Disney’s Latest Disappointment

When you’re a fan of a multi-billion dollar, for profit company such as Disney, prepare yourself for the oncoming disappointments such as this.  I’m talking about the new female character design for the new Disney movie- Big Hero 6.  Her name is Honey Lemon.

Look familiar? If you’ve seen Tangled and Frozen she should.  The long blonde hair of Rapunzel and facial proportions and skin color are literally the exact same as Anna and Rapunzel!  I am so annoyed.  Keep in mind, however, this is a leaked poster and not the character’s final design.  But to be honest it is unlikely for a large change, as this exact same argument arose when the first designs for Frozen’s Anna leaked and nothing changed.

Disney is really being uncreative and horribly sexist for thinking that all women have to look the same to be beautiful.  Where is the diversity in style?  Why are we expected to keep watching these movies?  Check out this compilation of Dreamwork’s most recent female characters (top row) compared to Disney’s (bottom row, compiled by tumbr’s Cybugs).

 

I have to say, this is really upsetting.  Is it so hard to make female characters different?  Disney, I really expected better of you.  What’s your take?

PS. Here are the rest of the character designs

Aurora: Back in Disney’s Good Graces

Before Maleficent, it seemed that Aurora was nobody’s favorite princess.  She never had her own merchandise and, when featured on the princess line-up, she was typically in the back among Pocahontas and Mulan.  Yet with the rising popularity of Maleficent and all related tales, Aurora may finally be getting her long deserved attention!

Disney has leaked photos of an upcoming collection, Art of Aurora.

Love the extra details of the birds on the handle!  This is going to be similar to last years Art of Ariel collection, including mugs, notebooks, t-shirts, etc.

It even went along with the release of beautiful 17″ Ariel, Eric, and Ursula dolls.

Disney has announced that there will be a limited edition 17″ Aurora doll, which I think will be just as detailed as the Ariel pictured.  It is also rumored that there will be a surprise Maleficent doll released along with the Aurora LE doll.  What do you think of Aurora and her recent attention- deserved or over-hyped?

Cinderella 2015 Excitement!!!

Cinderella is all set to be released March 13, 2015!  A synopsis found on IMDB states that it will be the same story, except that “there is the dashing stranger [Cindy] meets in the woods… unaware that he is really a prince”.  Sound familiar?  That’s because it’s the story of Sleeping Beauty!  Ugh.

Lily James of Downton Abbey is set to play Cinderella, which I have no opinion on yet.  However if she is on Downton Abbey, I have faith that she’ll be a wonderful actress with all the grace of a princess.

BUT THE PRINCE! THE PRINCE YOU GUYS!!! The prince is being played by Richard Madden, as in Robb Stark of Game of Thrones.  I am literally so excited, he is super attractive and an excellent actor.  I think he will fit the aesthetic of the movie very well.

The teaser trailer itself doesn’t reveal much besides a glittering shoe with a golden butterfly.  The shoe, in my opinion, is awkwardly high.  The proportions seem off, but I felt that the butterfly was a nice touch.

Why your Frozen Headcannon is Wrong

As an avid tumblr blogger, I have witnessed many headcannons regarding the new Disney movie Frozen.  Some are fun to consider, but to be honest, almost none of them consider the actual facts given in the movie.

Headcannon: Kristoff actually had parents but was stolen by the trolls.  His father was one of the ice harvesters in the first scene.

Is this person feeling okay?  Did he/she watch the movie?  True, Nordic mythology does make it clear that trolls would steal children and eat them, but that is not at all what happened in the Disney movie.  We see that Kristoff is riding his little sled with Sven alone through the woods.  If his father was an ice harvester, wouldn’t he have gone home on the sled with him and the rest of the men?  I consider it a little dangerous to let your child go into the woods alone.  Besides, later Kristoff tells Anna that “it was just me and Sven until they took us in”.  There you have it.

Headcannon: Elsa and Anna’s parents were emotionally abusive.

Okay… it’s so wrong.  Sorry, but it just is.  The troll chief told Elsa’s dad that she must learn to control her powers, so thats what Elsa’s dad tried to help her to do.

Headcannon: Elsa had no way of figuring out how to control her powers after being unable to control them for so long.

I think this person missed the point of the movie.  Elsa’s powers are out of control because of her own fear.  When the troll told her “fear will become your enemy”, we thought he meant fear coming from other people, but thanks to Anna we discover that the only truly scared person is Elsa.  Her powers are obviously directly connected to her emotions.  This shows why she has so much power being “alone and free” on the mountain and why she can’t control her powers because she’s nervous at the coronation.

Headcannon: Oaken is gay.  The family shown is another man and their children.

Hey, I see where you’re coming from here.  The family shown seems to feature all boys.  However if you look close you’ll see that next to the man in the sauna is a smaller woman.  Could this be a gay couple?  Yes, but we have no way to know which of the two in the sauna is Oaken’s partner.  I’m not calling it until I have serious proof.

The last thing I have to say about spreading rumors that have no basis:

New Mickey Cartoons and how they’re changing the face of Mickey

For about a year now, Disney has been releasing several shorts starring Mickey mouse and friends.  These air on the Disney channel during commercial breaks and every episode is directed by a different artist.  Now, why do we care?  Because they’re just so good!  These shorts are super creative and consistently make me laugh.  It seems to me that the director has switched back to a style of humor closely resembling the insanity of black and white shorts.

Of course Mickey shorts are nothing new, but these shorts just seem to have something extra in them.  Mickey used to be unfunny, almost like a throw away character even though he was the face of the company.  Disney has made such a large improvement with these shorts that I actually consider Mickey a favorite.  The Disney Store is even selling merchandise specific to the shorts (Yes, I spent a paycheck on these.  Oops.)  So take a look for yourself.  Obviously humor is subjective, but I think I speak for most people when I say these are a huge improvement on the humor of Mickey and a tribute to Walt.

Disney Princess Redesigns

Suuuuuuuuuuch old news.  Oh well, get over it.  It’s still important.  These are the images that little girls (and boys!) will see and as we all know, media representation is very important.  In order of best to worst, I present the new princesses.

1. Tiana (The Princess and the Frog)

Just an addition of glitter.

2. Rapunzel (Tangled)

Luckily the newer princesses seemed to suffer the least.  She still looks dead inside to me.

3. Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Like her new hair, but the dress looks so much cheaper.  Why did they take out the seams on the bodice? Her face is all wrong too.

4. Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

I like the color change quite a lot.  The hair looks like a hot mess.

5. Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

This caused quite the uproar because her new dress is nowhere to be found in the movie.  To be fair, the dress is quite ugly and she seems to suffer from an excess of accessories.  I do like her neutral makeup tones and hair change.  To me, she looks more like the movie ariel in the redesign.

6. Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)

Meh.  This modernized version takes out many details that I think are Snow’s defining characteristics.

7. Jasmine (Aladdin)

I hate this one.  They changed so much about Jasmine.  Why did they give her pink lipstick and hoop earrings?  They specifically made a choice to white wash Jasmine

8. Cinderella

I could scream.  Everything is different and about ten times uglier.  Her face doesn’t even resemble the original.  Cindy’s dress is not dark blue.  To top it off, the designer gave her a sock bun.  Staaaaaahp.

9. Mulan

What the hell is going on with that hair and hairpiece?

10. Pocahontas

Oh poor Pocahontas.  Her mother’s necklace is destroyed.  Her skin is lightened and she has feather earrings.  Her dress has beads and feathers.  Why did they take out the little Native culture that Pocahontas had?