Representation in the Disney Renaissance

An exploration of the representation of Disney princesses in the Disney Renaissance (1989 - 1999).

Introduction

One would like to think in a Princess movie, the Princess would talk more than the characters who are male, but unfortunately this is not the case with Disney Princess movies. In fact men talked, on average, five times more than their female counterpart. This Wikipedia page will provide new insight in the inequalities and stereotypes that female Disney characters face in the Renaissance period. The Disney Renaissance was an Era of animation from 1986-1999. Movies made in this period include Little Mermaid, The Rescuer Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, and Tarzan. It is credited as the age that made the most in profit via box office than previous Disney Era’s. Throughout this Wiki, the in depth analysis of the following themes in these Disney Movies will be made:

• Aladdin (1992) has Orientalist stereotypes with a main female character, Princess Jasmine, who is representative of Western Feminism and caters to the white male gaze.
• Mulan (1998)  is a story displaying gender inequality and it also portrays several sexist stereotypes.
• The Little Mermaid is a Disney classic that focuses on outcasting anyone who won’t conform to the patriarchal society that exists under the sea.
• The Film, Pocahontas (1995), depicts a false white washed history of the real Pocahontas and White Superiority.

Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989)

Film Summary

The Little Mermaid (1989), follows the story of Ariel, a 16-year-old mermaid princess with a rebellious side. She quickly falls in love with all things human, including a handsome man named Eric, and is determined to become human, directly disobeying her father’s orders to avoid the world that exists above the sea. As a result, Ariel strikes a deal with a villainous sea witch named Ursula to trade her tail for legs at the expense of her voice. Ariel has 3 days to make Eric fall in love with her or become Ursula’s slave for eternity. Despite Ursula’s best attempt to interfere, Ariel convinces Eric to fall in love with her and like a classic Disney film lives happily ever after.

Princess Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989)

Destructive Sexist Stereotypes

The Little Mermaid (1989), once hailed as the saviour of Disney Animation and a fan favourite has no shortage of blunt sexist behaviour that we often overlooked as children. Throughout the film, 16-year-old Ariel is sexualized through the depictions of her body in several scenes wearing clothing that expose much of her body. Ursula reinforces the importance of her body image over her brain and voice, reminding her “don’t underestimate the importance of body language” (Ursula, 1989, 43:00) as well as “You’ll never even miss it… You’ll have your looks! Your pretty face. The men up there [on land] don’t like a lot of blabber. They think a girl who gossips is a bore.” (Ursula, 1989, 43:09) Ursula uses Ariel’s insecurities against her and promotes the silencing of women, reaffirming the stereotype to young audiences that women are powerless in the face of men.

Ursula, A Successful Businesswomen

Ursula often viewed as an evil sea witch was not the villain we recognized her to be as. Ursula is a strong, independent, outspoken, and hardworking woman who Disney convinced us was the epitomize of a villain, when truly she was just not willing to conform to the patriarchal society that exists under the sea. Ursula never lies to Ariel, always telling her exactly what she’s offering and expecting back in the agreed deal while also providing a legally binding contract that Ariel willingly signs. Overall Ursula is a strong representation of feminism that is often lacking in Disney renaissance era films and her death at the end of the movie is symbolic of how society handles women daring to step outside the norm.

Ariel & Eric, Love or Lust?

The first time Ariel lays her eyes upon Eric she comments on how beautiful he is and quickly falls in love with him over his looks, without ever knowing anything about him as a person outside of his appearance. Ariel is willing to not only give up her voice, one of her most cherished possessions, to be with the first man she meets but also her entire family and life along with it. Disney elevates the idea that the only asset worth considering is our looks while our thoughts, feelings, and emotions can be overlooked if one is deemed to be conveniently “pretty enough”.

The Little Mermaid, A True Tragedy

The Little Mermaid (1989) is often considered a love story when it is truly a tragedy that undermines women and teaches young females that their looks are the only important feature they have. At the beginning of the movie, Ariel is a rebellious teen questioning her identity and place in the patriarchal society she was raised in but instead of developing her independence, Disney traded it in for a bland, voiceless, zombie who is with a man who only values her for her appearance. Disney had the ability to revolutionize how young girls view themselves but instead conformed to society’s expectations of women and reaffirmed their worth is nothing if not traditionally beautiful and willing to follow a man’s every word.

Jasmine in Aladdin (1992)

Film Summary

Aladdin (1992), taking place in the fictional land of Agrabah, follows the story of Aladdin, a young man who is homeless and has to steal to survive. One afternoon, while he is chased through the streets for stealing a piece of bread, Aladdin runs into Jasmine, the princess of Agrabah, who is venturing outside the palace for the first time. The two fall into a romance. Later, Aladdin is recruited by Jafar, the king’s vizier, for a dangerous mission that leads Aladdin to find a magical lamp with a genie who grants him wishes. He wishes to be a prince in hopes of both finding love and wealth. Jafar, the power hungry villain, tries to stop him. After a series of events, the protagonist lives happily ever after, the villain is defeated and Aladdin marries Jasmine.

