Princess Evolution

So, earlier this week, I stumbled across another blog where a person was stating a rather strong opinion about Disney's "The Princess and The Frog".  It's not really important what that view was but part of the argument acted as a springboard to a much broader topic in general.  Part of the other blogger's post pointed out that the male lead of the film (Prince Naveen) was a lazy, unskilled, playboy.  Having seen the film myself I can say...that's a very accurate depiction of the character.  At least through the first three quarters of the film.  But, as the film progresses, you find the character adapt and evolve through his interactions with the main female character, Tiana.

Now, as I was thinking about this, I began to wonder about the previous "Disney princess" films and make comparisons.  The results were rather interesting.  In several ways, "The Princess and The Frog" was in the minority as far as character development through the story and character interactions.

First, lets take a moment to consider previous Disney princesses and their respective "princes".  In order of first appearance, the princesses are...

Snow White
Cinderella
Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)
Ariel
Belle
Jasmine
Pocahontas
Mulan
Tiana

In the case of the first three (Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora), the characters have about as much depth as a rain puddle.  But, then again, they aren't really supposed to have depth.  They're characters from stories that are meant to be told over the course of several minutes.  They walk around and do things and that's essentially it.  Their love interests are equally stiff and even to truly call them "love interests" is a stretch.  All three see their mates only a few times and know immediately that they're meant to be (technically, Aurora sees hers three times).  Again, I understand that these are children's fairytales so realism is relegated to the back of the bus on this one.

Ah, Disney's "Golden Age".  Computer generated graphics were the newest thing and Disney couldn't go wrong cranking out one classic after another.  Here is where things take a bit of a shift.  Rather than just taking old stories and making them last an hour, Disney begins actually breathing some semblance of realism into its characters.  Ariel, Jasmine, Belle, Pocahontas, and Mulan fall into this category and each one of these characters that the previous three did not.  Attitude (to varying degrees).  All five of them are somewhat outsiders in their respective worlds.  Ariel and Belle are both dreamers longing for worlds that are denies to them either by gender or biology (merfolk aren't very graceful on land).  Pocahontas and Jasmine are both royalty in their culture though find themselves reticent to marry those most "suited" to them by status or class.  Mulan seems to be unable to fit within the restricting constraints of femininity imposed by a patriarchal Chinese culture.  So, now you have these female leads who are rocking the boat a bit, giving audiences a more identifiable personality to relate to.  The men in these films, however, seem to be a step behind.  Prince Eric (Little Mermaid) is essentially a handsome face who doesn't want to settle down until he sees a hot redhead and instantly wants to tie the knot.  Sounds like a lot of marriage stories in Vegas.  Aladdin is another character who doesn't really change much.  He's a nice, but poor, guy who carries around the "Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover" sign well enough but that's it.  He sees a hot girl and wants a hot girl and basically does whatever he can to get her including lying about who he is and how much money he has to impress her.  Damn, are we STILL talking about Vegas?  The Beast is the first male lead in one of these films that actually shows signs of development.  At the beginning of the story, he's a jerk on his best days.  He knows that he has to find a woman to love him and yet he still holds Belle against her will and actually throws her in his dungeon (hey, no one said the guy was bright).  In fact, it's at the suggestion of another character, that he gives her an actual room to live in.  Over time, though, he learns how to actually treat another human being.  The pivotal moment comes when Belle learns that her father has become lost in the forest.  The Beast knows that, if he lets her leave, she may never come back but he has grown so much as a character that he willingly lets her leave, even if it means forgoing becoming human.  In Pocahontas, we have kind of a "watered down" attempt at character development in the case of John Smith.  Here's a guy who has apparently made a life (and quite the reputation) for himself going to new worlds and helping to subjugate the natives.  However, one eyeful of a long-haired Native American in a mini-skirt in front of a waterfall (oh, and a musical number) is enough to change what is no doubt YEARS of personal experience.  What, did the last village not sing on key or something??  Finally, in this group, is Mulan's beau Li Shang.   His entire purpose is to train his army and to lead that army.  When Mulan appears to be a hindrance to this task, he can't stand her.  When she appears to be a worthwhile soldier, he respects her.  When it's revealed she's a woman, he turns away from her.  When she comes up with a way to save the Emperor, he respects her.  It seems like his mood is dependent on what is appropriate for the story.  He couldn't respect the fact that she went through all that training with the other men AND saved his life, but manages to do so right at the end?  I'm not sure if that's character development or the story using him as a puppet.

Jump ahead just over a decade and we have Disney's newest entry into the princess lineup.  This film is filled with several noteable firsts worth mentioning.  Most obvious, this is the first African-American princess in the Disney lineup.  Also, this is the first Disney princess film where the action takes place in an "American" setting (It wasn't America in Pocahontas so that doesn't count).  Tiana, the story's princess, is a young woman who has a hellacious work ethic all driven by a dream to open up a restaurant.  Unfortunately, this all consuming desire leaves her with nothing that might resemble an actual life.  This is where Tiana stands apart from other Disney princesses.  She actually has a FLAW!  Not a quirk.  Not something that just makes her unique but an actual character flaw.  The film is just as much about Tiana overcoming this flaw as it is about finding "true love" (Disney's princess staple).  That brings us back to Naveen.  As I said before, at the start of the film he's a good-for-nothing, philandering lady's man who wants nothing more than to maintain that lifestyle on someone else's dime.  In fact, his prime motivation at the start of the film is to find a rich woman and marry her (damn, we're back in Vegas!).  However, just like Tiana, Naveen changes over the course of the movie and comes to realize that money doesn't equal happiness.  So, not only do we have the male and female leads growing as characters, but we have another interesting development shown before only in Beauty and the Beast.  The characters DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER at the start of the film.  In fact, they're complete opposites to one another.  Admittedly, that sounds more like the premise to a romantic comedy but I actually LIKE this movie so I won't insult it in that way.  Still, the fact that these two characters start at odds with one another and, through shared experiences, come to understand and relate to one another shows a definite growth in Disney's ability to tell a story.  Another way this film is in the minority is that the hero...isn't all that heroic.  In the other films, the hero usually has some kind of showdown with the villain.  In this film, it's Tiana who must confront the villain at the end of the film and ultimately defeats him.  The only other place this really happens is in Mulan.

So, whether Disney simply decided to make the characters more well rounded or their style has evolved to this point, I think that they've come a long way from where all it took to snag a princess was royal breathing and making sure you didn't have halitosis before kissing her.