disney's "adorkable" problem 🤪
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- čas přidán 7. 10. 2023
- as someone who grew up obsessively watching disney movies and who loved the disney princesses, i've been covering the company since the inception of this channel. however, in recent years i've found myself more and more disappointed with every project they release. a lot of this disappointment has stemmed from what i consider to be rather derivative character types, with most of disney's heroines from the last decade having the same quirky personality. with wish coming out soon i wanted to talk about this adorkable problem.
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Adorkable isn't bad. It really worked for a couple princesses. The problem is when you make ALL princesses adorkable.
THIS.
and when it's their whole personality too
@@IceCoffee-dl8nm Rapunzel, Anna, Moana, Raya, Mirabel, and quite possibly Asha. Even without Judy, that's a lot more than three. And the other princesses all had distinct personalities. So no, YOU calm down with the "only been 3" please.
That's like a full decade worth of princesses. An entire generation.
@@IceCoffee-dl8nm First of all I'm not complaining about shit, I'm merely saying that it's way more Disney Princesses than you're giving credit for.
Raya is literally an official disney princess, for you to ignore that just to suit your argument is incredibly dumb and ignorant.
Moana has other traits yes(and nobody is denying that so if you think they are then that's on you), but to say that she's not "adorkable" is being willfully naive. Did you not even watch the same video as the rest of us, where we literally see her adorkable scenes and how she gets the same "accidentally hit myself with my own weapon whoops! 🤪" joke as Rapunzel did? Or do you just like to hear yourself talk and convince yourself that you're in the right?
"Rapunzel was locked away in a tower" give me a break. There are many ways to show that a character has suffered from trauma without giving them an infantilized/cutesy "I'm so awkward and dorky and silly!" persona. Quasimodo was also isolated from society and raised with an abusive parental figure, and yet he didn't act babyish and "adorkable"! Trauma doesn't manifest itself in cutesy palatable ways like it's shown in the movie Tangled, and Rapunzel's personality does little to nothing to show her trauma at the hands of Mother Gothel other than her being naive, having mood swings which are played for sick laughs, and her not trusting the people in the Snuggly Duckling(which doesn't even count because ANY young girl her age would be on guard around a bunch of large, scary, delinquent men). She acts that way because the writers thought it would be cute and marketable and nothing more. Mirabel I agree with though, but the rest of the family and her sisters are not main characters. Yes, they are major, but Mirabel is the main character, so stop diverting attention away from this fact to get your half-baked point across.
And once again I never said that I hated it. So clean the shit out of your ears, please? And yes, I think I will go back and enjoy the old classic movies, thank you very much. I can do that and enjoy the new "adorkable" ones at the same time. But don't pretend like there isn't a trend that is worthy of being called out. Get your head out of your ass and learn to make a sound, solid argument.
Isn’t it funny how in an effort to make female characters not like other girls, Disney made them exactly the same?
It’s just a formula to try to appeal to everyone, including a perverted aspect of these women being overly sexualized, if we’re honest!!
@@JamesChessmanwait they're sexualised? when and where?
@@scarletrosekat9444 Disney princesses/ female protagonists, in general. They're meant to appeal to everyone, including PERVERTS so they're supposed to resemble beautiful, sexy young women, The Little Mermaid might have been the 1st example, and then everyone after that. I haven't even watched most newer Disney films, but the ladies are the same: Sweet, beautiful, quirky, with big eyes & big expressions, it resembles hanging out with sweet young women, who are overly excited about everything, because they never did it before, *ahem.* ...And they're sharing their nerdy side with you, because they're so comfortable with you, eww
@@JamesChessman look i am all for feminism but i think the main target audience is little girls, not gross old farts
@@scarletrosekat9444 i dont think they mean like the MAIN audicience are perverts, but they definetely act like little girls but while also looking like grown women, just the type men usually go for... cute but sexy yk
The thing I'm really sick of is that every heroine since Rapunzel has the same f-ing face!
Not only the same face but the exact same face animations and therefore mimic.
Also, characters like Mirabel are so “realistic” or whatever style you wanna call Disney’s new default animation they look like plastic baby dolls, no texture to the skin.
Compare the look of Encanto to Up. The differences are phenomenal, in a _bad way._
@@LuckyDinosauur101I don't feel like comparing a Disney Studios movie to Pixar movie is fair.
@@ultimate_pawnch though doesn’t Disney basically own every other piece of competition to them?
And regardless if I should or shouldn’t compare them; their characters still look like soft plastic _dolls._ With no nails or texture, if I could touch them they wouldn’t feel like human, they would feel like something fake. And Pixar made up in 2006, yet close up scenes of Mr. Fredrickson make him look like a human, with every single line of detail etched into his skin to make him look amazing. What Disney is “accomplishing” now are just big jokes that fail to bring in the money it cost to make.
Rapunzel will always be my favourite Disney princess along with Mulan and Tiana 😅
I love tangled because of the voice actors and story
12 year old fan fiction writers have better written characters and more diverse personalities than Disney and that's just insane.
No, no. They’ve got a point. My worst FNaF fanfic from 6 years ago is better than the mass-produced trash coming from Disney these days.
no no, they have a point.
As someone who wrote fanfictions on Scooby Doo and John Wick, Allan and Ken and Shia Lebeouf going mad from the age of 17, I too also believe that my works are better than Disney.
And mine suck ass
@@haihai9022 realness
@@Furiennasays the person who’s subscribed to Disney Records, I think you mighhht be biased lol
It's less annoying with Rapunzel (obviously she was the first example, so it wasn't overused at that point) but because it made sense with her story. She lived in a tower for 18 years and only ever talked to 1 person. It makes sense for her to be awkward and childlike.
AND that one only person she ever talked to, doesn't want her to grow up. Her mother/stepmother wants her to stay and be dependent of her forever, so she's granted to keep her in a childlike mindset.
You all judge Asha's personality in the trailer instead of waiting her fully personality in the final product
She had still depths and showed her trauma, it's why I liked her but then people liked that character so much every other new disney princess became a carbon copy of her. At least that's how I see it
@@konstantinosp-a6447 idk what the comments were like 7 hours ago but I scrolled pretty far down and found only 1 comment talking about Asha. Everyone else is talking about the characters that they like. But honestly the trailer showed enough of her qUiRkY personality, to see she isn't much different.
Mirabel's like a kid too. and an anxious, people-pleaser one at that
Mulan had dorky moments when she was pretending to be something she wasnt. When she was being herself, she was grounded, measured and clever
@@mehorton2657I disagree. She was always capable of being serious. Her issue before the war stuff was that she didn’t want the life that was expected of her. She was afraid she had to lose everything about herself to satisfy a man and become a wife. That’s not her “clumsy, quirky” attributes. She’s shown as clever right away when she uses the dog to feed the chickens because she woke up late. She’s smart and compassionate. She didn’t want to be quiet, submissive, and be forced to rely on men for everything. She’s capable of doing things on her own which she shows when she was the very reason that they won that battle in the valley when she created the avalanche. She’s forced to be more serious, capable, outspoken, and clever with the men of her unit and that’s who she already was deep down, but wasn’t allowed to be. And who/what she was afraid of losing.
@@MihaelLawliet01 This! Mulan in the beginning of the movie is only awkward when she's being pushed and shoved into all of these aspects of being a proper bride-to-be on the way to the matchmaker, because she's not a dainty, ladylike, quiet little house-mouse. She's intelligent, which we see when she steps in and easily claims the victory in the board game the two men are playing (I assume it's something like xiangqi, the Chinese game similar to chess, and requiring a similar skill and intellect), but she also can't remember any of the things she's expected to because they're outside of her mindset. She's shown to be quite agile and graceful when doing things she's good at/comfortable with, like riding a horse, but ask her to properly pour and serve tea, or move with the delicate manner of a lady? She'll fumble and make mistakes because she's never been expected to do those things before. It's clear that she was never taught to be a lady of the house, and has been left to be kind of a wild child, so many of these social graces and such are foreign to her.
She's not really in the same vein as the "adorkable" protagonists of modern Disney...she's unsure and tentative when in a new situation, which leads to her fumbling missteps, but when she finally finds her footing, she's confident, capable, and incredibly clever and capable of cunning plans.
I like the way you worded this
Clumsy and awkward is not the opposite of clever and mature. Mulan is all these things. I think the discipline of martial arts just helped her a bit with her coordination and confidence (since she finally had the chance to work on a skill she found rewarding).
Mulan is so interesting. She wants to make her family proud and honor them, but at the same time she's so unique that the idea of being just a quiet, demure, extremely backbendingly obedient wife like her mom just isn't her. "Why is my reflection someone I don't know?" @@MihaelLawliet01
We need more Kuzco-like characters. Jerks that know they're jerks. If they trip, they won't go "woopsies", they'll go "i'm gonna turn you into a goddamn ball".
YES HAHAHA
One of my favorite Disney movies! More characters like Kuzco would be great *-*
It’s why the villains of the last wish puss and boots were so well-liked by most.
Or just characters with genuine flaws. Being naïve or clumsy are like the most basic likeable low-stakes character flaws to have. They are the go-to flaws for any fan fiction or Mary Sue. I think it worked in Tangled really well for the reason pointed out - she's been in a tower and her quirkiness helps her relate to people because it brings their guards down. None of these characters really face any difficult morality choices with any believability that they'll ever make the "bad" choice. As a result, it never feels like they'll ever do the wrong thing and it makes the struggle pointless.
The easy way around this in writing is represented by Luke Skywalker. He lost his shit when they threatened Leia and literally beat the heck out of his father and was gonna kill him. He ALMOST makes the bad choice and you feel like for a moment it is actually plausible. Disney is too scared to give any of these modern female characters that kind of genuine moral struggle. Not only would I never believe these doe-eyed not-really-flawed characters would ever even attack their own father in a violent manner out of pure rage - I know that entire scenario will never even make an APPEARANCE in the story.
They are characters playing on easy mode.
That's why I love the Xmas movie Klaus. With a jerk, self centered and spoiled post man who has a great redemption
As a teenager, I’ve never met a teen who acts “adorkable” 😭
@@Furiennaholy shit you have commented over 100 times on this one video alone. go do something
I met people who might be considered "adorkable". They're insufferable.