Orientalist Stereotypes

Aladdin (1992) is a film filled with Orientalist stereotypes of Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures and people. Orientalism, a term coined by scholar Edward Said, proposes that the West has imagined the East as more exotic, foreign, and dangerous than Western culture. Said defines, “Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.” Agrabah, the film’s setting, is an amalgamation of Orientalist stereotypes, featuring a range of character designs and details inspired by South Asian to Middle Eastern cultures with no specificity, suggesting these images are all formed by the West to suit their generalized image of the East. The film also plays into historical Orientalist images of how non-Western people are meant to behave: the locals are barbaric and chaotic, while the women are treated as objects. This is best demonstrated near the start of the film when Aladdin is being chased through the streets of Agrabah. Essentially, the film creates an image of what the West believes is a true representation of these cultures, while simultaneously perpetuating harmful stereotypes. Additionally, Disney is portraying a mystical, strange land with a female character, Princess Jasmine, who, while supposedly independent, is oversexualized compared to the white princesses who came before. This caters to the Western viewer, who favors superficial girl power over non-Orientalist representations. Though the characters are all non-Western and non-white, Aladdin (1992) was targeted towards a Western audience since Disney is an American company owned by white men; the film was therefore created to cater to this gaze.

Description of Princess Jasmine

Princess Jasmine is the only main female character in Aladdin (1992) and the princess of Agrabah. Outspoken, confident, and rebellious, Princess Jasmine differs from her white counterparts in both appearance and behaviour. Princess Jasmine is presumably Arab because the film opens with a song called "Arabian Nights." However, because Agrabah was designed with clear inspirations from both the Middle East and South Asia, her ethnicity remains unclear. In appearance, Princess Jasmine shows more skin than most of the white princesses who came before: she wears a bra top that exposes her midriff and speaks in a soft, sultry voice — her character is also voiced by a white woman. She is the only Disney princess to have kissed a villain. Her central character conflict is that she wants to be free of the cultural expectations imposed on her, such as getting an arranged marriage, often earning her the title as one of the more progressive Disney princesses.

Image of Princess Jasmine from Disney's animated feature Aladdin (1992)

Western Feminism and the Male Gaze

Though Princess Jasmine is arguably more outspoken and independent than her white counterparts, making repeated statements such as “I am not a prize to be won!” and “When I am queen, I will have the power to get rid of you,” there are issues with how she is represented throughout the film. First, though she is empowering for some, Jasmine represents a brand of Western feminism that sees her portrayal as empowering without realizing the implications of Jasmine being non-white and non-Western. Aditi Natasha Kini for Bitch Media notes:

"[Jasmine] is the canvas on which white feminism paints its own image: She doesn’t wear a hijab (except for when she’s masquerading as a poor and thus “backward” Muslim) and longs for love in a marriage while playing with caged birds. She’s the “right kind of Muslim”—the rich woman who bears little cultural markers of difference and rejects the shackles of her religion for liberated sex."

Image of Princess Jasmine (third from left) and the princesses from previous films

Thus, Princess Jasmine is the image of an Arab, or non-Western, woman, who, as shown above, rejects the traditions of her culture in favour of her beliefs that are in line with those of the West. In comparison to the rest of her non-Western culture, Princess Jasmine is thus portrayed as more 'progressive' because of her strong values, thereby suggesting that her culture is less developed, and therefore inferior. Princess Jasmine is a character who Disney can promote as diverse representation, but this is undermined by the reality that Princess Jasmine conforms to Western ideals while embodying simultaneously Orientalist stereotypes, notably of the sexualized, exotic, non-Western woman. Princess Jasmine reflects a hierarchical relationship where the West can cast a certain gaze upon Eastern cultures in order to place them in an inferior position for their entertainment.

Second, Jasmine does end up being reduced to her value as a sexual object or romantic achievement for the male characters. Evidently, women have a right to control their own sexuality and embrace their body in whatever way makes them confident; yet, at the climax of the film, Jasmine’s agency is stripped away from her. Jafar captures Jasmine, dresses her in a sensual red costume and shackles, and essentially forces her to marry him. Jasmine remains resistant, though the sexual undertones of the scene are evident. As a distraction when Aladdin sneaks in to save her, Jasmine kisses Jafar. In the end, Aladdin is still the hero and Jasmine is reduced to his romantic interest, whose character development is complete after her marriage to the protagonist. 

