The Little Mermaid By Brenda Chapman And Mark Andrews From Pixar Shared A Similar Storyline

Typically, fairy tale protagonist are beautiful, kind young ladies who have been experiencing hardship for most of their life, waiting for a man to save them and, they would get married and live "happily ever after". Merida is the opposite of this. She does not want to get married. This is proved when Merida had just been told about the betrothal and replies to her mother by saying, "I won't go through with it, you can't make me!" this proves that Merida is completely against her betrothal. Additionally, she is adventurous and can use a bow and arrow. Merida is a very adventurous person which is atypical for a fairy-tale protagonist. She enjoys things such as archery, climbing and horse riding which contrasts with the usual activities of young ladies from fairy-tales which are sewing, cooking and cleaning. This is shown when Merida climbs a cliff and drinks from the 'fire falls'. This is a very adventurous and rejects the common stereotypes for a fairy-tale princess. Furthermore, Merida has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother. This is not commonly in fairy-tales as the mother is usually absent, allowing for an aspect of tragedy in the young girls life, or the mother and daughter are very close and have an excellent relationship with each other. This is not the case in brave. Merida and her mother have a very flawed relationship where the mother, Elinor, is constantly trying

A number of children’s literature are progressively becoming produced with reverse gender roles. In fact, “Merida’s heroism is why Brave signifies a turning point for Disney” (Garabedian, 2014). Modern day princesses are ending these past stereotypes and becoming strong and independent female characters. Merida is no damsel in distress!

Ponyo and The Little Mermaid have reflected important societal views on the individuality and standards for women during their time period. Both Ponyo and Ariel display promising female characters within a society where they did not value the individuality of women. The Little Mermaid (by Disney), and Ponyo (by Hayao Miyazaki), share similar storylines. They are both about women trying to become a part of the human world in order to be with the men they love. In order to do so, they make some mischievous and dangerous decisions.

Just like what John Musker says, “We thought it would be very appealing to do a female empowerment story that didn’t center on any sort of romance” (Berman 2016). The hearts of their stories focused less on finding true love and more on journeys, selflessness, and self-discovery. The first thing to point is that nobody of these leads’ – except for naïve Anna – core story aims was to fall in love. Tiana (The Princess and the Frog 2009) driven hard to become an effective business holder, Rapunzel (Tangled 2010) desired to discover the outside world, Merida (Brave 2012) wished to evade being married off in the name of practice, and Anna and Elsa (Frozen 2013) were looking to save each other, reconstruct their relationship and keep their empire from being overhauled by an outside threat. This period in Disney cinematography also took the time to highpoint relations between women for the first time. Just like in Brave, the chief bond is revolving between daughter and mother. There are plenty Disney movies to have explored love, but this one stands out and is experienced by most teenagers – the altering scene of the mother–daughter bond. Similarly, Frozen mainly focuses on the sisterly bond between Anna and Elsa. Jennifer Lee states that “She wanted to create characters they both could relate to, and felt the bond between sisters would be more accessible to a young girl than the lure of romantic love” (The Columbian 2014). Again, Disney took steps to discover something foreign to its earlier movies. By representing firm women and the inner workings of their relations, the last few Disney animated films showed a more precise reflection of the world. Based on the past of Disney Princesses above, we are sighted stronger role models creating their way into children’s

The little mermaid, born into royalty as a princess, not only as the most beautiful voice on land and in the water, but posses a strong curiosity about life on land. Her infatuation with life on land is characterized by the rose garden she grew around a statue of a prince. Her “desire to leave the female dominated mer-world is already anticipated in her garden, which has as its center a male statue resembling the prince. The desire of the little mermaid to leave the mer-world, the work of the pre-Oepida mother, dominates the initial part of the story.” Despite the innocent and privileged life she lived as a mermaid in a matriarchal world, she longed to grow into adulthood, get married, and experience sexuality on land, where patriarchy was

Hans Christian Andersen’s story, “The Little Mermaid” talks about a girl who saves a young man from drowning and falls in love with him, and she later learns that the young man she saved was a prince. In this world women believe that they are not capable of doing nothing or being nothing without a man in their lives. Disney’s film, “The Little Mermaid”, by Ron Clements and John Musker, present a version that makes an appearance for children, so it is harder to catch on where a woman needs a man in her life whether it is her father or a husband. In the Disney film the director makes the mermaid (Ariel) look so vulnerable and weak for a young woman. Women now these days say that they were made to believe that they have to depend on a man because they will not make it without them. In the story the author made it seem like all women cannot do want they want or that they are limited to do and say certain things because they are women. Women grow up to believe and to think that they need a man because that is how many men and society made women and young girls look like. So, part of this faulting it the men because they beliefs are that women cannot do what they do or that women and young girls belong at home to behave right and look pretty for the men. Andersen is a good example of Feminist and Gender criticism because women should believe that they can make it without having to rely on a man. Women should start believing that they are as equal as a man whether it’s at a job, relationship, at home, and in society because we are not meant to be looked at as a fragile and weak woman, we are supposed to show everyone that women should be equal to men on all types of levels. Andersen examines representation of gender, dependence, and cultural stability to explore notions of equality in gender.