Exactly... Most teens are not that, oh but how could disney ever show the edginess, or the depression, anxiety that's way more common for that age, it won't sell!!!!
As a teacher, neither have I. Most teen girl are either very sure of themselves or slightly withdrawn and shy. This middle ground of being award but confident enough to crack jokes? It's not real.
Our teens are doomers 😔
I hate this trend because I suffer from terrible second-hand embarrassment. Every 'oops haha sorry' moment just makes me cringe so hard
Oh my god i literally have to pause movies sometimes and just sit there😭😭😭its so bad
Morto per il cringe
FRR SAME
tbh I prob act worse than them on everyday basis so like watching some the scenes feels like I'm watching my past actions and then I get stressed about it so much like I love them so much but girl pull yourself together for at least a second you're making me suffer😖😖😖
SAME OMG i watch things before i go to bed and whenever that happens i hide under my blankets and cover my ears 😭
The adorkable personality worked on Rapunzel because it was unique. But now almost every heroine's personality after Rapunzel seems to be a carbon copy of hers.
Yeah. Personally, I adore Rapunzel--but I think her quirkiness also makes sense for her since she was literally never socialized AT ALL by anyone but an emotional abuser. So for her character, it made a lot more sense. I also just lover her as someone who loves going barefoot and has long hair.
But yeah, other characters need better characterization. Like, Anna is so neglected, I feel like she def could have and should have had more issues with being a bit jealous of Elsa for having more of their parents' attention, or if they don't wanna go that route, have her deal more with the loss of her parents and how she is still mad at them for the neglect too. Make her complicated!
beautifully put. @@ErutaniaRose
Exactly, it was cute on her and she was still able to be serious and mature when needed … but it’s boring and predictable now.
yeah don't need to enfpify every other heroine (speaking as an enfp)
@@ErutaniaRoseoh like maybe Ana is only smiley and optimistic around other people, but when she’s alone she’s drastically diiferent
There is a reason why Elsa is so popular; she has her own powers, is independent, strong, protective, mostly rational. I wish Disney would realize this. We need more princesses who are not just silly characters, even though I like them
I don't like Elsa at all because of her actions, but I agree. We need more diversity in Disney heroines. Adorkable girls aren't always relatable. Some girls are quiet and reserved.
@@EvelynL.1112Elsa is like if Abuela from Encanto was the protagonist. People who have been on the receiving end of that behaviour understandably won’t like how easy she gets off, but I think there’s immense value in having a protagonist who does something really shitty because she’s hurting.
@@kiwimusume As long as the protagonist's actions are not excused and they actually learn from their mistakes, then I have no problem with it.
I hate the "chill out, kids don't care" argument. There is a TON of psychological research showing how media, and Disney specifically, affect children. In a lot of households, media is the only way that children get any idea of how the outside world works! Media consumption not only affects social attitudes (especially around gender and race), but it also plays a role in cognitive development. Children don't have the knowledge or vocabulary to describe what's happening - that doesn't mean they aren't affected by it.
I thought the same! It really matters *what* the children watch or read. There's research showing that while reading fiction “the brain actively simulates the consciousness of another person, including those whom we would never otherwise even imagine knowing. It allows us to try on, for a few moments, what it truly means to be another person”. I'd argue a similar thing occurs when you watch a fictinal story and follow the steps of the protagonist. Now if that's the case then all the kids have to "step into" the same damn shoes with every single animation coming from Disney. How is that suppose to make them feel... And it for sure hasn't got any added value.
Why not make the best of the opportunity and allow the children to feel as much of a variety of feelings, as possible.
It does and anyone that genuinly believes it doesn’t shouldn’t be spoken to or worried about
While that is true, it's not like a female character being a dork is something bad for kids to see (unlike, oh I dunno, the vast history of racist imagery in various Disney films!).
Why don't y'all have this energy for actually harmful things in media?
@@PhoenixRising87 Because we don't dwell on the past. Issues on women are much more global than issues on racism against black people
@@myspleenisbursting4825 ...you are aware that Black women exist, right?
This is why I love Lilo from Lilo and Stitch.
Yes she’s quirky and strange but in a way that feels nuanced and genuine. Her weird traits aren’t supposed to be cute or appealing- other than her cute design, her behaviour mirrors Stitch. She feels like an outcast, she has violent tendencies and is very morbid. The writers didn’t do this to show off how unique and different and weird she was compared to other female protagonists; they wrote her with these behaviours because it makes sense due to the trauma of losing her parents. She is lost and confused and hurt, sometimes she takes it out on others like stitch does. She’s very attached to stitch and forgiving of his bad behaviour because she sees herself in him and believes he too must be in pain and needs someone to understand him.
Lilo is “adorkable” done right because she ultimately feels more grounded- like a child from the real world. Her peers might not find her endearing but the audience can certainly sympathise and may relate to her experiences.
mega huge giant super agree
The personality type fits Lilo so well because she's supposed to be, what, six? Rapunzel is pushed to 18 because they need her to be "of age" to be in a romantic relationship, but based on physique and behavior, she can't be more than 15; and the original Rapunzel is around 12!
100%
UGH I love lilo so much. She feels like she is so outcast and weird and unlikeable. And she meets stitch. And she sees how the world brands him as unloveable and too different to be palatable. And she sees herself mirrored in him. So she shows him… love. If she can love stitch and stitch can love her, then maybe there is hope for them. Lilo actually makes me cry. She’s so lonely. And she misses her parents. God. I. God.
Yes!! Great point
Behind every adorkable Disney girl, there is an overconfident, cynical man that uses humour as a defense mechanism for his traumatic childhood ( Flynn Ryder, Nick Wilde, Maui etc)
It's also so creepy that the Disney girls are now adorkable with childish behaviour, unthreatening, anxious/social messes while the men are very clearly adult men who are confident, mature, and are/or read as way older than their respective Disney girl (Flynn and Nick). Like why the f**k was Flynn, the love interest, so much older than Rapunzel when he could have been closer-ish in age to her? The gender roles/stereotypes are gross
@@valkyriedarquese and the fact Vanellope and Moana are both paired with grown big men whom they just happen to become besties with 💀 it almost seems like some pedophile at Disney made their dynamics.
YES SUCHA GOOD POINT!!!!@@valkyriedarquese
@@valkyriedarquese OK, honestly, I didn't know Flynn was supposed to be that old. I thought he was, like, 23 or 24 at most? But honestly, I blame that on the character profiling department rather than its writing: a character is more often written with its role rather than its specific age in mind (rather, it's a more loose "age period" that gets taken in consideration), so his "technical" age could just be a held-over from previous screens. By itself, no one watches Tangled and says "Oh yeah, this is clearly a 25+ years old person" (and most likely, that's the same that happened with Nick, who doesn't feel at all like a man in its 30s).
@@drakegrandx5914 I love Flynn but it is undeniably creepy that he is 8 years older than Rapunzel who just turns 18 in the movie. As a kid I thought he was a bit older than her and obviously had more life experience but for him to be 26 is disgusting from Disney. He's a great character but let's not make excuses with profiling or writing. He's very well written so they didn't need to add the creepy age gap. Unfortunately there's a massive issue with large age gaps/predatory behaviour being normalised in media for girls and women
I just miss Disney princesses and stories being elegant and romantic and beautiful. I’m sick of the farts and burps and awkward moments.
@@Furienna you don’t remember the song in frozen ‘don’t know if I’m elated or gassy, but I’m somewhere in that zone!’
It’s pretty far from how elegant Disney music used to be
So real!!
Right?! The music of the 80s-90s Disney films was so good. Like the entire lion king soundtrack is a timeless classic. Now they do like maybe one or two good songs and the rest is hard to listen to.
@@jordanh6760 so real, even the lion king 2 had a hard soundtrack to listen to (though that might be because it’s a sequel)
I kinda' miss the little love stories. The whole "I'm a strong independent woman!!!1!1! I don't need no man!1!!" thing has gotten so annoying.
I once read somewhere that Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki once said that he highly respected the things Disney did for the medium of animation, but found his characters to be bland and phsychologically boring. While Miyazaki is in his 80s and has the image of behaving like a cynical boomer, I 100% agree with him on this. If you want to see realistically portrayed female characters, Miyazaki's own films are absolutely superior to Disney's.
My absolute favourite Ghibli film, since childhood, is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
Because the character of Nausicaä is the kind I admire most, she is open minded, caring of all people *and* creatures no matter how much others fear them, she is literally self sacrificing and physically suffers for the animals, she sincerely wants to help the earth heal and for humans to live peacefully alongside its other creatures.
No excessive silliness, no fart jokes, no bland "romance" for the sake of 2.5 kids and a picket fence, no awful annoying sidekick.
A lot of Disney movies lose me with the bland romance rom-com style plot ending. Kids - girls especially, need more to admire than just the bog standard "meet a prince have his babies" ending. I will say I have skipped a lot of the most recent Disney stuff as the "adorkable" childish female characters with the same doe-eyed rubber face really do put me off (like a lot of anime too tbh). That and the horrible sidekicks
@@cw9475 yes Nausicaä is a great movie with a great protagonist! What I like about Miyazaki's female characters is that he does not portray them as badass and independent because society wants him to do so, but because he just knows how to write realistic characters. Some are independent and have some serious fighting skills (Nausicaä for example), while others fit more into the shy girl in need of protection-type (Sheeta from Castle in the Sky). But this is okay as well, because they are still written to have agency and a personality!
