True Loves Actions between Frozen and Maleficent The Disney movies Frozen and Maleficent theme of true love is prevalent in both movies through the actions between the characters. Frozen takes place in the country of Arendelle at Queen Elsa`s coronation ball. At the ball, Elsa`s magical powers causes her to lose control, placing Arendelle into an eternal winter. Maleficent takes place in the Kingdom of the Humans and in the Kingdom of the Moors. Maleficent is a fairy to the Kingdom of the Moors. She is the strongest of all of the fairy`s and she protects them from danger. The King in the Kingdom of the Humans is threatened by Maleficent`s strong nature. Frozen and Maleficent are similar by the actions between the antagonists, the advisors and the protagonists. Prince Han portrays the villain in Frozen. He is the Prince of the Southern Isles who is 13 in line to the throne of his Kingdom. Hans hides his true intentions of having a relationship with Anna for his personal benefit. He deceives her with his charm and noble status to capture her heart. Anna places her trust in Hans to take care of her Kingdom when she goes on a journey to find Elsa after she runs away from Arendelle. The citizens of Arendelle believe Elsa is a monster. He uses this as an opportunity to gain their trust. He provides warm blankets and shelter due to the frozen state Arendelle is in. Anna discovers Hans’s true intentions when he betrays her by not saving her life. Anna’s life is in danger of
The call to adventure for Maleficent was when Stefan cut her wings. Maleficent ordinary world was her kingdom “The Moor”.
Walt Disney Productions prestige is to never disappoint and their latest movie Frozen, is no exception. The movie centers around the lives of two sisters, kind-hearted Anna and the frightened Snow Queen Elsa. Fearless Anna sets off on a journey to find her sister, who flees to an icy mountain after she accidentally traps the kingdom of Arendelle in an eternal winter with her ice powers. Disney’s 2013 animated film reeled in its target audience and more; the film intended to appeal to children’s of all ages surprisingly enough enticed a wider audience largely comprised of non-families. Disney’s reputation for promoting happiness and the well-being of American families led to the direct success of the movie Frozen. The film met its purpose, depicting a touching storyline – showing the importance of family and undermining the traditional concept of “true love.” Furthermore, Walt Disney Productions established sufficient credibility within its viewers and audience with the use of artistic proofs such as; ethos, logos, and pathos. Disney’s tradition is to provide the audience with an educational piece of entertainment, Frozen is undeniably one of those Disney animated films worth seeing. Walt Disney Productions strategic use of rhetoric made it evident that the movie was going to be an all-time hit – some may even say “the biggest children’s film of all time” – simply because it was just that, a Disney movie.
Throughout many years fairy tales have changed from warnings and nightmares to life goals and bedtime stories. The movie Maleficent is a modern day retelling for the story Sleeping Beauty. In Maleficent there is a fairy named Maleficent who falls in love with a boy who later breaks her heart and has a baby with another woman. When Maleficent finds out he has had a child, she curses the baby girl so she will prick her finger on her 16th birthday, causing her to fall into a death-like sleep that only true love’s kiss will wake her from. Maleficent sneakily watches over the child until her 16th birthday and loves her like her own child. When the 16 year old girl pricks her finger the kiss from her prince does not wake her, but Maleficent’s kiss goodbye does. In the movie a lot of special effects are used when Maleficent is using magic or flying, and it is also used when the other magical creatures are in any scene. The music used throughout the movie sets the tone of what is happening and shows emotion. Many of the costumes used are similar to Disney’s movie of Sleeping Beauty like Maleficent’s all black outfit and horns. The movie Maleficent is a good retelling of the story Sleeping Beauty because of the special effects, music, and costumes used within the film.
But both stories go beyond the simple idea of true loves power, and turn into something more sinister by having Talia and Aurora expected to succumb to the sinister affections of the King and Maleficent. In Basile’s story a king abuses Talia's vulnerable state, and unapologetically rapes her. “He lifted her in his arms, and carried her to a bed, where he gathered the first fruits of love” (Hallet & Karasek, 2009, p. 68). The passive way in which the author brings up the rape is clearly a product of the time it was written. The king’s ‘love’ for Talia is seen as a noble act. In the end, Talia’s own struggles are used as an anecdote for the king’s heroism. Aurora, in Maleficent, also has a male love interest but the movie’s modern retelling has their love tossed away as a simple fling. In the end, it is Maleficent true love that wakes Aurora. The creators of Maleficent clearly thought it would be revolutionary to have Aurora not fall in love with Prince Philip. Women being subservient to men, and desperate for their affections, is often critiqued by feminist, which is why Maleficent attempts to go against this trope. Basically it takes the role of the prince and swaps it for Maleficent without offering anything new. In each narrative Talia and Aurora are the stereotypical damsel, who falls victim to Stockholm like tendencies.
Not only do Disney princesses result in bad self esteem, they also encourage passiveness and reliance on others. The feminine and vulnerable side of these princesses, reflect the reliance on their hero and true love. The Disney princess stereotype insinuates that girls should be sweet and submissive, and should fully rely on a male-counterpart. Conversely, new characters, such as Elsa (Frozen), Rapunzel (Tangled), and Merida (Brave), do not express this passive characteristic. At the same time, these princesses continue to need assistance to reach the desired solution. For instance, Princess Rapunzel still needed hero Flynn Rider, in order to navigate her to her parents throughout the movie. None of these princesses independently found a solution to the main conflict in any of these Disney films.
