Nostalgia In The Princess Bride Succeeds By Classic Genres

Princess films are beloved classics that range from the beloved Disney franchise, to live action films such as the Princess Diaries, to historical tales as those seen is polish films. No matter what the format or genre these films typically contain recurring scenes. The film The Princess Bride offers a new comedic approach to this classic genre. While scholars have explored how princess films are able to succeed through the use ideas such as historical nostalgia or nationalism, The Princess Bride succeeds by using nostalgia in a unique way. Through the use of comedic devices such as mistaken identity, absurdity, and good old-fashioned slapstick comedy, The Princess Bride is able to parody the traditional princess film. In doing so it is able

One recent study focused the mixing of types of historical nostalgia in the “timeless” Disney princess films. Rebecca Do Rozario argues that Disney bases their films on the nostalgia of “neatly order patriarchal realms”(Do Rozario 35), but Disney’s continuing success has stemmed from its ability to play on the nostalgia of other time periods. In the film, Snow White(1937), the princess is portrayed as a “1920/’30s starlet with a flappers haircut” who is helping the “working class dwarfs”(38). Similarly, In the film Sleeping Beauty(1959), Do Rozario describes Aurora as a “prototype Baby Boomer” who is “uninterested in the affairs of the king”(39). Her exploration of the role of nostalgia expands on the traditional studies of the princess and offers new insight into the mixing of nostalgia from different time

In this scene the hero, Westley, has no control over his arms and legs. He has to be dragged around the castle by his companions Inigo and Fezzik. As the scene progresses, he gradually regains control over his limbs and at the end of the scene he manages to defeat Prince Humperdink by merely raising his arm and pointing a sword at him. The use of parody here is a play on the nostalgic scene of a princess movie in which the prince bravely fights a nearly unbeatable enemy to rescue the princess. However, in this rendition of the princess film, the prince isn’t the hero and this dissonance between the expected scene and the scene that is portrayed is what creates the humor. The near drops of the hero, as well as his slouched and limp posture, create a little bit of physical comedy that is ever prevalent in slapstick films. This comic nature of this scene has even inspired the creation of a board game based on the film titled “Storming the Castle.” The parody of a classic princess scene is essential to the success of the