I LOVE studio ghibli hayao is so incredible and his movies are masterpieces and his character writing is so so amazing
@@a.c.e.-6316 I think another reason why Miyazaki’s movies and characters work is because he doesn’t make his movies as a money grab. Miyazaki hates the film industry and has retired multiple times, but keeps coming out of retirement because he will go crazy if he doesnt translate the story in his mind to animation and drawing. Hes also observant and actually deliberates on media he consumes not influenced by external interpersonal factors that should not come into play when creating an art piece (his critique and disdain for his own sons movies in ghibli are a great example, as well as his critique on using 3D models (think games here) to replace people in traditionally 2D animations to cut labour times). With tiktok bringing a surge of quick changing trends to children and adults alike and reducing attention spans, as well as society shifting to online more so than in person, i think alot of people are losing their ability to effectively deliberate and critique media and even opinions they consume. Effectively, alot of people are turning into zombies never stopping to just ponder shit anymore. And with more and more kids and teens becoming chronically online, esp during lockdown, theyre becoming more and more socially inept in person. In a way it makes sense why disneys characters are adorkable because more and more people are becoming socially inept dorks, and having a huge corporation shoving it down everyones throats that its cute will fuck em up when they go outside because in actuality a lot of dorks are considered as just straight up rude in offline society
Miyazaki also draws a lot of his inspiration directly from life. Alot of his themes stem through his own or others shared experiences. Most notably his theme of flight, and movies with planes and such, stems from his childhood of growing up with a father that worked in plane manufacturing, as well as the themes of war from both Miyazaki and Takahata from them growing up and seeing the effects of war through different ages. Disneys older movies, while still fantasy, are based and sourced from real life. Tiana being such a good princess is because its a direct link to low income people trying (and often failing because of classism) to escape their limitations and break through the barrier. Not only that but they explored her outside relationships, not just her romantic partner, which is often whats realistic (and healthy) as well as her community traditions (making a big batch and sharing it around the neighbourhood for example, as well as the jazz throughout the movie). They showed and wrote her as a strong black woman striving hard to achieve her dreams going up against realistic struggles to her person and race, without making it all about race. She was just a character who happened to be black, and they celebrated that and her culture, without making it into a movie strictly for activism. (granted she was and kinda is the token black princess still but thats a different topic). As a comparison to the new movies, they take these naïve kids, slap a snarky quirky sense of humour on em and chuck em in. Combined with the over the top fourth wall breaking its just unrealistic that these teenage girls are getting into life death situations and not even stopping to think about what could happen. The only relationships they explore now are the bare minimum to the protag formula (mentor, dumb animal sidekick, antagonist, and love interest). You BARELY see moanas relationship with anyone but her grandma apart from two songs where she just sings about herself and goes around “helping” people like… You go embark on a huge world saving journey and you only have like 2 things to say to your mother before you leave??? The only thing that makes them specific to their movies is their powers thats it
This was my main problem with the Wish trailer. Disney prides themselves on physical diversity, but what about diversity of personality? All the new protagonists act the same. Why not have a reserved, introverted character who doesn’t turn out to be evil for once? That’s what I thought we were getting with Cassandra in Tangled the Series. Finally, there was a Disney heroine I really related to, so of course she became a villain.
You may be on to something here. As Disney extends their physical diversity, maybe they're reusing the same personality so they don't accidently hit on any stereotypes that could be offensive? If everyone is cute, funny, and awkward, they won't be bashed for overdoing a racial stereotype.
@@taybug77Damn.. Why it has to be so hard? There's so many different boundaries these days, that it's just locked up all creativity. It feels like a fear of being offensive controls many creators mindes
@@helichetski hey I’m a creator here: no it hasn’t. People are afraid that they’ll cross those boundaries but they don’t actually know what the boundaries are. If they did, everyone would realize how easy it is not to play into stereotypes
Maybe they're worried about giving "negative" personality traits to a non-white character because they're afraid of public backlash and accusations of stereotyping. So they over-sanitize everything.
and they ALL have the same face. Literally copy and paste all the characters these days. Sigh
Vanellope gets a pass in my book because… well, she is a LITERAL child. Not even a teen, just an actual child- and a bullied/shunned child at that, similar to Rapunzel, it’s a given that she would be ‘dorky’ considering her ‘upbringing’ and age
I was younger than her when I watched the movie and I still couldn't stand her. Kids aren't all obnoxious and cringey. Vanellope herself was pretty complex and had really touching scenes, but it got overshadowed by how irritating she was
@@adeleaslan8182you haven’t met that many kids then. Because 90% of them are obnoxious and annoying.
And also she’s surrounded by literal candy the entire movie, so basically a child who’s constantly on a sugar rush - which I think suits her personality perfectly.
@@adeleaslan8182she was around candy…kids act like that ON CANDY like-
@@Coby_Jack692.0 again, I honestly think you guys haven't been around kids that often. Even though me and my friends could be annoying as kids, we didn't like seeing that behavior on screen. Kids aren't always conscious about their own behavior, but when they see it in front of them they can tell something is annoying
When Tangled and Frozen first came out, I remember relating so very much to Rapunzel and Anna and thinking their personalities were a breath of fresh air. Now it's no longer special because all the heroines lately have the same exact quirks. I would rather have a thousand Mulans or Tianas over what we've been given lately. I genuinely feel like Wish would have been better recieved if the main character hadn't been such a basic phone-in
i bet u can put anna in rapunzel and vice versa and it wouldny make a difference bc they have the same exact personality
Frozen also had Elsa, who's a complete opposite of Anna. So adorkable trope works there. From Mirabel, I can justify it yet. She's treated like an outcast by her own family and she's using that as a coping mechanism. So, what's Asha's excuse?
The more Disney tries to be safe and inoffensive, the more it offends everyone 😂
it is because it's more lazy than safe at this point
Someone called it the Death of Sincerity and I think that's on point. Disney is afraid to let people sit in their emotions lately and it kills me that it's so common now.
Truly. I feel like Encanto was the biggest reflection of this. There were so many moments that could have been deeply moving, but instead of letting the gravity weigh on you, they would stick in a joke.
why would someone let someone "sit in their emotions" my guy
@@josephleebob3828 to process them properly? your brain is great but it's not that great
So true
@@lenaalt2387 others shouldnt process your emotions
Actually think Rapunzel worked because she actually had a reason to be adorkable and awakward . She was shut away from the world and downgraded , she was made to be a listener rather than be listened to . That movie had a good villain , THATS why it worked , she was made to be naive because of her mother , the villain , who NEEDED her to be naive and awkward to continue to use her
This is brought up in the video, though. The OP is saying the subsequent heroines took that formula (that worked logically for Rapunzel and Anna) and applied it with almost no variation to characters that didn't have those reasons.
Why is the whole comment double spaced?
@azazelmakara3716 I don't know for sure, but I think it's a method of typing to make it easier to read for people that struggle initially. (More of a guess than anything else lol)
Rapunzel worked because she was the first one. If her movie came out in 2024 she'd receive as much criticism as Wish does.
@@azazelmakara3716i’m gonna be honest, i didn’t notice the double spacing until i read your comment.
Merida was a great example of a young, stubborn, "princess" who was forced into circumstances she didn't like and tried to change only to end up causing more harm. She had depth and good timing without self deprecating. The creators allowed her to be good at something and showed this on screen. Modern Disney female protags feel belittling because they aren't really good at something. They don't have inner drive. They self depreciate to an extreme degree and lack confidence in anything. It almost feels like Disney's response to "give female characters more agency" was "make female characters meeker and more palatable". Since they don't have inner motives and drives or perceived confidence, they need stories that force them to save x. Otherwise they'd go nowhere. ((Moana was a bit different because she wanted to leave the island initially and wanted more for herself, but constant awkward self deprecating jokes undermine the determination and confidence she had in the beginning of the film when she's trying to explore).
Exactlyyy it just feels misogynistic honestly
Mulan and Ariel are good examples of dorks done right.
Mulan was clumsy and struggled with following the norm but was smart and brave.
Ariel had odd hobbies but researched her finds and had a real teen personality, being angsty.
Disagree! I think trying to follow the norm is what made Mulan clumsy. Every moment she is being herself, she is grounded, confident, skilled and graceful. You can see that when she is forced to try and act "like a lady" or "like a man". The moment she stops, there's no clumsy to be seen in her.
Now the Little Mermaid movie I don't remember enough to argue.
I honestly think all these dorks were done right. I would never mistake Mirabel for Rapunzel or any other 2010's characters like what the blogger is saying. Their "dorkiness", while funny and relatable to us, didn't necessarily make them endearing inside the story. Mirabel caused trouble for her family by trying to be special, when she wasn't. She deliberately disobeyed her grandmother. Anna was focused on finding love, annoyed Elsa, and even told she can't marry a man she just met. Vannelope is sassier than the rest. Only her design was cute, but she's more confident and reliable than the average princess. Even her calling herself adorable is proof of that. I would never imagine Rapunzel or the others flattering themselves like that. Mei Lee from Turning Red gave me 2nd hand embarassment, and I don't think her dorkiness was ever presented as cute. Raya is mature.
Yes, I recognize there is a trend, but I don't think it's wrong or uncreative. I'll argue the reason Mulan and Ariel are always people's favorite princesses is exactly because of their "adorkable" personalities.
We have too many confident sexy female leads in superhero movies in other genre. Let Disney give us these clumsy characters.
Mulan was clumsy only when they were dressing her in "womanly woman" clothes - which was so not her element. I can relate to it - me in high heels and tight skirt - will be very very clumsy. But in her real element - she is not clumsy. She can be weak and clueless in training - like all men around her - but not where she is in her element and spirit. I loved that about her - its so real - we all clumsy in unfamiliar uncomfortable things and situations.
@@UdontknowmiI’m pretty sure she was supposed to give you second hand Embarrassment (turning red)
I had a hard time watching Mulan. It was more cringe than dorky.
This is one thing I like about Tinkerbell from the Tinkerbell movies: she is grumpy, temperamental and can be a total b**ch. She makes a lot of mistakes and then in turn she learns from her mistakes, and has the help of her friends. I think Tinkerbell is one of the most unique female characters I’ve seen from Disney just because of how imperfect she is. I’m not a huge fan of Disney properties but I always had a soft spot for the Disney Fairies because I like the characters (and how whimsical the movies can be at times).
Tink is a lot of fun and I adored her growing up (tho I was born in 92) - she was one of my favs alongside the 90s princesses + Cinderella. I thought Snow White and Aurora were ok. I wish they would do 2D again - Tiana is awesome.
Exactly! i was just talking about how fun of a character tinkerbell is in the movies. They don’t let many female characters have anger issues
She’s misogynistic
I completely agree. I think all the Disney fairies have unique distinct personality traitors that make them stand out amongst the rest. Despite how many characters we meet in those movies they all still feel unique in their own way. They could have easily recycled personality traights from one fairy to the next, but they actually made them distinctly different from each other and that’s what makes those movies great. It feels realistic. Just about any viewer can find a fairy that matches their personality because there’s such a wide variety of personalities in the franchise. It doesn’t just cater to one handful of viewers, everyone can see themselves represented. It’s great.
