The Disney Princess Franchise. A Blessing or A Curse?

Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies. 

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After having analyzed some of the Disney canon films, I thought I should write about a franchise-related aspect of something that could never, ever possibly be synonymous with Disney; Their Princess line (yes, note the sarcasm, folks)!

We're in harmony only for this picture :)

 

 

 

   

Disney has always been associated with Princesses and the term Disney Princess has been around for a while, to reference the literal Disney Princess, as well as the archetype. While ironically most of Disney's animated films haven't been based on fairy tales or even have included Princesses, it's still something that the company built their cornerstone around. While this may be a shallow stereotype that Disney is often perceived with, it's after all staple that is truly synonymous with the company for a legit reason.

After all, the one that started it all (yes, pun intended) was a fairy tale and was a huge hit. When Walt needed a post-war hit, he turned to Cinderella. So Disney's comeback films have been built on fairy tales, as The Little Mermaid and Tangled (I'm not sure if I include The Princess and the Frog on this topic, since it was a modest hit. The same with Sleeping Beauty as well, actually)



 

At least we're not the Bratz gang :)

Financial Results

But this millennial has seen the arrival of the Disney Princess line and how it became a franchise of it's own! And it has been a huge success! Regardless of what could've been said about this, it would've been safe to cite that such a franchise would've become a reality sooner or later. After all, we live in a cynical, manufactured world where such marketing purposes exist, guys. 
The franchise has grown to become huge, selling from 300 million in 2001 to 3 billion in 2006. In 2011 there were 1,60 billion products sold and in 2015 there was $ 1,012 billion products purchased! 2017 had $863 million products swept away!
In true Disney fashion, the franchise has been expanded from dolls (which is the primarily thing the franchise has been associated with) to several other items. As clothes, accessories, plates and ect. They may not have surpassed the Mickey Mouse franchise in sales, but they've definitively surpassed the Winnie the Pooh franchise in terms of exposure and consumer products. 

 




 

The Genesis and the Founder

The villains aren't in this shot. 
For obvious reasons :)

The premise began in 2000 when former Nike executive Andy Mooney was on a Disney on Ice show in Phoenix and saw lot of little girls dressed up as non-Disney Princesses. Which inspired the idea. “We simply gave girls what they wanted, although I don’t think any of us grasped how much they wanted this.
I wish I could sit here and take credit for having some grand scheme to develop this. But all we did was envision a little girl’s room and think about how she could live out the princess fantasy. The counsel we gave to licensees was: What type of bedding would a princess want to sleep in? What kind of alarm clock would a princess want to wake up to? What type of television would a princess like to see? It’s a rare case where you find a girl who has every aspect of her room bedecked in Princess, but if she ends up with three or four of these items, well, then you have a very healthy business.”

 

 

 

  

The DVD Releases of The Franchise and it`s Theme Songs

The franchise has even morphed into some DVD-releases, as A Christmas of Enchantment, Princess Stories and Princess Parties. Those editions include some episodes from the Mermaid and Aladdin series, as well some segments of the sequels and new games. Heck, even a new cartoon was made about Jasmine and Aurora in Princess Enchanted Tales from 2007.
The franchise also has it's own theme songs; If You Can Dream (sung by the voices of the current Princesses, alongside with Susan Stevie-Logan and Christie Houser), the lovely The Glow by Shannon Saunders (which has also been interpreted by other locals in their native countries). In March 2018, a new anthem was made, called Live Your Story, written and performed by Tina Parol (and also having Moana's voice actress Auli'i Cravalho doing her own version).

The Franchise Pre-2000`s

But lately the franchise has become so huge that it's easy to forget that it haven't always existed! While the franchise existed to a degree in the 90`s, it still wasn't the same franchise as it is today. The Princess Magazine were sold in the nineties and Mattel released dolls from Walt's fairy tales in the same decade (though Tyco released the original Mermaid dolls).
And lets not forget the doll franchise from the nineties as Musical, Perfume, Dancing and Bubble Princesses. A VHS franchise called Princess Collection included episodes from the Aladdin and Mermaid series, alongside with Sing Me A Story With Belle. Though they were still not a part of the same current franchise.