Live Action Aladdin (2019) and Disclaimer on Disney +

Though released in 1992, the animated Aladdin is still considered one of Disney’s classics, even being adapted into a live action version released in 2019. When Disney+, Disney’s streaming service, launched that year, Disney displayed the following disclaimer before the animated Aladdin:

“This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.

Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe.”

This suggests that Disney as a company realizes that there are harmful stereotypes within the original film, such as those mentioned above. In 1993, one year after the release of the film, Disney changed a line from the opening song due to backlash from Arab Americans. The line was originally, "Oh, I come from a land / From a faraway place / Where the caravan camels roam. / Where they cut off your ear / If they don't like your face / It's barbaric, but hey, it's home." The line was then cut down, but "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home," remained. Again, Disney clearly has an understanding of the potential harm of portraying a culture in a certain way, but not enough action was taken. Since Disney was, and still is, a cultural phenomenon in the West, these representations can shape people's attitudes and understandings of certain cultures, while subtly asserting Western superiority in the process.

Pocahontas in Pocahontas (1995)

Film Summary

Pocahontas is a 1995 film based on the romantic relationship between a young Native American woman, Pocahontas, and a English Settler named John Smith. Pocahontas is the daughter of the Chief, Powhatan. Throughout the movie she is characterized as a noble and free spirited woman who lets her heart lead the way. She is Tall, with black hair and golden skin. Smith is Caption who is depicted as a tall white man with blonde hair. Smith comes to the “New World” with his Virgina company in search of rich natural resources, the main one being gold. Tension arises between the settlers and the Powhatans, as Governor Ratcliffe declares to eliminate the “savages” because he thinks they are hiding the gold from him. Chief Powahatans, at the sametime states that  “these white men are dangerous”, and starts recruiting surrounding tribes for a war against the settlers. Amidst this Pocahonas and John are fighting for their love, which Pocahontas’s father forbade. In the end, Pocahontas does not listen to her father and follows her heart to help save the day.

The Real Pocahontas

The real story of Pocahontas is far from the white washed history. Born with the name Matoaka, Pocahontas only lived to be twenty-one years old. Matoaka, the daughter of Poawhatan/Wahunsenacah, was born around 1596. When the English settlers arrived, Matoaka became a translator between the English and Algonquin language. At around sixteen years old Matoaka married within her people, to the younger brother of Chief Japazozaw of the Potawamae people, Kocoum. Matoaka and Kocoum had one child together, a son who is almost always never metioned when discussing Pocahontas offsprings.

At seventeen years old, Pocahontas was kidnapped by Samuel Argall. Argall had a interest in Pocahontas since his arrival to what is now known as North America and hatch a plan to hold her as hostage. In the process of being captured, Pocahontas's husband, Kocoum was murdered and she was forced to leave behind her child. Pochantas was used as Blackmail over the Powhatans, forcing them into demands made by the English. Over the course of one year while she was held as a prisoner, Motoaka was repeatedly raped and forced into baptism. Through the process of Anglicizing Pocahontas, she was renamed into "Lady Rebbeca". One of "Rebbecca's" captors took interest in her and made a agreement that if she married him, she would be release from being a prisoner. The captors name was John Rolfe and he was two times her age. This was the first record of a marraige between a Native American and European, togther they had one son named Thomas Rolfe.

Two years after her abduction, “Rebecca” was shipped off to England with her John Rolfe. While in England, Pocahontas was used as a symbol of "peace and goodness" between Native Americans and the Englsih Settlers. She was also used as a prompt to show that "Savages" can be civilized. Before she could return home, Pocahontas fell ill and dies (although many sources state she may have been murdered at the hand of her husband). Never returung back to her people. She is often referred to as one of the first Missing and Murdered Indigenous womam.

Life Portrait of Pocahontas

Damaging Sterotypes and White Superiority

The Disney animation, Pocahontas, was met with mixed reviews. Though many non-Indigenous people viewed the child movie as inclusive. To the Indigenous peoples, it was seen as a film filled with stereotypes and white superiority. White superiority is the belief that white people are the superiority race, and because they are the superior race they should be the ones to dominate the world. A great example of this can be seen in the infamous song “Savages, Savages” that was sung by the English Settlers while they were on their way to the  “New World” :

"What can you expect

From filthy little heathens?

Their whole disgusting race is like a curse

Their skin's a hellish red

They're only good when dead

They're vermin, as I said

And worse.

They're savages! Savages!

Barely even human. Savages! Savages!

Drive them from our shore!

They're not like you and me

Which means they must be evil.

We must sound the drums of war!"