@@notwwwansikI don’t think you know what misogyny is
I think Judy is an exception to most of these examples. Her sometimes rambly, awkward speech patterns are easily understandable when you look at her parents and how they act. While she does crack some jokes during the chase with Duke Weaselton, she's very serious during the final encounters with the sheep and Mayor Bellwether. And her upbeat optimism makes sense as she's trying to earn the respect of literally everyone in the city. And yes, she is naive, but she has never left her small town. I'm not saying she doesn't exhibit these traits, but they're more understandable than the others.
Her Character reminded me of lesley Knope from parks and rec and that's a good thing.
Yeah, same. Like Rapunzel I think there are narrative motivation actions for her personality that make her characteristics reasonable.
Thank you for including Esmeralda. HoND gets pushed aside all the time but it has some realistic characters, most of which could teach younger audiences a valuable lesson. (I know it was based off of a Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, but for a Disney film, it's fantastic. They did a good job of taking something dark and making it more digestible for kids.)
All old disney princesses were based on fairy tales so it makes sense
Esmeralda was based as hell
Esmeralda was my second lesbian awakening.
Also if you notice, Ariel, Mulan, Pocahontas, Belle, Jane, Jasmine, Tiana, Aurora, Snow White, and Cinderella all had very different voices , ways of speaking, and personalities.
Every princess or female lead in these modern movies all speak exactly the same way. They’re also weirdly childish and dorky when they don’t necessarily need to be. It started with Rapunzel and should’ve ended with her.
I agree about the voices. The casting has gotten very very narrow as far as what kind of female voices they will use for protags, they sound almost interchangable. Side characters though, I notice, can have more unique voices to differentiate. It's just the protags. Odd
i mean, they're teens. mirabel's like, a kid. as teens they'll still realistically keep some childlike traits & even be silly and clumsy
@@vickyetienne2962 I get that, but not all teens have to have the same personality. I was clumsy growing up, my cousin never was nor did she have a child-like naive voice, she just spoke maturely pretty young. There needs to be variety. Rapunzel, Mirabel, Anna, Moana can all swap voices and there wouldn’t be a noticeable difference.
@@kmbae.3211 It's kind of understandable why 3 of them act that way: Rapunzel grew up locked in a tower, never meeting anyone in her entire life. Anna had a similar upbringing of never being around people. For Mirabel, it's probably just her personality, as socially awkward people do exist without there being a reason for it.
Moana is the only one that I don't understand why Disney made "adorkable."
@@sailorselina9709 sure, i don’t disagree. But why do they all have to have such similar backstories and personalities in such close proximity to each other? I’m just asking for some variety like we had during the 90s renaissance.
Also side note- I feel like this personality/persona/voice type is specifically to appeal to only small children, and it’s no coincidence that these princesses are starting to resemble coco melon characters. It just feels patronizing, I’d expect even my youngest child to resonate with a more mature character like Mulan, Belle, or Tiana because I was capable of it as a child, as we all were, which is why I think we all miss the old princesses so much and are feeling fatigued by the same old, same old. Maybe it’s just me 🤷🏻♀️
I think a big understated part of this is the facial animation. Plenty of teens are quirky, naive, and awkward, but they don't express awkwardness in their face and body language in the exact same way. But these girls' faces follow the same pattern. The eyebrow twitches, the eye movements, the smiles, the grimaces, the hand gestures, etc. it's all SO SIMILAR. That coupled with the near identical faces makes the trope even more trope-y than ever.
Ohhh!!! Good point! I would be interested to see an awkward and quirky character thats not exaggerated in her excpressions. I think 'turning red' had some of that with the main characters friends.
Wouldn't wonder, if the animators just re-use older animations with a bit of fresh-ups. These characters almost look the same.
i literally thought the girl from wish was isabella from encanto
Yea, im awkward and naiive at times, but im more stoic in my expressions and gestures, especially when embarrased or anxious. Show some girls that stiffen up when talked to!
this is so true. i see a lot of pre-teens with a lot of deadpan awkwardness/quirkiness. If they are being expressive or humorous, it's usually not as over the top as Disney suggests. Many teens with subtle humor. The highly animated pre-teen girls I encounter in real life, I don't actually see that often. Most of the highly animated folks I see are usually older (like in their 20s), and I usually feel like they are trying hard to make me feel comfortable, come off as relatable or trying to sell me something. The over the top, self-depricating quirky sass comes off more learned than innate.
Great Point that Disney films are supposed to be aimed at ALL ages. Not just Children.
SpongeBob is made for a younger audience, and yet, anyone of any age can enjoy it
Rapunzel works because of her situation, but also because her adorkableness is actually treated as both strength and weakness. Her naivete endears her to Flynn and the others because they are all world-weary, jaded people who have forgotten their innocence and dreams. But her naivete also leads her to be easily manipulated by Gothel. But the best thing is...her relationships with Flynn and the rest of their friends actually help her grow wiser and suspicious of her "mother".
To anyone who thinks Disney Movies are just for kids:
"You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."
- Walt Disney
If I be watching it it is for me
"We should write for children just the way we write for adults, only better."
This quote has been attributed to a bunch of Russian writers including Leo Tolstoy (TBH there's no way to know for sure who said it, but the quote is great anyway)
C.S Lewis (The author of The Chronicles Of Narnia) once said that kids can handle darker stories as long as there's a happy ending... So why can't we give kids more darker stories with serious and more mature heroes?
@@melodi_bunniezthis is why i enjoy Treasure Planet and Don Bluth’s Anastasia.
I watched the hunchback of notre dame for the first time a little while ago, and i was thinking to myself like "man it sucks that we'll never get somethign as dark as this from disney again"
It’s high time we had a female protagonist who’s painfully introverted, cynical and has traits from Dipper Pines
As long it does not enter Wednesday Adams territory
Or how about a slightly depressed girly with low self esteem and an attitude problem. That sound exciting and entertaining to me
@@mayacokie4811kind of like Elsa ?
@@mayacokie4811 or make her a vapid bitch. A very villianness personality
yes please
Agreed! An example of a well loved live-action dorky princess is Mia Thermopolis from the Princess Diaries. In Princess Diaries, Mia is a dorky, awkward, socially unacclimated teenager that I know I related to when watching growing up. But the entire premise of the movie is her learning how to be more confident (both outwardly and inwardly) and present herself with more poise befitting a true princess, while still retaining her unique sense of authenticity, humor (when appropriate), and humility (rather than naïveté).
I related to Mia so much when the movie came out.
I don't feel like Judy Hopps and Vanelope fit the adorkable trope. Judy is very mature, clever, and capable of getting shit done competently, but she has a sense of humor that doesn't come off as awkward or self-deprecating. Vanelope is a precocious child who pokes fun at Ralph, as precocious children do. Ralph is far more awkward than she is.
You also have to consider why it worked for Rapunzel. She was literally a shut-in. She had no experience interacting with other people, aside from Gothel. She was fed lies about the outside world her whole life, so she was instantly on guard and confused when she was met with reality. Her character makes sense considering the setting and story. For these other stories, it's just "Awe, because it'll make her cute." Which makes it hollow and boring.
Edit: Commented too soon, you addressed this later on. Sorry.
I feel like you could make the same argument for anna, she never left either, talked to paintings on a wall, etc
Yes! Rapunzel was the trailblazer for this, the characters following her are honestly just “copies” Disney made because they realized how effective Rapunzel was without actually questioning *why* she was effective.
Shes mentions this in the video
@@sansyeux The comment is still valid, in agreement with the sentiments she touched on in the video, an opening to further discussion. No need for your snark.
@@xmiunax4385 Hence the edit at the end of the comment.
This is probably why everybody loves Luisa Madrigal. She didn't get nearly enough screentime, but in many ways, she feels both relatable and aspirational. She's a strong and generous woman, who's greatest fault is that she carries too much
I think the reason Mirabel doesnt get on my nerves as much is because not only does the film have much more interesting and layered characters to fall back on, but her behavior does seem to come from a defined place, or at least seems analogous to what happens to a lot of people in these situations. I've met a lot of younger and/or middle children who aren't as successful as their siblings, and they do tend to end up a lot more socially awkward because of that lack of confidence build-up and constant self-doubt. I think that the problem isn't necessarily with the traits themselves, just that the movie doesn't seem to want to drill into that aspect of her as much as it could have. Her humor could've been used to explore the ways that her family's neglect has affected her perception of herself, with constant self-deprecation seeping through the bubbly mask she puts on better reflecting how their toxic family has effected her specifically. She's just way too confident in herself, which I suppose Disney did to make her a better "role model," showing her tenacity in spite of her messed up upbringing, but I feel like the company's fixation on making their heroines aspirational rather than inspirational has destroyed their ability to make compelling characters. It would've been a much more powerful story to explore the family's trauma through Mirabel, only to end the story with not only Abuela confronting her trauma, but with Mirabel confronting her own. That way it's a reciprocal moment of the two of them finally seeing each other and validating the pain that they've gone through. But the moment feels markedly one-sided in the final film, as Abuela recognizes that the way she treated Mirabel was wrong but doesn't see the material effect that that behavior has had on her.
Luisa should have been the main character
@brycebitetti1402 how'd u use all those nice big words like how do u do that 😭
Yea- her like crippling anxiety in the face of a mountain of expectations had little to no resolution- I wish they explored it more. It would’ve been a much more interesting narrative that way
@@brycebitetti1402i don't disagree! I do think I usually see her as still having some positive self imagine/some self confidence is due to her parents. The movie has many moments of them telling her how much they love her and still see her as special just like everyone else. They made a point to give her self worth and stood up for her against Abuela.
"pls focus on your taxes and rent" yes because adults are not ever allowed to have hobbies or interests
I can rant about the housing market, tax brackets and flaws in feature films all in one day! ✨
Honestly, I think the only character you've shown who gets away with the quirky girl bit is Rapunzel because when Tangled came out, she was the only quirky girl. Plus like, her behavior is the most warranted as someone kept prisoner by their own parent, so of course she's going to be weird and awkward. It just feels a little unfair to lump her into this because of that.
