Comparing Women In The Disney Movies Mulan And Moana

Not many companies can influence the childhood development of many Americans like the Walt Disney Company. Disney, named after their founder, began as just an animation studio called The Walt Disney Studios, which the company describes as “the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built”. Today, Disney produces various items targeted at children like toys, clothing, and animation (“Company”). In the paper, Images of Animated Others: The Orientalization of Disney’s Cartoon Heroines From The Little Mermaid To The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Celeste Lacroix of the College of Charleston assesses the portrayal of female heroines from Disney animated films that depicts human main characters, examining the sexualization of non-European or the “exotic” others, and brings to light Disney’s strategy to instill an attitude of consumerism in children. Despite my memorable sentiment with Disney animations as a child, I agree with Lacroix’s assertion that Disney impose consumerism onto children, especially with DVD commercials, tie-in products and “apps” on smartphones and tablets.

Moana contains many themes connected to the idea that nature is an escape from corrupt society. For example, Moana faces many problems on her island, such as the fear she will not make her father proud as the next chief, and the physical problems with the island not producing enough food to sustain its citizens. Therefore, Moana will often escape to the beach to be with her grandmother, who taught her to “dance” with the waves (Moana 2016). Moana uses the ocean as an escape from her problems in her home, and her society which does not accept her love for the ocean. Such a belief that nature can be an escape from problems is very transcendentalist. Next, Moana has to travel across the ocean to achieve her goal of restoring the heart of Te Fiti and saving her island. The ocean actually

Moana is unsure of her future as the island leader, which is why she feels that she must risk her life to prove to herself that she is good enough. Her father’s insistence on her staying on the island combined with her dream to explore the waters, pulls her in different directions during the phase, The Ordinary World. To demonstrate her desire to explore she says, “See that line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me.” She is challenged by the feeling of unworthiness to become her people’s savior, and she struggles to recognize her self worth. To further lower her self-esteem, she fails at sailing the first time she sets off into the ocean and gets injured while trying to save Hei Hei and her own life during the phase, Refusal of the Call. The death of Tala, Moana´s grandmother, was a heartbreaking moment in Moana´s life. Before her death, Tala becomes Moana’s mentor when she encourages Moana to save her people and promises that she will always be by her granddaughter’s side. Tala fulfills the role of the mentor during the Meeting of the Mentor stage. She gives her the Heart of Tafiti and sends Moana on her way towards the stone’s destined resting place. This has been the encouragement Moana needed to begin her journey beyond the reef. This psychological warfare ultimately leads her to set off into the ocean without even knowing how to sail. She is entering an

When it comes to the Disney movies it is very easy to see the topic of gender construction. Both in the original Disney princess movies such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast,

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

The idea of feminism has not always been common. The term “feminism” wasn’t introduced until the 1970s. This shows how society didn’t allow anything that had to due with everyone being equal because of the standards that society constructed. In all the versions of Mulan, I think that Disney’s Mulan was the most strict on her having Ancient China’s role of being a woman. This would be having kids, helping clean around the house and not working for money, but working for her husband and kids. In Disney’s Mulan, her family is more hard on her to be a lady and for her to be the proper role of a women. This is because they went to a “matchmaker” to find her husband, and after saving everyone several times, she was still looked down upon because she was a woman.

Moana realizes who she has meant to be within herself and what defines her. Using her wayfinding skills, she returns to Te Fiti and manages to get past Te Kā to return the heart. Moana, reaching the top of the mountain, realizes that the island is gone and that Te Kā is actually Te Fiti without her heart. She connects with Te Fiti and opens her eyes to show her what she has become. Te Fiti calms down and lets Moana restore her heart which brings everything including herself, back to

Moana is a unique film that is released by Walt Disney in 2016. A typical Disney film consists of a beautiful princess who wants to find a true love in her life; however, Moana, the main character of the film, broke all the stereotypes and expectations of a Disney princess since Moana’s conflict does not arise from a love interest, but from a desire to save her island. The story of the movie is that there is a girl who lives on the island, but her island is dying because Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti. Therefore, her purpose is to across the ocean to find Maui and make him return the heart of Te Fiti in order to restore life on the Motunui Island, but the chief of the island “ her father “ wishes for their people to stay within the confines of the island’s reef because he thinks beyond the reef is dangerous, but Moana went against her father’s

Growing up watching Disney movies you never notice how sexist they really are. I always watched The Little Mermaid, but watching it now is very different. When you are younger you just watch things because you like them, you do not necessarily understand them. As you get older you realize what you were really being taught. Walt Disney’s movie The Little Mermaid displays a lot of sexism and displays how society should see women and how women should act.

From the minute one is born the division between genders is placed. The phrases “act like a lady” or “be a man” become everyday practices and lifelong slogans. Fairy tales are always focused on women who play the beautiful damsel in distress persona and on men who play the handsome knight coming in to save them. Whether you are female or male, it is important to remember that these fixed characteristics placed on genders are never to be reinforced. In a world full of gender stereotypes, the Disney movie Mulan challenges the societal construct of masculinity and femininity by proving that gender roles are not fixed traits, but socially constructed views that can be changed.

In the movie, “Mulan” the gender stereotyping is different than in the movie, “The Lion King.” Although she is portrayed as a strong female she still needs a man in her life. Giroux states, “Mulan may be an independent, strong-willed young woman, but the ultimate payoff for her bravery comes in the form of catching the handsome son of a general” (Greene 582). This teaches that young girls should strive to be beautiful so they can find a handsome man that will want to be with them. Men, on the

The inspiration young girls may gather from the movie poster is amplified by the text above Moana’s head. “Brave Like the Sea.” This text implies that Moana is as brave as the sea, something not often portrayed by other advertisements. “Brave” is a word often applied to males only, leaving females completely out of the narrative that they could ever exhibit this trait. However, this poster flips the switch and boldly states that a female is capable of being brave, and provides a strong example for the audience.

However, Disney’s movie Mulan countervails these stereotypes as the main character and protagonist, Mulan, acts as a symbol of resilience by resisting the gender roles placed on her by society and as a result, is seen as a hero.

In the Disney movie, “Moana,” the main character demonstrates her personal strength as a woman capable of determining her own future. “Moana” breaks the typical Disney mold of a princess being associated with a prince as the main character. Moana realizes she has the sole power within herself to take the lead role to save her village by returning the Heart of Te Fiti. The Heart of Te Fiti is what gives the world and most importantly her people’s island life. When the Heart of Te Fiti was stolen by demi-god Maui the world fell to darkness and the island began to deteriorate. The pop culture aspect of female empowerment is exemplified in the scene where Moana is visited by her deceased grandmother, Gramma Tala, after a moment of self-doubt about being able to return the Heart of Te Fiti in order to save her people and island. In the scene Gramma Tala is deceased but visits Moana in the form of a vision. Moana envisions her people sailing the sea and her father upon one of the ships. Moana was struggling with finding her inner self and utilizes her visit from Gramma Tala, to acknowledge her self-power. In the movie Moana, the “I am Moana” scene exemplifies the current cultural theme of female empowerment being actualized when the main character, Moana realizes her own inner strength after understanding her cultural heritage, receiving inspiration from her grandmother, and embracing her role in building her future.

An animated Disney movie called "Mulan," was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook in 1998. The moral of the story is that women can be just the same as men can. I support the general meaning of the movie. I believe men that and women should be treated equally and that women should not be seen as weak or frail. Women are more than just wives or slaves and can-do jobs that have traditionally been set-aside for men. They can be successful and bring honor to their families in other ways.