Disney's Representation Of Femininity

Since the founding of the Walt Disney Production company in 1923, it has been one of the primary developers of children’s entertainment, and the creator of the Disney Princess franchise – a worldwide phenomenon constructed of 12 young regal female characters in Disney animated narrative’s re-telling of classical fairy tales.

Whilst the Princesses remain one of the most recognised and beloved entities in children’s entertainment, concerns have been raised that the animations “contain some harmful elements” (Wohlwend, 2012, p.594) in regards to their representation of femininity. The concerns raised imply that the Disney Princess Brand still produce Princesses that represent outdated ideals about femininity that were apparent in the first era

Whilst there are other film companies that target the child audience, “as a producer and supporter of culturally embedded films [Disney] far surpasses even the next closest studio” (Li-Vollmer & LaPointe, 2003, p.94). As such, the work presented here will be an exploration of Disney’s representation of femininity, and its potential evolution, through the three Eras of the Disney Princess, focusing on three princesses and their villainesses in three core case studies: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (date), The Little Mermaid (date), and Tangled (date).

In Disney’s earliest animation Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the princess, Snow White, exemplifies the ‘Perfect Girl’ (Henke et al., 1996), a concept characterised by the submissive female, which I will analyse further, later in the study. The heroine falls into a sleep that only her Prince Charming can cure with the kiss of true love, established primarily on superficial attraction. Whilst the other representation of femininity in the narrative, The Queen, acts solely out of jealousy of the protagonists’ appearance and seeks her revenge for no longer being ‘the fairest in the

This dissertation will study these three case studies in terms of their representation of femininity in the form of the protagonist and antagonist, and how this has potentially evolved over the three eras. These three princesses, and their antagonists, are arguably the most iconic of their eras, which is why they will be studied in relation to one another.

This investigation hopes to identify the potential evolution in the representation of ‘ideal’ femininity and the pariah femininity used in opposition to one another, and how these have potentially evolved over time in reflection of societal change. Analysis of each character will be implemented, as will the ways in which they engage with and compare to the other characters within their particular text, with focus placed primarily upon the representation of various femininities. The aesthetic, clothing, movement and behaviour will be examined within each case study employing key theories from Disney and gender