Tbh, she behaves as quirky as her world allows her. Everyone in that world has their quirks and runs with them. For example, there's a criminal that plays with little unicorns.
Anna also works because she is being adorkable with Hans, someone that acted as silly as her. So, she doesn't get in our nerves.
Maribel isn't much adorkable, but more a teen that makes mistakes and has an adorable face.
Rapunzel and Mirabel are great examples of adorakable characters. But they are losing material. a goth series girl, a quiet bookworm a princess girly girl. these change the formal quickly. I am actually writing a few stories and I know reusing the same archetype will get old soon enough.
She mentioned that in the video though
@@tarnw3301 Mirabel is a personal favorite imo. As someone who’s autistic, I related to Waiting on a Miracle DEEPLY. As much as I know my family loves me, knowing that I’m always going to be different can be a bit difficult.
watch the video 😭
I think Rapunzel pulls it off the best due to her sheltered lifestyle. Her adorkable awkwardness is directly the result of being socially deprived her entire life. The other characters that followed her sort of just feel like cheap copies.
She and Anna I'll accept, Anna unlike Rupnezel was shut in a little later but yeah similar situations.
@user-gs6zj7dh2s Yea, but then again, Anna knew she was a princess and I'm sure knew the manners and stuff she had to know to look and act good or wtv yk?
Definitely, we're also shown and told that she couldn't possibly be adjusted to the real world during the story, with emphasis on her naivety and her lack of experience.
I think most adults in this comment section are underestimating how competent children are when consuming media, because I disliked Anna A LOT as an 11 year old for her overly animated personality. I found her irritating and loud, and her clumsy humour disorientating and unrealistic. Shouldn't a princess be more refined? Is what I would always think. I preferred Elsa's regalness and quiet demeanour a lot more. She seemed more believable to me at least, even as a child; and I identified with her more easily. I like Ana now and can appreciate her character and naivety a lot more, but I definitely thought her quirkiness made her less relatable and likeable to me as a kid, funnily enough.
@@alondrasalas2280 That's the thing she did know but, judging by her personality she probably most likely got nervous about manners in front of real people let alone a ball roll full of people since she's been locked away inside of her own home until she was 18. The woman was literally talking to pictures on the wall until she was 18. Over time her character development and personality have changed a lot! if you've watched Frozen 2 you'd know what I mean.
@@user-gs6zj7dh2s You know what, I understand now 🙏
Cinderella and Belle were hardcore. They behaved older than their ages because, in their time period, teenage women were already engaged, had to work if they were poor etc… People forget all the noble traits these young women taught us; courage, bravery, sticking by one’s principles in the face of adversity.
Love Cinderella, but Prince Charming got on my nerves. You don’t remember the girl you claim is “the love of your life”?!
the prince just had a foot fetish 😂
@@YourDearestSmileyIn the original story, she’s called “Cinderella” for a reason-she’s the maid of the house, so she’s constantly covered in ash (due to working over the fireplace) and dirt. When she’s at the ball, she’s clean and dressed in something other than rags, and to someone who’s never met her before like this the Prince wouldn’t have recognized her outside of that.
They don’t portray that well at all in the 1950 Cinderella, so it can be quite confusing.
@@YourDearestSmileyMost of that was really magic tbh, like it was supposed to be magical that the glass slipper fit her. Also magic that it fell off because it’s especially fitted for her so her fairy godmother wanted it to happen like that
@@snapmyneck8818 thanks for the explanation! 😁
I've been wondering why I have lost all interest in the newer Disney movies and this explains it. Thank you. I was already irked by the fact that the characters look very similar to eachother, but you're also so right about them being personality clones. Ahh, this scratched an itch.
It worked for exactly two characters because their backgrounds directly informed the dorkiness: Rapunzel (sheltered girl who's overwhelmed at the vast new world she's in) and Mirabel (family black-sheep who masks her insecurities with humor). That's it.
This is why i loved Tiana, her thing was literally working hard towards her dreams and trying to become independent, go girl
Totally agree with this! Tiana was so determined to get her restaurant in memory of her father and she didnt have this adorkable personality, she actually had class and priorities. And the movies soundtrack was amazing, one of my favorites!
Sounds like most black women to me honestly!
She is a mammy bro aha
@@SARA-kh1kp "are you ready" and "almost there" go so hard and I love how they reincorporate them later in the movie too
Real! My favorite movie!
Disney has forgotten that identifying with a character is not just physical. Having every 'good' character coded as zing adorkable cute!! is isolating for people who are shy, quiet, reserved, not funny, not witty, more mature etc.
Yeah, I never got the "omg they look like me!" stuff, haha. For me, identifying with a character was always about their character, not their looks. Like, within Disney, the characters I admired and related to most were Robin Hood (the fox lol), Ariel, and Aladdin. And I'm a white girl, so only one of those even kind-of-sort-of looks like me (by virtue of also being a skinny white girl - on the top half, lol - there's not much similarity beyond that). I honestly never even considered whether a character looked like me... though to be fair, I did really feel the lack of female rogue-ish characters, talk about an underserved demographic. I definitely agree that diversity of personality is a lot more important for crafting characters that are relatable to lots of people... especially cos even if one movie doesn't have someone you really relate to, the differences means the next one might!
Tbh you can’t understate how many people identity with Anna, Rapunzel and Mirabel
They do this because it works and it only works because of how many people like these characters
You can say that it’s isolating but you can’t say that people only relate to the physical part of it
But there’s also a lot of side characters that aren’t adorkable and in the past there were often less female supporting characters as the stories would mostly revolve around the villain, the love interest and the female main character while now we have supporting characters that people like and can relate to, Luisa being the most recent example
Frozen Princess wasn't quirky,
@@aerialpunkYou’re a skinny white girl that’s why you never cared. Y’all are everywhere.
Tiana was very important to Black girls like myself who grew up being told we couldn’t be anything, much less a heroine/princess.
@@aerialpunkif you're white you wouldn't get it lol. Identifying with characters because of how they act/personality is literally what everyone does. Seeing a character who looks like you when most never do is a new experience for a lot of people. Even more seeing a character who looks like you who isn't villanized/ sidelined just because they're not white
Hollywood acts like there’s literally 2 types of women:
• Adorkable quirky girl
• Edgy punk baddie fighting the patriarchy who don’t need no man
Literally no other personalities exist apparently, or they’re reserved for male protagonists
You forgot ditzy blonde and sweet curvy mom
@@No-ps2zf im pretty sure he probably loves those troupes.
Not really but I see what you mean.
@@No-ps2zfditzy blonde falls under adorkable quirky girl
Thats why I love (old) Cartoon Network maybe they had those archetypes for example in adventure time but they did made them completly diffrent like Pb adorable quirky but also smart as fuck and a bad ass crazy scientist and marcy baddie dont need no man but also very sensitive woman that have a need to be noticed especially by Simon her father figure
I completely agree, especially with that you said about the "he's right behind me" jokes. So many shows and movies can't let scenes be genuine anymore. They're setting out to hit their target audience, not to tell a story. That's how you get huge amounts of scenes which should be dramatic and emotional, but feel more like the "breaking the fourth wall" bloopers older Disney movies had in the credits. It's like the characters are being treated like actors, who can't do anything too bad or have anything too bad happen to them, unless it makes them likable or is strictly plot-driving.
Their faces have looked pretty much the same for a long time now too!
@@FuriennaYes it is, the models are the same, the faces and voices are all extremely similar for these princesses. Mirabel, Asha, Rapunzel etc. Have very similar face shapes and mannerisims
Right like why are they so afraid of changing something so simple as an eye shape.
I personally don’t see it I think the problem is that everyone’s just making the same facial expressions
Funny is that Elsa is kinda cold and stand off-ish and she's the one children love
To be fair, that's probably because she's the one with the pretty dress and magic powers lol
i think kids love the music and the look of the movie mainly lol. Plus Elsa is barely in the movie, it's a lot of Anna tbh and i think kids like Anna but Elsa is 'prettier' so they wanna dress up as her.
Elsa has ice powers so
It's because she has powers and better songs
To be fair tho she kinda sucks. Not because of distance but because she genuinely sucked as a queen, she straight up abandoned and left her people for dead which I know it’s mainly her parents fault for never helping her but cmon. I think you could have a colder standoff ish princess without the, just being a sucky person
I hate the argument "WhY dO YoU cArE?? It'S a KiDs mOvIe!"
Kids deserve to have GOOD art. Taking advantage of the inexperience and lower analytical skills of children by giving them lazy, bad art is wrong. So critiquing this art and holding it to a higher standard is necessary if these properties aren't doing it themselves.
Spot on, but even if that wasn't the case I still would not agree with the "It's just a kid's movie" attitude as a way to deflect critisism.
THANK YOU
Also, most disney movies are for adults too. You can see a lot of value in movies like "the fox and the hound". It's such a stupid argument
Literally like classic SpongeBob was a GOLD MINE and even when I was more younger I could see that the older episodes were better and the new ones were bad and over the top.
Kids also deserve to be unsheltered so much so that they don't know what it's like to be in the real world. Part of having relatable characters is also making them believable.
I think you said it perfectly. For Rapunzel it makes sense; she's naïve and doesn't know how to socialize. She has been locked up since a baby with one (quite eccentric) person to interact with. I think with Anna it doesn't make any sense. Yes she only interacted with grown-ups and was locked from the outside world since childhood, but remember, she was locked up AS a princess. She is an heir of the thrown! You think the staff/teachers would let he act like a goofball all the time? She was practically raised with this responsibility looming over her.
I honestly think Rapunzel did it best, not because she’s the first, but it makes sense. Girl was sheltered since a baby, of course she’s awkward and childish. Moana, and Anna are done right too, as Moana has more personality than just being cute, and isn’t cute 24/7, while Anna was ALSO sheltered from life and would naturally be awkward
Ah, yes, "Disney's for children, why are you complaining about it?" Tell that to the hordes of Disney adults who go to the theme parks despite not having children, the ones who collect memorabilia, the ones who are still out there waiting to have their princess moment.
Agreed and I know way too many of them. Ew.
Plus, parents screen what their children are viewing before allowing them to see it. Not so subtle messages will be memorized through songs and merchandising impacting how girls think they are supposed to be. It's gone from needing to be rescued by a prince to believing it's okay to be a complete social mess.
