New and Improved

We all know who the Disney Princesses are and we recognize them because they are part of our childhood; most of us grew up watching Disney movies and the most popular characters, and the only other characters we associate the most with when we hear Disney (besides Mickey Mouse), are the Princesses!

These images below are design pieces created, most likely, by Disney artists and are meant to appeal to young viewers, probably leaning more towards little girls. It is meant to appeal more to little girls because you would usually find these figures on backpacks, notebooks, pencil pouches, etc. and what little girl wouldn't want their school supplies to be decorated in with their favorite Disney princess. A backpack with a Disney princess stamped on it would sell the backpack quicker and better than a plain backpack. 

So, we have each popular princess presented here but we have two images of each princess, to the left we have the original representation of the princess and to the right we have the "improved" representation, but why do we need an improved princess? Aren't they perfect just the way they are? Perhaps the reason for the makeover is the keep up with the trends of the new generation of girls. Lets analyze each image carefully and find the differences in the original and improved images.

(notice the order of princesses are in chronological order of oldest princess to the youngest princess in terms of their movie debut 1937-1999)

 

 Snow Whites body language has changed as well from the hands clasped together in front of her, giving us the shy and innocent feel to her character, to hands open and feet in motion as if she is dancing, and look, she even has a rose in her hand now. You can see the twirl in her dress and her left foot in front of the right foot showing us she is moving and no longer standing in one spot like the original image. Her dress now has sparkling glitter everywhere and she has romantic designs of swirls on the abdomen of her dress, and her bow is pushed to the right side of her head and no longer centered at the top.
Cinderella's dress design is almost completely different, its now brighter and flashier, even her headband is improved. The shoulder pads are now ruffled and she also has extra designs on her dress just like Snow White. She has strands of hair draping down the side of her face, it's now longer all gathered in a clean and classy updo, which is supposed to bring your attention to her neck.

Sleeping Beauty's body language hasn't changed, the only differences between the original and the improved is the dress, which now has more details, and her hair, which is now wavier. Her eyes also appear to be smaller and chinkier. 

Ariel is no longer wearing a pink dress, she's now wearing a green dress, with lace covering and sparkling star fish designs on the side and all of her hair is down, wavy, and loose, no longer swept to the side. The original Ariel seems more naive and innocent where as the improved Ariels seems more mature and grown up and it has to do with the color of the dresses. A pink dress reminds me of something a little girl would wear while green is a more sophisticated color. 

Belle's body language has gone from romantic is sexy. In the original image, Belle is smiling cheerfully at us, holding up a rose close to her face as if she's smelling the rose. Her arms are twisted to her right with her shoulders pulled back. Improved Belle has her back towards us, forcing her to twist her left shoulder back in order to see us; her face looking over her left shoulder exposing some of her back. Her hair is curlier and wavier and here again we see the strands of hair falling to the side of her face leading to her shoulders and back. The off-shoulder dress material is almost see-through showing us more of her shoulder. 

Ironically, Princess Jasmine is wearing a little more clothes in the improved image, but there are still differences seen here. Her body language is still the same, showing us how sassy she is. We see the single strand of hair again and now she's wearing hoop earrings instead of the big golden bell earrings. 

Pocahontas, being a selfless and non-materialistic person, is now wearing more accessories. She has on new boots and a new belt with a stone and feather on it. She's wearing a wrap around her skirt and she's wearing earrings with feathers on them. Her face even looks accessorized with rosier cheeks and darker lips and a tanner skin. 

Mulan has gone from a peasant farmers daughter to the Princess of China. She now wears a glamorous dress with nature designs with gold rimming and a long drapery dress. Half of her hair is tied up with an glittering hair accessory. 

So, it looks like the Disney Princesses are more grown up and sexier than ever before, because grown ups wear jewelry and hair accessories and beautiful dresses, not little girls. The improved images of the princesses are connecting to our generation of little girls. Younger girls these days and trying to grow up too fast, wearing clothes that grownups wear and experimenting with make up and learning about sex. The same way we see the Disney princesses is the same way we see our little sisters and daughters; innocent and pure and naive. So when we see the princesses all glamorized it's uncomfortable because we're so used to seeing them the exact same way since 1937!