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I love the animated movies from Disney. I really do. Not including anime or TV shows, they're my favorite animations.
But there has always been something that has always bothered me for as long as I can remember: the Disney Princess Lineup, which is basically when the pretty girls from various movies are placed together in a small space (on everything from pencils and other school supplies, to house furniture - there are even wedding dresses/gowns inspired by them).
Currently, the ones featured in the Disney Princess Lineup are: Snow White (from 'Snow White'), Cinderella (from 'Cinderella'), Aurora (from 'Sleeping Beauty'), Jasmine (from 'Aladdin'), Belle (from 'Beauty and the Beast'), Ariel (from 'The Little Mermaid') and sometimes Mulan (from 'Mulan').
My problem with this lineup is that it's not accurate OR inclusive. First of all, if it's supposed to be the Disney PRINCESS Lineup (they use the term 'collection'), then why the heck aren't all the princesses from the Disneyverse in there? Yeah, they've got the girls I listed above, but why is Pocahontas always forgotten? I've only recently seen her included again, and only because of 'The Princess and the Frog' and they wanted to show 'diversity' (but she, and probably Tiana, will probably be set aside and ignored).
A princess is the daughter of a leader/king/emperor/chief, or the wife or a leader not yet in power, right? Well, Powhatan is the LEADER/CHIEF of his people. Therefore, as his daughter, that would make Pocahontas a PRINCESS. Just because she's not in some obnoxious gown or living in a ginormous castle or married to some dude doesn't make her any less a princess. She's a frickin' princess by BIRTH!! But she's frequently forgotten, and Mulan isn't? Mulan is not even a princess!! Not in the original legend, and NOT in the original movie, OR the sequel!! If they wanted an asian princess, they could have picked one of the three from 'Mulan 2' (Ting Ting, Su, Mei) or used all three. Or better yet, make a movie featuring a real asian princess (or an asian girl who becomes a princess).
The princess from 'The Black Cauldron'. I've never had a chance to see it, but I KNOW that girl is a princess. Her name's Eilonwy. Why is she not included?
Kida(gakash) from 'Atlantis'. Her realm is a whole EMPIRE continent. Not just a country but a CONTINENT. Not only were her parents the King/Emperor and Queen/Empress of Atlantis, she becomes the Queen Empress as well, after they die. She's not just a princess, but becomes an EMPRESS, but she gets no love.
Nancy from 'Enchanted'. Forget Gisele, NANCY is the one who marries Edward in the end. Once Queen Narissa is killed, Edward becomes KING. So technically, when she marries him, not only does she become PRINCESS Nancy, but QUEEN Nancy as well. True, she's live-action, but in the end she becomes animated and therefore should be included.
Tiger Lily from 'Peter Pan'. She, like Pocahontas, is the daughter of the chief, which makes her a princess. She's ignored.
Nala from 'The Lion King'. I don't care if she's not a human, she still becomes the queen of the lions in the end, being Simba's mate and all. Same with Faline from 'Bambi'. Not human, but since Bambi becomes the 'Great Prince of the Forest' in the end, that makes her a princess, too.
Megara from 'Hercules'. Zeus is king of the gods, right? Right. Hercules is his son, right? Right. That makes Hercules a prince by birth, right? Right. We all know he and Megara end up getting married, even if it didn't happen on screen, and in mythology she's also his wife, right? Right. So since she ends up with Hercules then she becomes a princess, right? RIGHT. So why is she ignored?
Jane from 'Tarzan'. This is another technical one that makes sense. Tarzan, as an infant, is adopted by Kala, who's the mate of Kerchak. Kerchak, as the leader of the gorilla group/clan is more or less the king. This makes Kala the queen, and Tarzan prince of the gorillas. When Tarzan grows up, saves the day and becomes leader of the gorillas (and the whole jungle), Jane ends up with him. Technicaly, she should be considered a princess based on all this, and included as well.
Nita, from 'Brother Bear 2'. I KNOW she wasn't in the first movie, but as the daughter of her tribe's leader/elder, she's still a princess.
I'm hoping Tiana will be fully included as well, and not just set aside once the hype of 'The Princess and the Frog' is gone.
Instead of it being the 'Disney Princess Lineup/Collection', it should just be something like 'Disney Females' or 'Disney Girl Power' or 'Disney Honorary Females' or 'Disney Heroines' or whatever, because then ALL the cool females would be included, princess or no. That way, Esmeralda could be included, as well as Jane and Nani ('Lilo and Stitch') and the non-humans, if they don't want to get technical.
She may not be a princess, but Esmeralda is smart and clever, stands for justice, stands up to men or anyone else, and has all the qualities of any princess, and she's just as beautiful (since I know Disney markets beauty). Nani is resourceful and responsible, and should be given a nod just for taking care of her sister and trying hard to keep the remainder of her family together. Plus, she's ATHLETIC. If not a princess, Jane should still be included. She's smart, loves nature and to learn, and can draw. Let's not forget that everytime they fought, Nala beat Simba, and if not for Faline, Bambi would have been a major wimp.
Also, why did they ignore the guys and only focus on the females? I remember very clearly when I was younger how every princess had her male counterpart equally advertised and the guys had dolls as well - though boys liked to call them 'action figures' instead of dolls), but somehow, someone somewhere decided to just ignore the guys. All the toys and everything else disappeared. Why? They're leaving out some cool characters. It seems to me that if the people at Disney REALLY want to show their diversity and have characters that are 'good role models' for kids to identify with, especially the girls, they should start including the more neglected characters.
**Btw, since Disney likes putting romance in their movies, and they've yet to have an Indian princess (Jasmine is not from India), wouldn't it be something if they did their version of the story of Layla and Majnun, and Disney-fied it so it ends happy, and the title characters end up together? They did it with 'The Little Mermaid' (the mermaid dies) and even Mulan (in some versions, Mulan dies), so why not with Layla and Majnun?