Maybe we need to reframe it as "Disney's MADE BY adults, so adults should look at it critically BECAUSE it's marketed to children"
The ones who line up for hours to get a fricken photo with Pooh Bear while children scream and cry behind them in the line 😭😂
Technically animated movies have become more for adults viewing if u think abt it
its unfortunate the way they are making the girls more visually and culturally diverse, but oversimplifying their personalities to the point of all being "awkward and quirky". other personality traits exist!
That's a great way to put it!!
i just want to see a princess who is quirky AND other traits! @@lulupomegranate
Meh, the Disney girls & locales have been diverse since the 90s. Even if they slap a new coat of paint on these new ones, they've all had nearly the same body shape and facial proportions since Tangled. It's so superficial... The characters from their traditional 2D works were all distinct as they were all lovingly drawn by hand... I miss it. 😞
sleeping beauty, mulan, esmeralda, belle, ariel, yasmin, tiana how is that not diverse??
Omg yes!
You mentioned self-depricating humor being a part of the "adorkable" formula. I feel need to significantly dial back the self-deprivating humor in media. It causes people like me to internalize that "ah, being low confidence and self-depricating is quirky, relatable, and ultimately endearing," to the point I constantly downplay my skills to fit that mold i unintentionally stuffed myself into. We need more showing of a healthy amount of bravado in media to teach us to be outwardly confident without feeling like we're being boastful.
I definitely think today’s young people, especially young women, need that kind of role model. As someone who’s put a lot of effort into overcoming self hatred, it’s frustrating to see it being glorified on social media.
The adorkable problem in Disney reminds me of this book I read called, "Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture," by Ken Jennings, where a huge comedy fan, ironically enough, talks about how the culture takes excess comedy to an extreme that people are unable to take things as seriously, to be emotionally sincere, or to be able to be as emotionally vulnerable as before. In adorkable characters, much of it seems to pander to audiences' emotional discomfort over far too serious situations, and so there always needs to be some comic relief, which is fine in some contexts, but it often ruins emotional moments. I'm also a huge fan of comedy, but the way comedy infects everything so that something is immediately seen as boring, overly sentimental, or sappy for jaded and cynical audiences if some serious emotional event does happen on screen, because corporations seem insecure that audiences are not going to mock a scene for being too emotionally vulnerable for them.
Okay, that really seems like a reductionist way of looking at media, especially Disney movies. Movies like Encanto, Tangled, Frozen, and others with funny, goofy heroines all have genuinely heartfelt and emotional moments without any jokes at all. I actually think movies aimed at children almost universally get this right (if anything, this is more of an issue with media aimed primarily at adults).
I wish Disney knew that being passionate about your interests didn't mean you had to be annoying about them. Jane, Tiana, and Ariel were moving when they showed their interests and wants because the movies took them seriously and highlighted how important their wishes and interests were to the story. They really lost that spark
well put
THIS. It’s hard to tell if any of their characters have interests anymore, it’s like they forgot how to write characters like people
@@Marcuss99 right? It just makes this big lack of character. If your characters all have the same drives, wants, and personalities, why should we care about them
good point about treating them seriously, it's gone with the new characters. it's all 'wink wink' and meta
@@alicjakempisty2729 it's not even that they have no interests or drives. That scene in Raya when she goes " 'i'm kind of a dragon-nerd' in that adorkable voice is what I mean. If this was an older Disney movie, her interest in dragons could've been a beautiful moment where we get to know this person and what they love. I'm just sick of these stories not being able to take themselves seriously
Calling it a “slightly different face” is generous!! They’ve changed noses, but beyond that, the facial design feels like little more than a Rapunzel copy/paste job. I won’t deny that there was design overlap with the 2D princesses, but they were so much more distinct!
The 2d princesses I'd say looked quite different, given they all had seriously similar art styles. The versions used o. Disney princess marketing are tweaked to make them near identical but if you grab shots from the actual movies even those of the same race look distinct, even variety in how old they look despite only a few tears between most. Take cinderella, aurora and belle for example, different face shape, eye shape, hair textures. I'd say their builds are the most similar thing in them, but that's a different issue
Now that you mention it, I can defiantly see the similarities. All the recent princesses have circular-ish faces with chubby cheeks, big eyes and long hair.
@@poxidog That’s mostly what I was referring to! Honestly, the biggest similarity I was thinking of is the fact that Beauty & the Beast reuses the dancing animation from the end of Sleeping Beauty.
But if you put Belle next to Meg next to Pocahontas next to Mulan and on and on, there is such beautiful diversity of design AND personality.
I never related to their faces, they look like the typical Instagram perfect face. They always have a button nose, big baby eyes and a heart shaped face - so the traditional beauty standard. Especially when everyone is a different race but they all look the same without their own ethnic features just continues little girls hating their noses, their long faces, there smaller eyes etc
The only difference between Raya and Moana is that Moana has wavy hair and Raya's is straight, and she kind of has a longer nose when you squint.
Definitely the ENFP main character syndrome. You see it everywhere, not just Disney. It's been plaguing Korean dramas for decades and it's so overdone. We need more variety of female character personalities! Down with the adorkable
I agree with most of this besides Rapunzel and Anna. For Rapunzel, she literally had no human interaction (besides her evil mother) for 18 years, she didn't have any teachers, and not to mention she has never touched grass! or been outside! so I think it's fine if she acts like that. For Anna, it was her unawareness and being easy to manipulate that almost got her and her sister killed. Then she learns from that. Which makes it not a, "oH mY bAd TrAiTs GoT mE gOoD rEtUrN".
I think the problem can be summarized with "When everyone's adorkable, no one will be".
You sly dog... You got me acting a bit quirky!!!
This... this is my new favourite comment of all time...
Incredibles line
@@botspaidbymsm6670 I agree to an extent, I don’t think someone needs to have never seen people before to be a dork though lol.
@@botspaidbymsm6670 i think Anna is the worst offender of the adorkable because she felt like a copy paste of Rapunzel. Also i think people tend to forget everyone is kind of a dork for something. but does not make them the same person. From Avatar. Zuko is a dork and so is Soka and they have similar traits. but no one will ever say they are the same person.
Speaking of annoying trends CAN WE PLEASE LET THE “cute animal with deep voice” TROPE GO 😭😭😭😭😭
Yes please. I loathe that goat, not only because of the voice but the humor is so bad it hurts me.
@@TabbysDolls That's why Meeko the raccoon from Pocahontas and Djali, Esmeralda's goat from Hunchback , and (among others) are ones that I like so much...because THEY DON'T TALK! They get their point across without having to "say" anything!
damn yeah it’s becoming so annoying
YES, THANK YOU
Bibble already perfected it back then. Don't @ me.
It’s like they copy and pasted the same personality onto every recent Disney Princess.
I think this touched on a really interesting topic that could morph into a whole separate discussion which has to do with the way Disney delivers comedy in their more recent works. Sure, the main characters of old always had their comedic moments but in order for them to be taken seriously, Disney used the role of the “witty sidekick” as a vehicle for audience-relatable comedy. Think about Timone & Pumba, Mushu & Cricket, Ray & Louis; you can go back further to see this in the likes of Jacques & Gus-Gus, Flounder & Sebastian, and Lumiere & Cogsworth. The sidekicks of old were able to play to the enjoyment of the audience in a way that made sure the overall events of the story, and the main characters themselves, remained distinct, intentional, and grounded. Of course, Disney’s modern movies have kept the sidekick model in constant play, but there’s something about them that falls so flat in comparison to the legendary likes of Genie from Aladdin or Phil from Hercules. My theory as to why is that they simply no longer take the time to flush the sidekicks out well enough as their own solid characters. Compare the personalities and motivations of any of the above mentioned characters with the likes of Moana’s pig & chicken. At the very least, my little cousins aren’t racing through the park to get *their* autographs I assure you.
I’d argue one of the following two circumstances is true for any modern Disney film: either the writers aren’t confident enough in their sidekicks to deliver comedic moments properly so they push that responsibility to the main characters making them less realistic and reliable (Moana), or they decide to write a quirky main but keep in the goofy sidekick causing an over-saturation of “comedy” that feels ridiculous (Frozen). Now I haven’t seen Wish, but I’d bet lots they were banking on that goat being a carbon copy of the Olaf/Anna formula.
I also think comparison of comedic content itself in old to new Disney movies would be a really interesting deep dive. There’s an argument to be made in the use of “silliness” vs “humor” and I think Disney’s preference for the former in recent works is a real disservice. I remember absolutely losing it as a kids to the tongue-in-cheek bits in Aladdin and Lion King even though we probably didn’t really understand half of it. The comedy in their more modern works feels pandering and bland in comparison.
Anyway, fun to analyze but I think I’m gonna go watch Mulan now.
I think Disney sticking to “adorkable” heroines is weird in a way because the reserved and elegant Elsa is WAY more popular with kids than her “adorkable” sister
I always thought it was just because Elsa had a pretty dress and magic but maybe you're onto something 🤔
@@kaileyhallettno I think you’re probably more right on that lol, I feel like most kids don’t really care about personality as much
@@mahi93162 i did a lot, kids have personalites as well
@@mahi93162it definitely is 😂 the vid is right, but it's looking at it from a perspective of writing, which is something the adults writing these films should be thinking about.
Tbf it’s more bc she has powers lol
the “he’s right behind me” joke reminds me a lot of the “well, that just happened” humor in marvel. i think disneys adorkable is marvels wisecrack superhero
Seriously, that's why I had to stop watching Marvel. After I finished Endgame for the closure, I literally have only watched the Spiderman movies and like 1 other one, but nowadays I can't watch them anymore. It feels so cut and dry, like I'm watching the same.thing over and over again
Yes, this is exactly the humor that made marvel so cringe.
Fr, I watched one episode of the “What If?” Series and none of them flinched and eye when they saw their friends and family turned into zombies. 😒😒😒
“He’s right behind me” is actually a stupidly old joke, variations of it can be found going back to the bronze age and we can't go further only because they hadn't invented writing before then.
