The transformation of female characters in Walt Disney’s animated films

Abstract

Over the decades, the image of the characters created by the Walt Disney film studio has changed. The heroines of the Princess series have undergone special evolution. The changes taking place in the behavior of fairy-tale characters perfectly reflect the transformation that have taken place in society, especially American from the time of World War II to the present day.
At the beginning the princesses represented the traditional model of femininity, straight from the nineteenth century, with the passage of time their personality changed. Female heroines slowly abandoned their household chores and ball gowns in favor of the sword and bow, with the help of which they began to fight for their rights and privileges. Today, princesses are symbols of culture that reflect social problems. Researchers see among them allegories of disability or the fight against racism. Animated stories are more and more often created in actors’ versions, which often break the classical convention, show the story in a completely different way.

In my article, I would like to raise topics related to the status of Disney princesses in pop culture, the evolution of their behavior and non-obvious symbols in individual stories.