, even though they have different ages and races, and sometimes even species (as in the case of animals). At the same time, men are represented by a variety of appearance options, as are villains.

Unfortunately, the conclusions are not very pleasant: girls receive the message, though certainly without malicious intent, of complete inequality. Only pretty girls deserve love and happiness. Ugly and old cannot be good. Men are entitled to look whatever they want: they have different shapes of noses, eyes, cheekbones and so on, and even the ugly hunchback Quasimodo deserves understanding and care.

Pretty girls are all the same. Charming faces, mandatory light makeup, impeccably selected clothes—no matter what happens to them. A princess must look perfect, even if she cries all night, falls into the sea or fights an enemy much stronger than her.

In this day and age, when most are trying to convince girls that it’s not necessary to adapt to unrealistic expectations, that you need to accept and love yourself for who you are, this approach seems outdated and even harmful. Let’s hope that mainstream princess cartoon audiences outgrow these ideas without unintended consequences.

And you, do you think Disney cartoon girls look the same? Do you think this is good or bad?