I finally got around to watching this video and I'm glad you made this point. Disney is going back to the well repeatedly just like Marvel did (which then caused Star Wars to do it for The Rise of Skywalker.) It was entertaining for a bit. But someone needs to tell these producers and writers the well dried out long ago. It just kills every mood in every movie that it is put into these days. I am a little hopeful that writers will figure this out and things will start to change, though. I think everyone realizes this has gone too far.
Outstanding video analysis. I absolutely agree. The character trait does not work for all narratives, but Disney still seems to think it does
You're spot on. It's happened to video game characters too. It's annoying. Tangled was the last Disney movie I watched. I felt the shift in writing quality in the early 2010s and it's never improved.
That teenage thing you were explaining, how "not all teenagers have the same personality' THANK YOU!! NO WE DO NOT!
You’re right. I’m not like other boys my age who put stuff other than TP and human waste into toilets, overload the toilets with TP, etc. If that were the strict standard for boys my age I would fake come out as a trans girl
Although a lot of you do like saying "wait what" a lot. It is kind of overused a lot, like the word "like".
@@amberslahlize7961 These are both more widespread in, at least, US culture than current teenagers. I'm 40 and "Wait, what?" was common enough when I was a teenager in the mid to late 90's. Overuse of "like" dates back to at least the early 1980's and the teenage Valley Girl subculture of the time (and those who were teens at that time would be in their 50's now). If teens now are using these, it's probably because creators are referencing their own memories of teenagers and including nostalgic slang, reintroducing it to kids and teens who incorporate it because they saw it used that way in a show or movie, and so on.
@@henrythef1guy768bro what are you talking about
How gross people in my school can be and saying that we are not all the same.
it's the voice acting for me - it seems like all of the voice actresses for the modern disney princesses / main characters were given the exact same direction to sound like a quirky generically american teenage girl, which is wild when you think about how they're working with so many different cultures.
Holy shit. I thought it was just me that has this problem in the voice acting in these new characters.
Yeah I hear it too tbh and it lowkey pisses me off. Not like the voice is bad but giving it to ALL of them?
THANK YOU, I'm glad someone brought it up... it honestly pisses me off how they try to make the protagonists relatable by working with different cultures but only ever achieve that on a shallow, surface level. Their personalities and voices are the exact fucking same...
😂??? Different cultures?! All Americans regardless of “cultural background” behave and talk very similarly
@@kant.68 i meant cultures as in the cultures the movie is portraying, like, for example, polynesian culture for moana - she still sounds american for some reason! and rapunzel is a western european story, frozen is set in what would be denmark, tbh there’s no reason for any of them to sound american when other characters in the same movies have accents!
Disney ladies from decades ago took on responsibility and behaved maturely in a way we see depicted extremely little in today's Disney heroines. Kids' role models are no longer adults: they're just larger children. How are people ever going to grow up if they were not taught to respect the qualities that go into maturity? (Bravery is not enough alone.) Anyways, excellent video. It's so refreshing to see someone produce a cohesive train of thought, make a contention, and the support that contention.
*then support that contention - using tons of examples.
The real people who were raised in that era bottled up their feelings and took them out on their kids. The state of today’s Disney protagonists isn’t good, but holy shit is the old style not the answer.
One big aspect to this is that adorkable characters move more and have bigger facial expressions, make accidents happen which is entertaining to look at for toddlers. Wish was extremely packed with movement and had this addicting 4 seconds attention span thing going on which I believe is meant to keep the small kids entertained.
When thinking about the heroine. I don't exactly think kids like the heroine. It's like if you go to a princess party, the kids will go straight to Elsa. Meanwhile, Anna is left out.
Maybe cuz Elsa had all the powers and cool scenes. But ur on to something, all little girls want to be Elsa not Anna
Same with Luisa from Encanto
That’s because Elsa had “The Dress” and the powers.
@@frodo_underhill yeah, i know more little girls who want to be luisa/isabella/dolores than mirabel, not sure why though!
@@leeh4669 mirabel is still pretty popular though. I’ve seen more little girls talking about her than anna
We need our main characters to have flaws, but not just "ooooh im such a klutz how endearing is that" because that doesn’t really mean anything
Klutz just means there's going to be cheap slapstick comedy, which is very American imo. It needs to be balanced out with clever jokes, puns, learning new information, communication skills, etc
@@BliffleSplick Yeah, and I think they _especially_ missed the mark on this in the movie it matters most: Encanto. The point of the movie is "everyone has their flaws but they're not that bad if we just communicate," but in not being able to have a 100% villain they kind of forgot the difference between "flaw" and "behavior other characters don't like." Mirabel being curious about Bruno isnt a flaw, it's a pretty natural reaction that her family just so happened to be _extremely_ opposed to. They try to make it seem like Pepa's emotional over-reactions, which is the whole character flaw that started the whole "we don't talk about Bruno" thing, are equal to Mirabel simply wanting to know who her family member was and a good reason for why he's being erased from history Joseph Stalin-style. Mirabel is a totally normal and rational person while _everyone_ around her is dystopian levels of illogical and reactive. They're really telling us a whole town _and_ Bruno's entire family saw him get the power of foresight, watched him use his forsight, then decided "OH MY GOD, HIS POWER IS TO MAKE BAD THINGS HAPPEN!! BURN THE WITCH!! DISGRACE!!" while Mirabel's flaws are just "I drop things sometimes and want to learn more about my family so I can relate to them better."
But not many are actually like that
Yeah, I feel like klutz is a way of giving a character a "flaw" without risking the audience getting turned off by them, because we generally don't expect people to get over klutziness. It's like making them allergic to peanuts. It doesn't really inform the character in any significant way, especially when most of these characters are teenagers and are kinda expected to be inherently awkward and unsure of themselves. If they had an actual flaw like being judgmental, lazy, scared to stand up for themselves, etc. then the writers have to actually work to endear the character to the audience and get them to grow appreciably as a person.
Being a klutz can also be (whether they know it or not) code for being neurodivergent, same with being distractible, or really enthusiastic over odd things@@ariwl1
Although I agree that the "adorkable" trope is getting overused at this point, I personally don't really care what personality they give their characters *as long as they are well-written*
Well they won’t be well written if they’re given a bad personality
I consider a lack of diversity in characters’ personalities to be poor writing in itself.
You explained it reallyyy well. This just solved the case of why I don't rewatch the modern version of Disney Princess movies. I just wish some company would bring back old animated princess movies.
I think the other thing to note with Rapunzel is she matured as the movie progressed. She was socially awkward and naive when she first went out of her comfort zone (aka her tower) BUT by the end of the movie she is making a deal with Gothel to save Eugene’s life in exchange for her remaining Gothel’s prisoner. A very serious and sacrificial decision to make and she knew that. There was no awkwardness or out of place joke cracking in those moments. At the time the quirkiness of Rapunzel was unique and trail blazing, but now I agree it has become the boring default.
Yea! And I think the contrast worked very well for that movie. Most of the movie was very lighthearted and Rapunzel exhibiting her "adorkable" traits was largely what made it lighthearted. So at the climax, her seriousness made the tone of the scene more solemn, and I think that shift made the scene more intense and impactful from a storywriting perspective.
Yeah I think showing a character as young and naive and clumsy is fine as long as it’s for an actual purpose. Like for Rapunzel’s case, she experienced growth. A character who matures as the story progresses is understandable. A character who is “quirky🤪” because it’s funny is just… overdone
"Adorkable" is not the first thought I have when I think about Rapunzel. Rapunzels primary trait is not adorkableness, but spunk. She is easily the spunkiest of the recent disney princesses that I've seen (I have not seen all of them) and this spunk is something that definitely is missing from Anna.
@@InternetStudiesGuyomg THIS i always though Rapunzel was spunky more than "quirky xd"
It makes sense for Rapunzel's character to be awkward since she's been so isolated. But it is interesting that her awkward characteristics were turned into strengths.
We need a Lilo-ized princess. Just UNSETTLINGLY weird. Not able to smooth talk, dead pan deliveries & laughs at the most awkward times that just make it more awkward , puts spoons in empty pickle jars & shakes them angrily princess.
so april from parks and rec?
@@arex9000 or basically more neurodivergent female protagonists
nimona isn’t a princess but she fits a lot of the traits you’ve mentioned! and i would love to see that kinda of vibe from a Disney princess!!
@@madisongrossi23 Disney not taking on Nimona was the best thing that could have happened to that movie, because I don't think Disney would have let Nimona be as chaotic as she is in the final film. I love how unapologetically unhinged she is.
Hopefully Disney saw how positively she was received and give us their own metal gremlin.
@@madisongrossi23I was about to say this
This is really well considered and tactfully explained. It doesn't feel like I'm being told how to feel, just just clean, well-reasoned thoughts on a topic that matters to its author. Many of the other reviews I've seen on Disney's recent direction would be improved by following your approach. Thank you.
“So maybe I’m wrong and there’s more to her then meets the eye”
Oh you sweet innocent child. . . .
Another issue I have is how all of these new characters look so similar. Disney and Pixar really need to diversify their art style. People talked so much crap about Turning red but at least the art style was somewhat refreshing.
…Turning Red’s artstyle was sort of an evolution of Luca’s art style (note the bean-shaped mouths), which seems to still be evolving (for example, I think the protagonist of that upcoming movie has a bean mouth)
Why did people dislike it? I really enjoyed it
I would LOVE to see more diverse/interesting character designs, but I’d imagine there’d be a some backlash.
One thing that I appreciate with the upcoming Wish is that Asha has braids and freckles! It’s not much but they’re talking baby steps…
Disney is obsessed with "the brand" to the point they'll abuse their workers to uphold it. Part of that brand is the art style and since they own Pixar they'll force them to maintain brand consistency, too.
I mean I would say raya mirabel and asha all look pretty different from eachother. Especially those first 2. Ppl were complaining mirabels design wasnt “pretty enough” for ages
I really liked Elsa’s personality and would like to see a Disney princess that’s more like her. Elegant and intelligent.
I remember people trashing on Elsa just because she wasn't like Anna/Rapunzel...
@@anormalguy9320 really?? Wow I had no idea. I wasn’t as tuned in back then I guess! I personally loved Elsa even though Tangled is still one of my favourite Disney movies. I agree with OP that variety in personality is better!
I was listening to Frozen songs in the car with my little sister, and she said she wished Elsa was the villain because she wanted to have a movie with a beautiful villain. It was kind of interesting to think about.