In Hastings article, he describes how women are portrayed throughout each fairytale. It is clear that in the Disney movie of “The Little Mermaid”, women usually end up relying on men and do not have their own clear voice. They also end up changing for their men. Hastings says, “…all “bad” desires within a figure of female evil”(Hastings pg 86). when mentioning The Little Mermaid. In each story, the little mermaid gives up something of hers for the prince. However, in the fairytale, the mermaid sacrifices her sexuality in order to keep this feminine ideal. She goes through a sexual awakening and holds back any desires. The Disney version gives women an unrealistic expectation of perfection. There is a lot of “female stereotyping”(pg 86). It makes women believe that they need to be beautiful and if they are, life will be easy as perfect. Whereas in Andersons little mermaid, the mermaid has more

Merida, from the Disney movie Brave, is a princess that stands out as headstrong when it comes to social or gender norms and achieving her goals instead of relying upon another person. According to Kuykendal and Sturm (2007), “fairy tales define women as beautiful objects, powerless to alter the events in their lives…” (p. 1). For example, Ariel, from The Little Mermaid, is a princess that relied entirely on her looks to charm Prince Eric to break the curse of her being mute. However, while Queen Elinor, Merida’s mother, expects Merida to be prim and proper, Merida wanted to become her own person and decided to hone in on archery.

These influences are negative for younger viewers because they instill a need for impossible beauty standards and for dependent characteristics. Luckily, Disney is turning from their past and breaking free from their former ways. Movies such as Brave and Frozen are breaking the mold of the stereotypical princess. Brave is an extraordinary story because it is a tale of a fiery girl who does not wish to be married, which is the first case seen of a princess who's is not looking for her handsome prince to rescue her from her terrible life. “The lack of romance in Brave is a statement that a female can be a strong lead and save herself or other characters (which she does sixteen times in the film) without the assistance of a male character”. (Disney Darling 102). Merida is a wonderful example for girls watching Brave because she exemplifies independence and confidence. She teaches viewers to not be afraid to be your own person and to be the hero of your own story. Like Brave, Frozen is the newest movie to shy away from the damsel in distress attitude. Elsa, one of the female leads, rules her kingdom solely on her own. This was unheard of in Disney movies until now. A princess in power shows young girls that they do not have to depend on a male to have a successful life. These female characters are rescuing themselves for a change and they

Disney wrote in a time where women were in fact lesser than men, and were valued more differently than they are now. “We typically accept “masculine men” and “feminine women” as normal” (Brym, 2014). Many have this preconceived notion of women being feminine, soft, emotional, sweet and submissive, while men are perceived to be masculine, aggressive, tough, daring and

Since this article was published three more movies with princesses was released. These movies include Tangled, Brave, and Moana (though some may or may not classify the latter most as a princess movie per se). These three new films increasingly give the female lead character more masculine traits and freedom from the traditional expectations of the earlier Disney princesses. This trend aligns with the trend set forth by the coded results from the article. The new movies therefore uphold the third hypothesis that Disney’s gender role portrayal would become more equal over time, but at the same time this new trend disproves the first and second hypotheses. The most recent two movies portray male and female lead characters as essentially equal in their portrayal of gender roles and the amount of times the characters rescue one another. Therefore, I agree with the article by England, et al., but I feel that it needs to be updated to reflect the current movies that have been released by Disney for their claims to become strong once

Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into film production, television, and theme parks. In this essay will particular focus on the changing of gender role in the film production of Disney Company. In the early ages of Disney’s film, generally speaking, the gender role of women characters in the movie is passive. Male characters have been more prominent and portrayed as more they are more likely to have a recognizable job, more independent, athletic, important, and stronger than female characters. For example, according to the timeline of Walt Disney Picture Film (Disney), Snow White and The Seven Dwarves (1937) is the first animated feature length film produced by Disney. In this movie, Snow White is a dominant character and only relying on the princess to save her. Furthermore, the similar trend can be found in Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959) as well. Prince is the leading role of the story line and princess or women characters in these early films all are subsidiary. However, this circumstance has been changed in the 1980s because the rise of Feminism in America. The release of The Little Mermaid (1989) means that the traditional princess roles are no longer exists. The gender role of the princess in this film is rebellious and ambitious and she finding success herself instead of

The lead character in Brave, Merida, is very different than other disney princesses you see on the big screen. Most of these princesses are after love, after the prince or hero with good looks who save them from the evil villain. For example, prince charming in Cinderella, or Prince Eric in the Little Mermaid. Merida has very different motivations than these princesses, she wants to control her own destiny. She doesn't want anything to do with the arranged marriage that is set between her kingdom and the other three. Merida doesn't fall in love or

starts her essay off by telling the readers about her personal experience raising a daughter in a male dominated world. Pollitt mentions how she struggled with finding a children’s movie starring a female with more than just a nice figure, a pretty face, and a “damsel in distress” personality to give to her daughter for Christmas. She finally chose Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”. Ariel, despite looking like the stereotypical princess, is brave, determined, and the hero of her own story unlike most Disney princesses. Pollitt considered Ariel role model material for her preschool age daughter and other young girls alike. Pollitt claims that television networks, movies, and books that are mostly male dominant send negative messages to the developing mind of

The first of Disney Pixar’s animated films without a male-centered cast featuring a spunky, defiant, and disheveled Scottish princess (figure 5), Merida, was Brave. Opening with the expected invocation, “Once Upon a Time,” Disney prepares the audience to expect the stereotypical gender patterns of the past to include a land far away and a beautiful princess (Preston 198). Immediately opening with what might appear to be an twist from Disney tale’s tradition, the audience discovers that Merida is an adolescent proclaiming with unwavering certainty, “The one thing we [all] search for is the right to change” (Brave). This statement in this stage of life indicates, perhaps, that one should not grow up as quickly as possible but rather one should desire to enjoy the adventures of discovering one’s individual path without mimicking the romantic desires of adults (Ebrahim 46).