Yeah, it was most likely hard being a parent in the nineties to a Disney kid, considering how merchandise as this lured us. But we can't help being Disney fans! ;)

 

 But this current franchise is a brand of it's own! And apparently it's here to stay! 

 

 

 

The Royal Members of The Franchise

Of course we had to be separated, for obvious reasons. Duuh ;)

A remarkable note is that this franchise has become the official line up for the Princesses, despite not being canon. And therefore each new member had the honor to receive an official coronation since 2010. Thus franchise includes Walt's princesses, as well as those from the nineties, along with the Revival ones. 

To sum it up, we have seven who's born royal and three who's got married into royalty (which is certainly relevant in Tiana's case). Jasmine is the rare deuteragonist in this line. Although Anna and Elsa were originally supposed to join the line, it

seems as Disney's realized how well Frozen doing on it's own, so therefore they haven't been officially crowned yet, despite how Disney themselves haven't
confirmed this (which would make Elsa and Anna the rare Queens in the lineup). 
Initially it was announced that Moana wouldn't join either, but recent merchandise has listed her alongside the other Princesses, despite not having an official announcement of her inclusion yet. Wonders if Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon will be included in the lineup.

Mulan is the only non-royal exception who has been put on the list. While her inclusion may be a headscracther for that lone reason, there's no doubt that her movie is stuck with a good reputation (and is overall a popular movie). So that's may be a reason for why she's been included, as well for PC-reasons. And while Pocahontas may not be a Princess in a Eurasian term, she is actually the daughter of a Chief (which she also was historically). So that makes her royal in a sense. But due to her decreased popularity and probably because it's hard to see her in a poofy gown (although she weared one in the sequel), she's the least promoted Princess, even less than Mulan. 

One particular issue with the Franchise is how all the Princesses stems from individual movies and therefore never interacts with each other. So therefore it was a conscious Choice to not have them look at each other in none of their merchandising. This was something that essentially Roy Disney fought for (despite that he was against the franchise from the get-go) and managed to get his will.

 How the Franchise Was Used To Promote the New Princesses

What one must
do to get
noticed :)

The Princess franchise was a while ago used as tool to promote the upcoming Princesses, beginning with Tiana. Which is why the dolls from their movies had the Disney Princess logo on them. 
Heck, even Pixar's first Princess, Merida, has been included in the line, to much debate and dismay for passionate Pixar fans. Though of course this marketing devise it can be interpreted individually, it was (as much as we dislike to admit it, guys) an effective way for Disney to introduce them, due to the popularity of the franchise.
While Disney aren't being as homogeneous as they were in nineties, the so-called Disney formula is more evident on their Princess movies. So logically enough, the formula is more associated with their films. 

We're glad that at least Bambi isn't with us :)

At least it's not "who's that girl" ;)

 





 

The Influence of the Franchise/How Fairy Tale Movies Became Princess Movies

While it may be a needless cue of mine to bring this up, it's easy to assume that the Princess-line have affected many so that some people perceive their movies as such. In the sense of how they've now being referred to as Princess movies, instead of as fairy tale adaptations. It's not to deny that the term Princess movie didn't exist before, but the term is with no doubt more used now.
The marketing featurettes and Audio Commentary for The Princess and the Frog is certainly a evidence of this. Whereas reviewer Ben Simon from Animated Views also points it out on his review for Frog that it was arguably Disney's first "Princess" movie.. 
Even a DvdDizzyBoards user called JeanGreyForever cited her opinion on this issue as well; "Because before the princess line, Disney had fairy tale films, not princess films. The princess line alienates boys and makes them reluctant to watch films like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella especially because she is the epitome of the princess line."
Last decade, there were rumors that Disney wouldn't make fairy tale movies after Tangled due to them not being profitable enough. But those were just vague rumors that came up (which was after all ironic and contradictory, due to how Tangled turned out to be a huge hit after following the modest reception of Frog). However, Disney has declared that they won't include more Princesses in the lineup, due to various reasons.

But at the end I may ask; Is this Franchise a blessing or a curse?

The Positive Sides of the Franchise

One of the pro's (in my opinion) is that it keeps the Princesses from the hand drawn films relevant, even Walt's early, much-influential Princesses. It's notable that most of the princesses in the lineup are actually hand drawn (you won't see me use the term 2D, I just don't find that term appealing).