As a child, most children become infatuated with the newest Disney movie. Although Disney movies target children, watching them as an adult, we start to notice hidden messages and themes in our favorite childhood movies. A category of Disney packed with secret meanings is the Disney princess films. We watch in awe a young girl living, for the most part, the perfect fantasy life. She sings to animals, her hair is always perfectly in place, and there is always a prince to come and save her. In reality, there is much more to the princess persona than we realize. In 2014, Disney’s Frozen took the world by storm and became the highest grossing animated film ever. Frozen takes us on a magical journey with Princess Anna to find her sister, Princess Elsa, whose power to create ice has forever trapped their homeland, Arendelle, in eternal winter. Elsa is haunted by the memory of almost tragically killing her younger sister Anna because of her icy powers. Isolating herself from the world, Elsa dedicated her life to concealing her powers and learning to control them. The movie Frozen teaches the importance of social development among children.
Maleficent is a prime example of the perfect antagonist for Sleeping Beauty. She is also a symbolism for the devil and evil which is why she has horns and transforms into a devil. There is of course a classic battle between the prince and the dragon where he has to fight for the girl he loves. This is a Disney movie so of course he wins the girl in the end when he revives her from her slumber with a kiss. The princess in this story has more of a physical awakening after a year of slumber; therefore, I feel like the trope is not too prevalent in this film other than the theme of bad versus evil which is always going on. Something significant that happened in 1959 was the launch of Barbie’s which reflects that it was a time for young girls because the same audience who would love a moving like Sleeping Beauty would also love playing with Barbie’s. Also, when this movie was being released America was just getting involved in the Vietnam War. During the next thirty years until the release of the next fairy tale made by Disney, America would get out of one war just to get into
Apart from the stereotypes, recent Disney princesses have been counteracting the stereotypical images of a Disney princess. They are no longer waiting around for their prince to come and be with them. Instead, they are using their intelligence to achieve their dreams and aspirations. Also, they can be independent and that they don’t always need a man (Bowser n.p.). The portrayal of love in these films are different from the others. The characters are not focused in waiting for their prince. Rather, they were trying to achieve their dreams. In "The Princess and the Frog", Tiana pursues her dream in becoming a restaurant owner. She didn't need a male counterpart to be able to feel happy but only wanted to fulfill her dream to feel happiness.
While Snow White is a European fairy tale, its dichotomy of female roles is a common theme in
The completeness of the stories that showed on films covered dissimilarity on reality. It embraced fantasy concept a way far in realism. However, it triggered to produce heartwarming films. The concept of the stories stroked the minds and hearts of young female children which usually convey a love stories. Most protagonists were females or princesses so, evidently young female children were captivated on the stories with used of the unforgettable line “And they live happily ever after”. As a result, young female children when exposed to Walt Disney films tend to identify themselves with those fictional characters. They might as well perceive the stories will happen in life situations.
According to the “ Excerpts from Myth and the Movie, Stuart Voytilla Foreword” by Christopher Vogler, “the ordinary world allows us to get to know the hero and identify with him before the journey begins.” In Maleficent’s childhood, she lives in a peaceful and harmonious fairy kingdom called Moors. She is full of grace and poise, friendly to all creatures
Disney’s new movie “Frozen” has caught the eyes of viewers and has surprised us all, reaching No. 1 in the box Office and have pass over $300 million of tickets sold, this movie has no sign of slowing down any time soon. “Frozen’ is one of the few recent Disney films to capture the classic Disney script, like “Cinderella” or “Snow White”, it’s a heart warming and loving story, guaranteed to thaw a frozen heart. Unlike the usual Disney princess story line where the girl has a poor life or things just don’t turn out like there suppose to, they wish upon a star, fall in love, then bibbidi-bobbdi-boo they have a happily ever after. Frozen strayed off from tradition and decided to go for more of a different approach. True love has always been a
Dr Kelly Flanagan in head article “3 Ways Frozen Subverts the Usual Fairy Tale Rules” mentions that “You can’t marry away from your loneliness. Life is not primarily about finding a man. Women can be kingdom builders, too. All by themselves.” However this statement contradicts the disney fairy tale Cinderella as both of her parents die and she does marry because of loneliness. This dissertation will look further in to this article as it serves a purpose towards the research being gathered. Disney films such as Snow White and Cinderella are weakening due to Disney films subverting themselves, however the more modern films such as Frozen and Brave are more strengthening films to women within society. For instance it wasn't till the late 90’s
In Sleeping Beauty, the Prince is portrayed a strong and courageous person, he can be seen as a great character because he overcomes many obstacles to be able to help the Princess survive. Although Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale and is stereotypically more admired by girls, the masculine tale might be liked by the male population because they aspire to be the male hero. Maleficent shows the feminine tale and warns the girls that not men cannot be trusted in some cases, and that there is no need to have a man by your side. A woman can survive on their own using her own intelligence and courage to overcome any obstacle that she might face. For the female population, this change is very important because this “hero” story helps us relate to the character and our desire to do great and special acts (Seger 387). This film proved that a woman is capable of defeating evil, and brings a new perspective into Disney
Growing up, all I ever did was watch Disney movies and the Disney channel. Now as I’m older, I can’t help but realize that all the movies are exactly the same. The princess is stuck in a dilemma and then a perfect prince comes along and saves her and then they marry in the end. Other than a similar plot, all the movies have very similar character traits. England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek in Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses explain the characters, “traditionally masculine (e.g., athletic, brave) and traditionally feminine (e.g., helpful, nurturing) characteristics exhibited by the prince and princess characters through