Elsa is the only Disney Princess I’ve “related” to personality-wise. Adorkable characters aren’t relatable to me even though they’re apparently supposed to be.
Lots of people said Elsa “didn’t have a personality” because… she’s introverted and reserved? But they genuinely perceived that as having no personality, like her being a blank slate.
To them if the character isn’t loud and extroverted and shouting her every thought and expressing her every emotion to the world she must not be thinking or feeling anything at all lol.
@@YoungandFlightless very interesting! I think Cinderella’s “evil step sisters” could be redone really well akin to something like Amy in Little Women.
Or remember Shego from Kim Possible?
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. The original princesses all had their own personalities unique from one another. 😅
I love this video and this take. I appreciate you took the time to analyze this. I never thought about it this way, and it definitely adds to the distinction between the 3D animated films and the 2D old Disney. Thank you for helping me realize this- it is something I've been thinking but didn't know the words for.
Heavy on the "why do they ruin serious moments with jokes"
I can't tell you how many times I responded with "heh 😐" like let me feel this please
I think that there’s someone at Disney Animation who’s hellbent on inserting “Marvel humor” into their movies. The kind of humor that ruins serious moments
I learned a new word some years ago when watching why Marvel was annoying and more like parody, its called "bathos" humour, where they ruin a serious moment or buildup with humour.
It's like they're trying to make every movie an action comedy/romantic comedy
Cause its a kids movie, if u want drama go watch drama? Lol i hate serious moments in cartoons
I'm genuinely so sick of people automatically assuming that every animated film is for children. this is why a whole generation was left alone in a room alone to watch Watership Down as children, because their parents didn't bother to check. animation is for everyone.
My boyfriend got away with watching South Park as a literal child, right in front of his parents, because he was learning English in school and his parents only spoke Russian, so they had no idea what the characters were actually saying or how much swearing there was. He told them it was a children's show and they believed it purely because it's animated.
@@necronatalofficial2805 Yeah, same goes for anime. Nowadays it's more accepted and popular, but there are enough people, who think, just because it's drawn / animated, it's for kids. It's the artstyle! And has as many genres as films with real people! Wish people would see that - even if they don't like it, which is fine. Everyone has their own taste after all.
See also:
-Akira
-Princess Mononoke
-Metropolis
-Anything from Juni Ito
Watership Down PTSD triggerd.
@@blackharmonics4518at one point my mom thought anime was for kids but in high school she came in one time when I was watching I think devilman crybaby with blood and what not. She took it back
I totally agree with the points you have made in this video! I would also like to contribute the point that Disney also rehashes the same bottom line message during each of their movies lately: be yourself, but also family is important. I feel like that combined with the adorkable protagonist makes every movie feel the same these days, they're just dressed up in a different cultural background
Totally agree! Time for a change!
Lilo and Stitch feels like it has an invaluable place in this conversation. Lilo was portrayed as weird and quirky and kinda whimsical, but her behavior *had realistic consequences.* She was bullied, she was othered. She was supported by her sister, which is *integral* to why Nani is the best caretaker for her.
I feel like as soon as Disney started portraying their quirky characters as "endearing and adorable" to other characters in-universe was when they kinda lost their edge. Yeah, maybe Flynn Ryder was annoyed with Rapunzel for half the movie, but that's nothing like the hostility Lilo got from her peers and that just feels kind of important to me. That change felt like the beginning of the end to me.
And if we want to go in a very serious direction (I get it, it's for the kids, get over it, etc), but I feel like irl, people only like quirky girls if they're already hot, cute, thin, pretty, popular--some nonsense like that. You can only be quirky if people already like you, or you're seen as annoying, shallow, dumb, etc. And I think what you said about adorkable Disney girls being portrayed in kind of a condescending way--as if teen girls are all stupid or something--just makes the whole thing even more disingenuous.
By all means, have weird girls. I love weird girls! But stop with this. Say something real and true, you know?
@@Furienna Yes, but Mirabel is also a fictional character, and therefore not an "irl" quirky girl like I was talking about. Disney quirky girls can look however they want, but in real life, quirky girls are kinda shunned if they don't fit an arbitrary mold. That's all I was saying
@@Furienna If we're already talking about it I'm glad she was allowed to have a bigger nose and eyebrows instead of looking like Elsa. But she still has the remnants of the 2010's princesses' safe, cute quirky humor.
Oh the pretty privilege element is so spot on! Just like irl, if you're weird but pretty, you're ✨unique✨ and quirky. If you're ugly, weird, and are into nerdy stuff people would just shun you
Here's the kicker: Lilo was *actually* weird. These modern heroines aren't even remotely weird or interesting. They're played very safely.
"quirky and whimsical" didnt lilo beat some kid up 😭
For the people in the back: Animation is a MEDIUM, not a genre! It can do horror, mystery, sci-fi, comedy, romance, thriller and so much more. At least in Japan they understand this, hence why anime has become so big, even here in the West.
Exactly!!! Animation doesn’t automatically mean “family movie” or for general audiences. Thanks for this comment :)
It's so funny when you see westerners who just discovered a slighty messed up anime and their reaction is "this is problematic and romanticizing xyz problems!!".
It really shows they've been mentally brainwashed by western society's idea of animation as being solely created for kids lol
Somehow the oscars doesnt get it.
Yes yes yes! I've been trying to articulate this for years! Thank you for putting it all together 😄😄😄
OMG, YES YES YES YES, I ALWAYS FELT THAT WAY ABOUT THESE CHARACTERS BUT NEVER HOW TO PUT IT thank you for thattt
Speaking of the adorkable trope, I love how instead of making Lilo be this manic pixie girl they made her into an actual child who is coping from the loss of her parents and relates to Stitch's destructive personality. They made her personality fit into the story and her quirks aren't just used for laughs but actual conflicts.
Her character feels believable
Also, the whole thing is grounded in the Ugly Duckling story, which makes it all the better, and a perfect fit for Disney.
Lilo is also great neurodivergent representation. I’m on the spectrum and she’s pitch perfect in my opinion.
@@BigBossMan538 Exactly!! Honestly the whole movie is really just a great allegory for found family and neurodivergency (Speaking as someone who has ADHD)
@@BigBossMan538 Agreed. As someone with autism, I relate strongly to Lilo.
I was really hoping that Wish would be a return to more serious and sincere kids movies but I have zero hope or expectations, I'm so sick of *quirky* girlies and obnoxious talking sidekicks.
The goat would be more adorable if he doesn't talk. He could be like Gromit the dog, brave and kind plus it's fun to see his reactions. Too bad he speaks and told a joke about his butt 😑
I mean. That’s pretty much how trailer humor is. Yeah I was hoping for the same. But i was surprised when I didn’t watch such a bad trailer.
Wish was kind of the most descent Disney trailer I’ve seen in the last decade to be honest.
Yeah I’m tired of the adorkable thing too. But I hope Asha will only be like that when she’s with friends, running late, or thinks she’s alone.
And I hope Valentino isn’t gonna make butt jokes the entire movie. I mean, I do get why it was placed there due to the…circumstances. But really, was there no other dialogue they could use?
REAL! I’m starving for sincerity
Heavy on the talking sidekicks
I agree :l
Disney princesses, as you said, are a reflection of the times they were created. In general, creative expression has waned significantly since they’re focused on superficial messaging than plot.
You've explained this far better than I ever could, but this has been annoying me for YEARS, so THANK YOU
I feel this is one of the reasons why I love the Studio Ghibli female protagonists. All of them are unique and manage to be their own character, but still follow the main characteristics that make them wonderful which is their determination (Kiki for wanting to succeed in her delivery service and find herself, Sophie to break her curse, Nausica to save her kingdom, and Chihiro to return home and help her friend Haku.). They all manage to have the determination on what they want to do, while still being diverse in personality and design-wise.
I see nothing but facts.
Chihiro is such a fleshed out character she really grew through out the movie
Eh, as much as I love Studio Ghibli, I honestly can’t really agree with this. It’s not so obvious for a first time watcher, but most role model female characters in Studio Ghibli films do kind of share the same core values, qualities and traits (kindness, stoicism, determination, a carefully measured amount of rage as to pronounce her courage yet her quirkiness…) - modeled after a very skewed image of “what femininity should be” through the eyes of Miyazaki and Ghibli’s other directors. Miyazaki might be progressive in a lot of ways, even in the representation of female characters to an extent (especially back in the 90s) - but the male gaze is still quite palpable upon further inspection. I think these are all admirable traits, but they’re embodied in characters which feel restricted by their creators’ cishet desire.
Again, I love Studio Ghibli, but most people just seem to blindly hold their films up in a pedestal (and the few who do attempt at analyzing them often don’t do a great job).
@@20000dinonot gonna lie, you just randomly bringing in the male gaze without any examples just put me off of your argument
@@20000dino Fair enough 🤷🏽♀️
This why I was actually really pleasantly surprised with ‘elemental’ (but I think it’s technically Pixar too) I liked how they explored a female protagonist who struggles with her anger. Anger can be such a stigmatised emotion for women, so it was refreshing to see that.
I only saw the very beginning of the movie, and I agree! Anger is very typical for fire characters, but from the beginning she knows she has problems with it, she just doesn’t know what to do about it, and that was really interesting
I didn't consciously notice it till I read your comment, but they flipped the emotional gender norms, having a lady with anger issues and a dude who cries openly 🧡🩵
ha ha I had to reread your comment because I thought you said, "Turning Red". WHOOPS!
As a woman with anger problems, I'm actually really disheartened by the fact there is little to no representation of that and when it is it's just made a mockery of when it's an actual problem
YAAS I love elemental, I remember describing it to my grandparents and when I mentioned Ember, my grandparents said she sounded like me. I took it as a compliment lol
Telling someone to harm themselves over a OPINION is crazy nobody is to old for Disney anyway it’s all ages.
I just watched a video 'the marvelization of cinema' that talks about this same sentiment of zingers. Its just makes movies seem hollow as the emotional moment is broken with a 'duh', its normalizing being blase and ironic and not having heart felt relationships even with the people closest to you. Its cheap laughs and I believe a much bigger problem that just bad movies.
Real good video and break down of their personalities, great work!