It's somewhat of a sad irony, considering how hand drawn animation isn't relevant anymore and the current Princesses are CGI (at least for now, I won't loose hope that hand drawn will return someday).

No matter what could be said about the franchise, at least it's something that is quintessentially steeped in Disney's roots and something they could stand for. And it was popular even when Disney were getting highly associated with their Disney Channel tween franchises, as High School Musical, Hannah Montana and so on.  

 

 

This is how our list should really look like! Unfortunately you can only find the rest of us on the long-lost friends on Disneyland! ;)

 

 

The Negative Sides of the Franchise

 
One of the con's is that the list isn't exactly canon. Despite that it has become the official list, it doesn't include all of the Disney Princesses ever made. Even actual Princesses from PG-rated, non-musical flops as Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron and Kida from Atlantis The Lost Empire are excluded from the list.
And personally I find Kida to be truly one of the most underrated Princesses ever, portraying spunk and a quite interesting and appealing personality (both her and Eilonwy would be the exceptions who didn't sang). 

And let's not forget the animated Giselle from Enchanted, who was originally going to be in the franchise, when it was realized that Amy Adams would have to be paid royalties for using her likeness on merchandise (though truth to be told, the character wasn't technically royal, but a commoner). Even Tinker Bell was a part of the lineup for a while, but was ultimately excluded at the end. And if you haven't lived under a rock, you'll noticed her inclusion on a franchise of her own (a franchise which slowly died)! 

We are the Spice Girls with wings! We know we don't look like them, but get used to it!

Criticisms Against the Franchise

Of course the franchise has caused major debate by the public and been both loved and hated. But an former IMDb/now Moviechat.org user named Stratego declared a good, relevant and elaborate statement about it's downsides; "I don't like the Princess franchise because it's only ugly crap that can be pretty expensive even though it's cheaply made! The merchandise is always sparkly, always pink and always has a "princess" theme! There's hardly any variation! Not all girls like pink or sparkles, and what about boys?
No, there's nothing wrong with being girly and dressing up as a fairy tale character, but I definitely think it's wrong to encourage girls to want to be a princess. I live in a monarchy, and I feel it's totally undemocratic. 

I also know how royalty can be and I have quite a dislike for them. These characters are so much more than just "princesses" (and some of them even aren't!). Why not focus more on that? There's nothing special about being a princess, except having privileges you don't deserve.

And why are they always featured together, what if I don't like Cinderella or something? And what about the princes, why don't they have any merchandise"? 
JeanGreyForever, who was aforementioned, also continues this; "Not to mention, there are many parents who did not want their daughters exposed to what they consider the princess stereotype which is why we have articles like What's Wrong With Cinderella? from the New York Times. I'm sure there was always a little bit of stereotyping the genders before the princess line, but it's so rampant and everywhere with so much pink and sparkles now that while back in the 80s and 90s, some boys may have turned their noses up at DP films, a much larger portion of them certainly do now." 

The Feminist Aspect of the Franchise

We're not Wonderwoman,
so we had to come up
with our own way :)

This statement leads us to the feminist aspect of the franchise, since it (unsurprisingly) has irked a lot of feminist (which the Disney Princesses always have, to be honest). But let's not forget that only three of them are labeled as passive damsels in distress (guess who), while the others are fortunately more proactive and feminists.
And don't forget the certain Princess adds on Disney Channel, which actually portrays the good sides of being a Princess, as bravery, strength and compassion. Which is of course a redeemable thing. In fact, several of these Princesses has good qualities they possess that deserve credit (the conscious feminist aspects is also reflected in Frozen, where Anna learns that her Prince Charming is evil, but saves her sister from Hans).

We've seen Toy Story many times, 
so we know the drill

If we're going to scrutinize how the Princesses themselves are usually portrayed in this franchise, it's true that their personality traits aren't exactly expanded and that they mostly seem to serve as politically correct goodie-two shoes who proclaims their good values and traits. Perhaps it would be unfair to pick on that, due to how they're not getting the chance to be expanded on this line, but it's certainly could be a reason why it irks purists and feminists.

The Non-Princesses Who Used to Be in the Franchise & The Redesigns. 