In this song, Indigenous people are depicted in a negative and inferior stereotype, they are called “heathens”, “savages”, “vermins” and are said to be “evil” - implying that the white society is good/better. When calling Indigenous people Savages, they are implying that Indigenous people are wild, primitive and “uncivilized”. This gives the illusion that the white society is that of the opposite, which is Civilized. The song goes on to state that Native Americans "are barely even human", which futher fuels the ideology that they are not people, but in fact at a lower level of humanity compared to the White Society. The song conveys, to the young audience, that Native Americans are the “others”, by using the lyrics “we” and they”. Essentially stating that someone who is not of the white society is a “other”, therefore inferior and not as advanced as the White Civilaization.

Movie and Songs that have these negative and unrealsitice portrayals of "Indian people" have a harmful affect on Indigenous youth who consume these virtual entertinment media. Because of these portrayals, Indigenous chrildren view themself as inferior to "normal/white" children. These negative depicitions give Indigenous people low self esteem, that at extreme level can cause and help manifest internal oppression and internal colonization. Internal Colonization/oppression is the process in which Indigenous peoples believe they should conform to the colonizer's ways of thinking and understanding oneself, while simultaneously disregarding and blaming one's own peoples for being in the state they are in now.

Mulan in Mulan (1998)

Film Summary

Mulan is a story about a young Chinese girl who turns to the battlefield when China is under attack by the Huns. Upon the attack, the Emperor of China demands a man from every household to fight for the country, but Mulan’s father is too ill and sick to fight in the army. Mulan decides to secretly leave for the army disguised as a man without letting her family know about it else her ailing father will be killed in the war. Mulan prays to her ancestors for protection, and they send a dishonored dragon to help her on her way to stop the Huns. Mulan manages to keep her identity until they temporarily stop the Huns but later, she is revealed and thrown out of the army. Mulan, against all the dishonor and criticism, joins the army again at the Emperor’s palace, which is under the attack of the Huns. She uses her brain to defeat the all-powerful army of the Huns and help keep China keep its peace. Like every Disney movie, the ending is happy with Mulan returning home with accolades from the Emperor himself, which honors her family.

Stereotypes

The movie endures the importance of women marrying by which they can bring honor to the family. It is made evident in the movie that men should bear weapons while women should raise children by which they can honor their families in society. When Mulan visits the matchmaker, she undergoes several changes by applying makeup, wearing jewelry, and dressing in clothes that are fancy to look. Emphasis is also put on standing straight and looking fair by applying makeup so that the girl can look like a “perfect porcelain doll” (according to the song in the movie). The matchmaker also tells Mulan that she is too skinny for a bride, which shows that women need to be perfect regardless of the man they will marry.

Through the song “A girl worth fighting for,” the Chinese soldiers describe the girl they believe is ideal. They say that she “must be paler than the moon”, “marvel at my strength”, and “it all depends on what she cooks”. This shows that a woman back then was judged by her appearance rather than what she can achieve as a person. Mulan tries to suggest to the soldiers a girl with brains who listens to her mind, but everyone repudiates this idea. Chinese culture valued girls who were obedient, calm, submissive, and ready to raise their children’.

The Masculine Paradigm

Mulan portrays a story on a different trail for the 20th century. Every movie at that time displayed thin line roles for the female leads where the male lead rescues the female and marries her, but Mulan shows a different storyline. The movie has shown Mulan to be physically strong compared to other female counterparts, which is overruling for them. This exhibits that if a female needs to achieve individuality and success in society, then she must convey specific characteristics, i.e., being physically strong and even defeating men in the warship as shown in the movie. This can be seen in the movie because Mulan secretly joins the Emperor’s army to fight against physically imposing Huns.

Moreover, she also completes her training along with other male soldiers. If the story had been a bit different with Mulan not doing anything worthy for the army, she would have killed upon her revelation of the gender by the Captain. The problem with this is that women, feminine men, and other genders find it overwhelming when they cannot display masculine roles because they believe that they will not achieve anything worthwhile in their lives.

(Mis)representation of the Chinese Culture

Chinese culture is associated with the communal approach rather than the individualistic approach, i.e., the people in China think about group harmony. On the contrary, Mulan joins the army to find herself and stop her father from going into the battlefield himself, but this shows an individualistic approach. Mulan uses her brain and power to defeat the army of Huns and save the whole country. She goes against her Captain’s order to fire the cannon in the wrong direction on the Huns. She also goes after the army to warn them about Huns after they throw her out because of her gender revelation, and this displays contrary aspects of the Chinese culture. Mulan’s approach to going to the army to find herself is more western-oriented, which conflicts with the East Asian perspective of the communal nature.

References

Clements, R., & Musker, J. (1989). The Little Mermaid. Walt Disney Pictures