As aforementioned, not every Disney heroine have been an actual Princess. And thank Goodness for that! Even the quite derivative nineties-era featured non-princesses as Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Megara (Hercules), Fa Mulan and Jane Porter (Tarzan). The former and the latter being actually included into the list and later excluded, without any explanation for why they were excluded. 

While of course the Princesses
has been redesigned in their consumer Products, they've certainly had seen transformations within the franchise. In late 2012, the Princesses went through a mayor redesign; Cinderella became blonde (though she was that for a while), both Ariel and Belle had longer, wavier hair and Aurora looks lesed angular (and yes, some people thought that the non Caucasian gals looked paler). And let's not forget all the fuzz about Merida's redesign (which even raged her creator Brenda Chapman). 

At least the left version makes me look less as E.T's cousin.

The Distribution Companies

No more Halloween for us.

Mattel has been a huge part of Disney's doll division. They
began their collaboration with Disney in 1955, releasing the Mickey Mouse Club dolls. Mattel released several Disney toys in the nineties. But despite Disney officially changing toy distributor to Hasbro in 2001 for their animated features, Mattel was still behind the Princess Franchise back then.
But afterwards Mattel realized that they hadn't given their pet child, Barbie enough attention and they also launched the Ever After High-franchise (who's based on the teenage daughters of fairy tale characters) to compete with the Princess franchise.

So in 2014, Hasbro signed to take over and being a company who would agree to portray Disney's royal gals as heroines rather than just princesses. Mattel's CEO, Chris Sinclair, admitted that the company took the Princess lineup for granted and didn't gave it enough attention during their latter years.

And it has served Hasbro well, making a huge profit for the company (despite that I've ranted about my dislike about the designs for the regular dolls by Hasbro, their bigger dolls are actually designed quite nicely. Sorry if it's offensive to the employers of Hasbro).

Spinoff Properties & Disney Junior Show Starring Princesses

This is Girl Power, 
Spice Girls ;)

Look at this, Peta :)

The franchise has expanded to the Princess Palace Pets toy set. Released the summer of 2013, this toy franchise has the
Princesses having cute, random animals friends who has no connection to their movies nor includes their original animal friends. It's been a huge success as well, selling 1 million units.
We also had Sofia the First, a Disney Junior series about a little girl who becomes royalty. It includes the Three Goodfaires from Sleeping Beauty and actually had several cameos from the Princesses. There was buzz about Sofia being Hispanic, which was later confirmed that she wasn't. Although Sofia herself haven't been officially included on the list, she was still made to cater to a Princess-loving audience. But her show had a spinoff with another Disney Junior show made, this time with an actual Latina Princess, Elena of Avalor (don't ask why, as The Princess and the Frog proved that every non-Royal nation can have it's own Princess).

 

Final Conclusion

After having discussed the pro and cons of this franchise, is it overall truly a bad thing? If we'll have to make a final conclusion about it? If we'll exclude the commercial intentions behind it, it's still good to have a franchise which at least features all the fairy tale Princesses together. Though the aforementioned mentioned cons does hamper it. But regardless of what's positive about it, the naysayers will always pick on the con's of the franchise, no matter what. And that's the hard truth.





Since I'm a Princess, I can dream huge. After all, it's not hard for me to get them due to my Royalty ;)

 

The Founder`s Departure

Mooney resigned from Disney in 2011. But at least he can have the satisfaction of having created a huge, successful franchise that still lives on to this day. To quote Disney president and CEO Robert Iger. “The contributions that Andy has made to Disney have been enormous. Not only has he consistently delivered business results year after year, but his focus on the Disney brand and the creation of new franchises like Disney Princess will leave a legacy for decades.” That statement couldn't be more true.

  

 

 

  

The Princess cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet

And yes, all the Princesses were featured in Wreck-It-Ralph's sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet. Believe it or not. Which has even labeled that movie for those scenes alone. They've of course poked fun at their stereotypes and traits in a snarky way. Yet even the uncrowned members as Anna, Elsa and Moana were a part of it. While the creators have brought up an idea of a possible spin-off, it haven't been confirmed yet. So for all of you who detested the scene, it's not as it's going to live on forever and be the pivotal culmination of a Princess gathering that will be remembered forever.

Yeah, I know it's a logo and not an actual royal gal. Read between the lines.

 

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